![]() ![]() This being my first foray into book writing, I wanted to make sure I did everything the right away. There were several of Vivien Leigh’s letters in the Laurence Olivier Archive that I was determined to use I felt that even if I couldn’t quote the letters in full, extracts would add something special to my book. Vivien and Suzanne at Suzanne’s wedding to Robin Farrington, December 1957 ![]() I feel that a face-to-face meeting (or even a direct email or phone call) allows people to see what I’m really about and helps me to assure them that I’m not some random crazy person out to write a tabloid-style exposé on their famous relative or friend. See, in my experience, I find it better to meet people in person rather than rely on formal letters through lawyers or other intermediaries. And so I explained to my interviewees that my goal was not to push for information about her private life but rather to get her blessing for a project that was very near and dear to me. Whether Suzanne’s reluctance to talk about her life stemmed from lingering feelings of resentment over the atypical relationship she shared with Vivien, or the constant and unfair comparisons to her mother, or some other reason entirely, I was aware from the beginning and respected her want for privacy. “You’re not like your mother, are you?” he said to her, without thinking. Is she nice? What’s she like? She was indeed nice, they said, but she never talks about Vivien, “I mean, she was basically abandoned by her mother.” And there was often the added reminder that “she doesn’t look much like Vivien.” Trader Faulkner told me of an embarrassing gaffe he made when he met Suzanne once at Notley Abbey. I questioned everyone I interviewed about her. “Have you talked to Suzie?” many people asked me. There was a shroud of protective secrecy surrounding her that was carefully held in place by several gatekeepers. Who was Suzanne Farrington, really? While conducting research for Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait, meeting Suzanne was like trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest when I wasn’t an experienced climber. The death announcement in the Telegraph told us that she lived a life of love and laughter and is survived by her three sons, 12 grandchildren and numerous friends, while a longer obituary in the same paper focused more on Suzanne’s tenuous relationship with her famous mother than her individual accomplishments as a woman, wife and mother. Many people know of her, but few outside her family and immediate circle seem to know much about her. She passed away presumably at home in Lower Zeals, Wiltshire, of unstated causes at age 81. It was with sadness that I learned last week of the death of Suzanne Farrington, Vivien Leigh’s only child. ![]()
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