The Oliviers returned once again to England on June 22nd once Titus Andronicus had completed its run.After trying to rescue their local St. James's Theatre from demolition， and failing， Vivien and Olivier got into a severe fight during one of her ‘a(chǎn)ttacks’. Both hit each other and when Vivien appeared shortly afterwards in public， she had a patch above her right eye from this incident. It was a moment that would be a drastic turning point in their personal lives——and in the professional lives they performed for the very last time together on stage. This however， was not the end of Vivien's career. A new interest in stage and screen was just emerging……

During the early part of 1957， there began rumours in the press that the Oliviers were separating. He had begun an affair with Joan Plowright， his co-star in The Entertainer and Vivien had had an on and off relationship with Peter Finch. Vivien's daughter Suzanne，had recently become engaged，and Vivien took some time off and traveled with her father in Ireland， revisited her first husband Leigh. On Vivien's 44th birthday， she was in Glasgow visiting Olivier's performance of The Entertainer. Suzanne's wedding took place on December 6th， and both Vivien and Olivier attended.Suzanne had been fortunate to have her grandmother Gertrude care for her during the many years Vivien was away in Hollywood and on stage tours.

Returning to acting in mid 1958， Vivien performed in Duel of Angels and toured the UK，while Olivier was overseas in America having a huge success with The Entertainer. There were further plans to film Macbeth， but this ended again and permanently， when Mike Todd， their new producer was killed in an accident. Vivien suffered severe bursts of anxiety during the fall of 1958 while still able to perform to good reviews in Duel of Angels. On her 45th birthday， Vivien and Olivier met for dinner and he explained to her that they must go their separate ways. The play Skin of Our Teeth， was shot for BBC television during this time， and was shown on March 17th 1959， resulting in a rare TV performance by Vivien——one that she disliked immensely. After her performing on stage in New York in Look After Lulu， Vivien's father fell ill and died on December 18th at age 76 during a time when the Oliviers' marriage was over in all but name. Laurence Olivier started live anew at this point， away from Vivien and her misunderstood illness， and began a family with Joan Plowright. As to this result， actor Michael Denison pointed out:\" The marriage to Vivien had to be justified in evey possible way. They had to have total success so that the world would say 'it's so wonderful!' I believe Larry wanted to justify it as far as he could to appease his own conscience and took whatever Vivien threw at him in her extremes1 with the most fantastic forbearance. It was only when she had really gone that he turned to the total contrast， and also， very much， to have another family.\"

Vivien left for America to star in a another reprisal of in Duel of Angels. It was here she met and began a relationship with fellow stage actor， John Merivale. They had met previously only briefly during A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1937. Their affair was initially secret but was constantly questioned by the press and news coverage. The reviews of Duel of Angels were very good and again Vivien was on top form on stage. Her therapy with shock treatment had been very successful in keeping her from harsh mood swings. She received an unwelcome telegram from Olivier asking for divorce， but in her heart， she always believed that he would come back to her. She made an announcement to the press that Olivier wished to divorce her in order to marry JoaPlowright. Vivien drank severely during this period and was diagnosed with cyclic manic-depressive psychosis，receiving 6 shock treatments during 1960 and early 1961， while still performing successfully on stage. She moved in with John Merivale and lived for a time in Hollywood， revisiting old friends and peers while Duel of Angels toured the west. There was strong press and public interest in the divorce settlement between Vivien and Olivier at the time， and it was finalized on December 2nd， 1960.

Vivien began work on a new film， the first in 5 years， written by Tennessee Williams called The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. It was about an aging actress who forsakes her career to take care of her ill husband. After he dies， the widow is left in Rome and is taken advantage of by a young gigolo. Her co-star was a very youthful Warren Beatty， and Vivien wore a graying light blonde wig2 for her role. Reviews of the film were positive， and Vivien had returned to the screen in a new and im- pressive light. In the summer of that year， she flew to Atlanta to be part of a Civil War Centenary3 and present a reprisal of Gone With The Wind. She arrived with Olivia de Havilland， her only surviving co-star from 20 years earlier. Clark Gable had unfortunately died a few short months before， as a result of a heart attack. After this special occasion， Vivien took a holiday in Ja- maica and seemed much recovered from the results of her recent shock treatments. She appeared briefly in the film The Valiant Years， a documentary on Winston Churchill.

