
Dark Star
A Biography of Vivien Leigh
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Narrated by:
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Alasdair Buchan
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By:
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Alan Strachan
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents Dark Star by Alan Strachan, read by Alasdair Buchan.
Winner of the Society for Theatre Research Book Prize 2020
Vivien Leigh was perhaps the most iconic actress of the twentieth century. As Scarlett O’Hara and Blanche Du Bois she took on some of the most pivotal roles in cinema history. Yet she was also a talented theatre actress with West End and Broadway plaudits to her name. In this ground-breaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new full-life portrait of Leigh, covering both her professional and personal life. Using previously unseen
sources from her archive, recently acquired by the V&A, he sheds new light on her fractious relationship with Laurence Olivier, based on their letters and diaries, as well as on the bipolar disorder which so affected her later life and work. Revealing new aspects of her early life as well as providing glimpses behind-the-scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive life-story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest actresses.
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A Murder in Hollywood
- The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Casey Sherman
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all—a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana's teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother's life deteriorate as Stompanato's intense jealousy took over.
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Not what you think…
- By christopher j rago on 02-26-24
By: Casey Sherman
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Cary Grant
- A Brilliant Disguise
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Film historian and acclaimed New York Times best-selling biographer Scott Eyman has written the definitive, “captivating” (Associated Press) biography of Hollywood legend Cary Grant, one of the most accomplished — and beloved — actors of his generation, who remains as popular as ever today.
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Disappointing...
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-20
By: Scott Eyman
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Cocktails with George and Martha
- Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- By: Philip Gefter
- Narrated by: Alexa Morden
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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From its debut in 1962, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. The play transpires over one long, boozy night, laying bare the lies, compromises, and scalding love that have sustained a middle-aged couple through decades of marriage. It scandalized critics but magnetized audiences. Across 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn’t be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the I Love Lucy 1950s.
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Another Bad Narration
- By TPH on 02-25-24
By: Philip Gefter
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Henry V
- The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Henry V reigned over England for only nine years and four months and died at the age of just thirty-five, but he looms over the landscape of the late Middle Ages and beyond. The victor of Agincourt, he is remembered as the acme of kingship, a model to be closely imitated by his successors. William Shakespeare deployed Henry V as a study in youthful folly redirected to sober statesmanship. For one modern medievalist, Henry was, quite simply, “the greatest man who ever ruled England.”
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Amazing Book & Fantastic Storyteller
- By L. Reilly on 11-26-24
By: Dan Jones
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The Friday Afternoon Club
- A Family Memoir
- By: Griffin Dunne
- Narrated by: Griffin Dunne
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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At nine, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion and uncle John Gregory Dunne’s legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. At sixteen, he got kicked out of boarding school, ending his institutional education for good.
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Griffiths phrasing made it easy to listen and absorb.
- By Nancie Keay on 06-17-24
By: Griffin Dunne
What listeners say about Dark Star
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-03-22
Fascinating, complex, and well written biography of a great star
An incredible biography of an incredible star. Although dark at times, as the title warns, the story benefits from Strachan’s nuanced understanding of the ups and downs of Leigh’s career and condition, providing a complex and balanced depiction of her that feels fair to her legacy.
It’s only drawback are portions that overfocus on Olivier, who has plenty of biographies written about him, and feel like pull away from Leigh’s story.
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3 people found this helpful
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- g. b.
- 02-23-25
The difficulty she had balancing her gift with her romance and bipolar disease
The book was well researched but the reader did not do it justice with his flippant tone.
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- Kari Dietrich
- 07-04-23
Really good and restrained…
What a life Vivian led! A fuller picture of her as a woman, a wife, and a mental-health survivor. This is relatively lean on basking in the glow of her legacy performances. I wouldn’t have minded a little more indulgence here, But I respect the restraint and the research. Well-written.
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- Anna L. Blair
- 11-20-21
great biography of a great star!
loved it, although I wish the reader would've done some research on how people's names are pronounced.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Slimer
- 10-19-20
So much more to this actress and kind friend
I have seen and read many superficial accounts of her life. I did not know of her many stage projects that were so successful and her struggles with mental illness and lung disease. She worked very hard on her craft and being a consistent, kind individual.
She was devastated when she ruined relationships and projects due to her loss of mental stability and tuberculosis.. Still, so many friends , relatives, ex husbands and professional associates loved and admired her and saw her unique artistry. It was a fascinating listen.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Phyllis Lowry
- 03-22-21
Most complete fair biography.
Thanks to the author for telling a truth I've always suspected. VL was the brains and Olivier was just an actor who was not even smart enough to recognize she had loads more talent. Her biggest failing was loving him.
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13 people found this helpful
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- M.L. Curry
- 08-31-22
Treasured Listening
14 hours long. It is fascinating to the max. I learned from the author that so was Vivien Leigh during her remarkable life and career. The time spands golden decades of British theater and film, weaving in countless persons in hers and Laurence Olivier's circle. I'm not sure the story would be appealing to a reader not eager to be submerged in that setting. Especially for 14 hours. Narration is very good. I slowed the word speed in order clarify the British accent.
The book's content is immaculately researched, honest yet nonjudgemental toward the wild drive it took for Vivien Leigh and Olivier to become legendary theatrical stars. Her remarkable intelligence and awareness is described in excellent depth so as to convince readers that she absorbed everything she encountered, alchemized it internally, and gave it back with love. The vast details of her choice of roles, her preparation and performances are stunning. Her gifts were eventually accelerated into bi-polar psychotic episodes, in a time when the mental disease was hardly understood for what it is- involuntary.
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- Lou G.
- 02-13-24
A very full and productive life.
This book is very informative, well written, and well read.
I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing about this beautiful and talented actress
L.G.
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