Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Another Famous Actress Who Portrayed Lady Teazle

Fans of Gone with the Wind or Vivien Leigh might be interested in this little factoid.  In 1941 Leigh and her husband Sir Lawrence Olivier starred side by side in The School for Scandal and later took the play on tour in 1948-9.  The benefit performance of 1941 was also the same year Leigh and Olivier had starred in another film taking place in the 18th century, That Hamilton Woman.

The School of Scandal if you recall, was a play written by Georgiana's friend Richard Brinsley Sheridan.  Sheridan based his character off his own friends and the main character of the play, Lady Teazle was inspired by Georgiana.  So in a way, the legendary Leigh played the legendary duchess!

For more info on Leigh and Olivier's performances in The School for Scandal check out this lovely site.

2 comments:

  1. I just learned this as well through a short biopic about Viven Leigh on Turner Classic Movies the other night. She must have made a wonderful Lady Teazle!

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  2. I wish I had seen that! I have even been watching TCM more than usual lately too

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