A new tour was set to begin， returning to Australia with the Old Vic Company. Her mother Gertrude， still maintaining her own beauty business， suffered a heart attack in the fall of 1961， though recovered successfully. Vivien was proposed to4 by an aged Australian multi-millionaire named Sir Ernest Davis during the new tour of Australia，which she politely declined.He， however，left her some valuable shares in his will.The tour continued across South America where she addressed the audi-ences in Spanish， and returned to London in May of 1962. Her voice was used in audio recordings of several Beatrix Potter children stories including Squirrel and Nutkin， and Mrs.Tiggy-Winkle， all popular with young children at the time.

Taking on the task of a musical comedy Tovarich， she took singing and dancing lessons for several hours a day during re- hearsals.Her efforts paid off， and she received much critical acclaim as well as a Tony award in 1963 for best musical comedy performance by an actress. Her illness returned due to new stress and lengthy performances without a much needed holiday， so her temperament became impossible to control. It was suggested that she return to England to receive a new series of shock treatments. She asked her companion John Merivale to marry her and come with her to London， but he declined and this strongly effected their relationship afterwards.She was placed in the Avenue Nursing Home as a result of nervous exhaustion and was moni tored 24 hours a day so that she would rest and not try to leave on her own， having reoccurring hallucinations5 . She was eventu- ally allowed to rest at her own home in London， where she was monitored by a nurse and spent many sleepless nights——one of the many unfortunate side effects of tuberculosis. Laurence Olivier visited her briefly and they spent some time together talking and taking walks by a nearby lake. In June of 1964， Vivien had re covered enough so that she could leave England once again， this time to return to Hollywood to make what would be her final film， Ship of Fools.

The novel Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter had been a successful best-seller and David O. Selznick had lost out in getting the film rights when United Artists bought it shortly after it was published. It is best known for Vivien's Charleston dance alone on the ship's deck.Having several more shock treatments in July，she was able to complete the film without many incidents， though her physical condition had worsened. Vivien remained a close friend with Katharine Hepburn during this time， and returned home to England， leaving Hollywood at the end of August when filming was finished. She spent several quiet months in London before planning a trip to India， having a desire to return to the land she was born.

After a brief return to the stage in Newcastle， and further rest in 1965， Vivien did her final play with John Gielgud in his production of Ivanov. After touring America and her last ever stage performance in March， she spent several months vacation- ing in France and Greece. Vivien was awarded the French equivalent of the Oscar for her role in Ship of Fools during this trip， and spent a lot of time， mainly alone， reading scripts that held little promise. The cause of this case is explained by Vivien in 1967， at age 53: \"What's happening is that roles come few and far between when an actress gets older. In the past and particu- larly in London， producers， playwrights and directors would think nothing of casting a woman in her 40's or 50's to portray a heroine in her 20's. These days age has become such a factor.\"

After considering several new film ideas and plays， Vivien did a reading at Oxford which would become her last public appearance. In May， she became very ill and refused to be admitted to a hospital.Her tuberculosis had returned with a severe patch on her left lung. In June， her illness was released to the public and a new play， A Delicate Balance was postponed. She continued to rehearse daily in her home with Michael Redgrave， trying to recover.Olivier at the time， was in the hospital receiving treatment for prostate6 cancer. She continued to smoke and entertain her many friends and visitors， preferring to live as she always had. Vivien once wrote， 'I would rather have lived a short life with Larry than face a long one without him. ' On Friday July 7th， John Merivale found her asleep in her room at 11 p. m. when he arrived home from the theatre (having finished acting in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney). Returning to the bedroom a short time later， he found her lying on the floor and attempted to resuscitate7 her. Vivien Leigh died from complications resulting from chronic pulmonary tuberculosis8.

A private funeral was held on Wednesday the 12th at St. Mary's surrounded by hundreds of flower arrangements with trib- utes from family and peers. All of London's theatres switched off their marquees9 at 10 p. m. for an hour of respect and requiem10 masses were arranged in New York. A memorial service was held at St Martin's in the Fields on August 14th， attended by her many friends and famous stars. Many felt， for her to die while she was still performing and beautiful， was how she would have wished it. Her ashes were scattered at Lake Tickerage on October 18th.

當(dāng)《蒂特斯·安德羅尼克斯》的上演期一結(jié)束，奧立佛夫婦再次回到英國。在她的一次“疾病發(fā)作”期間，在試圖挽救他們當(dāng)?shù)氐氖ァふ材匪箘≡好庠獠饸Ш退ヂ涞呐χ螅M(fèi)雯麗與奧立佛大打一架，兩個人都出了手。當(dāng)不久費(fèi)雯麗公開露面時，因這次事件，她的右眼出現(xiàn)了一個腫塊。這個時刻，將是他倆私人生活的一大轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)——而且在演藝生涯中，也是他們最后一次共同登臺。然而，這并非費(fèi)雯麗事業(yè)的終點(diǎn)。她很快又產(chǎn)生了對舞臺和銀幕的新興趣……

1957年的上半年，傳媒開始謠傳奧立佛夫婦就要離異了。他與瓊·普婁萊特有了來往，她是《請客人》中他的搭檔。費(fèi)雯麗與彼特·芬尼奇關(guān)系密切。費(fèi)雯麗的女兒蘇珊娜最近訂了婚，費(fèi)雯麗休息了一段時間，與其父親在愛爾蘭旅游，重又看望了其第一位丈夫利。費(fèi)雯麗44歲生日的那天，她在格拉斯哥觀看了奧立佛演的《請客人》。12月6日，蘇珊娜舉行了婚禮，費(fèi)雯麗和奧立佛都出席了。這么多年來，費(fèi)雯麗遠(yuǎn)在好萊塢及多次進(jìn)行戲劇巡演，蘇珊娜一直由外祖母格特魯?shù)抡湛?，真是幸運(yùn)。

1958年的年中，費(fèi)雯麗重回戲壇，演出了《天使之爭》，并在英國巡演，而奧立佛遠(yuǎn)在國外，因《請客人》在美國獲得巨大的成功。下一步計(jì)劃拍攝《麥克白斯》，可是，當(dāng)他們的新制片人邁克·托德在一次事故中喪生時，這再次而且永遠(yuǎn)劃上了句號。1958年秋季，費(fèi)雯麗患上了嚴(yán)重的陣發(fā)性憂慮癥，而同時仍能夠出演《天使之爭》，并引起好評。在她45歲生日那天，費(fèi)雯麗與奧立佛共聚晚餐，他向她指出他倆必須分道揚(yáng)鑣。在此期間，她為英國廣播公司的電視部拍攝了《我們的劫難》這出戲，并于1959年3月17日播放了，致使一部由費(fèi)雯麗主演的少有的電視劇問世了——她對此極其厭惡。當(dāng)費(fèi)雯麗在紐約的舞臺上演出了《照顧露露》之后，其父親病倒了，并于 12月18日逝世，終年76歲。在此期間，奧立佛夫婦的婚姻已名存實(shí)亡。勞倫斯·奧立佛在此時開始新的生活，擺脫了費(fèi)雯麗以及她那遭人誤解的病，開始與瓊·普婁萊特建立了新家。對于這一結(jié)果，男演員邁克爾·得尼遜指出：“在費(fèi)雯麗看來，婚姻在哪方面都得盡善盡美。他們在一起必須大獲全勝從而讓全世界都說：‘這真是妙極了?！艺J(rèn)為勞倫斯只想讓婚姻能夠使他心安理得就夠了。因此，他以大得可怕的、最大的忍耐力承受了費(fèi)雯麗在過激的極端狀態(tài)下扔給他的一切。只是在她真正背離了他，他才有了180度的大轉(zhuǎn)變，而且，他轉(zhuǎn)變大了，就重組家庭。”

費(fèi)雯麗赴美國，在《天使之爭》的又一次重排中擔(dān)任主演。就在這里，她遇見了她的同行、男戲劇演員約翰·麥里文利并與其有了來往。他倆以前在1937年演《仲夏夜之夢》時只短暫地見過面。兩人的艷事剛開始保密，接著不斷遭到媒體和新聞報(bào)道的盤問?！短焓怪疇帯返玫搅藰O高的評價，費(fèi)雯麗再次榮登戲壇的頂峰。她接受了電療的診治，結(jié)果非常成功，使她不再發(fā)生強(qiáng)烈的情緒波動。她收到了奧立佛要求離婚的不祥電報(bào)，但是她心里總是堅(jiān)信他會回到她的身旁。她向媒體宣稱奧立佛希望與她離婚，為的是娶瓊·普婁萊特。在此時期，費(fèi)雯麗酗酒，被診斷為患有周期性狂郁精神病，于是在 1960—1961年的年初接受了6次電療。而在同時仍在舞臺上進(jìn)行出色的表演。她搬來與約翰·麥里文利同居，在好萊塢住了好些日子。當(dāng)《天使之爭》在西部巡演時，她重訪了舊友和昔日同行。當(dāng)時，費(fèi)雯麗與奧立佛協(xié)議離婚之事引起了媒體和大眾的極大興趣，并在1960年12月2日得到了結(jié)。

她開始一部新片的拍攝，這是未來五年里的第一部，由田納西·威廉斯任編劇，名叫《羅馬的春天》。這部片子講述了一名漸已顯老的女演員，為照顧患病的丈夫，拋棄了自己的事業(yè)。在他死后，這位寡婦流落羅馬，被一名年輕的舞男占有了。與她搭檔的男影星為風(fēng)華正茂的沃倫·比蒂，費(fèi)雯麗為演此角，戴上了泛白的淺金色假發(fā)。評論肯定了此片，因此，費(fèi)雯麗帶著新的耀眼光芒，復(fù)出銀幕。那年夏天，她飛抵亞特蘭大，參加了美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的百年紀(jì)念活動，再次表演了一下《亂世佳人》中的鏡頭。她與奧利維·德·哈維蘭一同到達(dá)，他是她20年前惟一健在的搭檔影星了?？死恕どw博已不幸于幾個月前因心臟病發(fā)作而逝世。在這次特別的事件之后，費(fèi)雯麗到牙買加度假，似乎從最近接受電療的后果中，幾乎康復(fù)過來。她在描述溫斯頓·丘吉爾的紀(jì)錄片《英勇歲月》中露了一下臉。

一輪新的巡演又決定開始了，這回是隨老維克劇團(tuán)重訪澳大利亞。她的母親格特魯?shù)?，仍然在?jīng)營自己的美容業(yè)，于1961年患上了心臟病，不過還是康復(fù)得很好。在澳大利亞的這次新的巡演中，一位名叫厄內(nèi)斯特·戴維的年老的澳洲億萬富翁向費(fèi)雯麗求婚?？伤竦刂x絕了。然而，他在其遺囑中給她留下了一些值錢的股票。該巡演繼續(xù)在南美洲四處進(jìn)行。在這里，她用西班牙語向觀眾致辭，于1962年5月回到了倫敦。她在好幾部畢特里克斯·波特寫的少兒故事的磁帶錄音中，展現(xiàn)了自己的嗓音。這些故事包括《松鼠和小堅(jiān)果》及《蒂奇——溫克爾太太》，都受到了當(dāng)時幼孩們的歡迎。

在承擔(dān)了音樂喜劇《托維里奇》的任務(wù)時，在排演期間，她每天花好幾個小時上聲樂和舞蹈課。她的功夫沒有白費(fèi)。 1963年她既喜獲托尼獎最佳音樂喜劇女演員表演獎，也贏得了評論界的高度贊譽(yù)。由于新的壓力以及長時間的多場演出，得不到必要的休假，她的病復(fù)發(fā)了，所以她的脾氣變得無法控制。有人建議，她該回英國接受新一輪的電療。她請求其伴侶約翰·麥里文利娶她并與她同返倫敦，可他婉拒了，這極大地影響了他倆以后的關(guān)系。她因精神衰竭癥進(jìn)了小道護(hù)理院，受到每天24小時的照管，以便她得到休息，不會因反復(fù)產(chǎn)生幻覺而試圖自行逃離。最終允許她在倫敦自己的家中休養(yǎng)。在家中在一名護(hù)士的照看下，她度過了無數(shù)不眠之夜——這是結(jié)核病的許多糟糕的副作用之一。勞倫斯·奧立佛間或來看望她，他們在附近的湖畔聊天、散步，共度了一些時光。1964年6月，費(fèi)雯麗已經(jīng)得到了足夠的康復(fù)，于是她得以再次離開英國，這次回好萊塢是去拍她的最后一部影片《愚人船》。

《愚人船》是凱瑟琳·安妮·波特寫的小說，曾是最暢銷書中的佼佼者，當(dāng)它出版后不久，聯(lián)合藝術(shù)家公司就買下了它。因此，大衛(wèi)·奧·塞爾茲尼克沒能獲得該部電影的拍攝權(quán)。此片最有名的是費(fèi)雯麗在船上獨(dú)自跳查理斯頓舞。7月她又做了好幾次電療，所以盡管她的身體狀況已經(jīng)惡化，但是，她還是在沒發(fā)生多少意外的情況下，拍完了此片。在這一時期，費(fèi)雯麗一直是凱瑟琳·赫本的密友。在8月底，此片一拍完，費(fèi)雯麗就離開了好萊塢，回英國自己的家去了。她在倫敦安寧地過了幾個月，因渴望重返她的誕生之地，才計(jì)劃了一次赴印度的旅游。

短暫地復(fù)出在紐凱斯堡舞臺上，接著在1965年又作了休息之后，費(fèi)雯麗在約翰·吉爾格德編排的《伊萬諾夫》中，與他一起演出了自己的最后一出戲。在美國巡演及在3月份作了最后的舞臺表演之后，一連好幾個月她都在法國和希臘休假，在此旅游期間，費(fèi)雯麗因在《愚人船》中所飾的角色被授予相當(dāng)于奧斯卡獎的法國電影大獎。她基本上是在孤獨(dú)中度過了許多時光，同時看一看幾乎沒有前景的一些劇本。這種情形的原因，正如她在1967年53歲時所述：“現(xiàn)在的情況是當(dāng)女演員年齡漸老，來的劇本就很少，間隔時間很長。在過去，特別是在倫敦，制片人、劇作家及導(dǎo)演統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都認(rèn)為讓40或50多歲的女性拍戲，來刻畫20來歲的女主角沒什么不妥。如今的時代，年齡成了這樣一個重大因素。”

在考慮了好幾部新片的意向及新戲之后，她在牛津大學(xué)舉行了一場朗誦會，這是她在公共場合的最后露面。5月，她病得很重，又拒不入院治療。她的肺結(jié)核又犯了，左肺上出現(xiàn)了一塊嚴(yán)重的腫塊。6月，向世人公布了其病情，一部新戲《微妙的平衡》被推遲了。每天，她仍繼續(xù)在家中與邁克爾·雷德格雷夫排練，竭力康復(fù)。此時，奧立佛也住院了，因前列腺癌正在接受治療。她不停地抽煙、款待自己的許多朋友和客人，樂意一如既往地過日子。費(fèi)雯麗曾寫道：“我寧愿伴隨勞倫斯活得不長也不愿離開他而長壽。”7月7日，星期五，約翰·麥里文利中午11點(diǎn)從劇院回到家中(剛演完《奇尼夫人最后的日子》)，發(fā)現(xiàn)她仍在自己的房里熟睡。過一會兒再回臥室，他見她躺在了地上，試圖把她搶過來。但費(fèi)雯麗因患嚴(yán)重的肺結(jié)核引起的綜合癥，與世長辭了。

12日，星期三，在圣瑪麗教堂舉行了私人葬禮，教堂的四周擺放著寫有家人和同行題詞的鮮花飾物。晚上10點(diǎn)，倫敦所有的劇院都降下其大門罩達(dá)一小時之久，以示敬意。在紐約，安排了多場安靈彌撒。8月14日，在菲爾滋的圣馬丁教堂舉行了紀(jì)念活動，她的許多朋友和著名明星都出席了。許多人覺得，她還在演出、還美麗動人就逝世了，其實(shí)她本人也希望如此。10月18日，她的骨灰被撒在了帝克里奇湖。（全文完）

注釋：

1extreme急進(jìn)，過激、極端狀態(tài)。

2 wig 發(fā)套。

3 centenary百周年，一百周年紀(jì)念。

4 propose to向……求婚。

5 hallucination幻覺。

6 prostate前列腺。

7 resuscitate 使蘇醒，使復(fù)活。

8 chronic pulmonary tuberculosis 長期的肺結(jié)核。

9 marquee（建筑）大門罩。 10 requiem（宗）（天主教）安靈彌撒。