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"Told Leigh," wrote the British actress on June
10, 1937, recording the day she informed her husband, Leigh
Holman, about the affair. "Left with Larry," is the hasty entry
six days later.
The diaries, which carry an estimated auction value of
2,000-3,000 pounds ($2,587-$3,880), form part of Leigh's
personal collection of jewelry, photos and paintings that is to
be auctioned in London on Sept. 26, Sotheby's said on Wednesday.
Leigh also made notes about her screen tests for "Gone with the
Wind" and the day in January 1939 when she finally started
filming. She went on to win an Oscar for playing petulant
Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara in the American Civil War
classic.
Leigh and Olivier began their affair around 1936 when both were
married to other people, according to Olivier's previously
published love letters.
Because of the scandal of adultery and divorce, they married in
secret in California in August 1940 at a low-key ceremony. A
silver goblet gift from Katharine Hepburn, one of only four
guests recorded at the wedding, is included in the auction.
A ring, inscribed with the words "Laurence Olivier Vivien Leigh
Eternally" is expected to sell for up to 600 pounds ($776).
Leigh and Olivier remained married for 20 years before divorcing
in 1960. Leigh died in 1967 and Olivier died in 1989.
Other auction highlights include Olivier's annotated working
copy of "Hamlet" from his 1948 film, a set of Leigh's
monogrammed luggage and a first edition of Ian Fleming's first
James Bond novel "Casino Royale," valued at up to 9,000 pounds
($11,640).
The collection is being sold following the death of Leigh's only
child, Suzanne Farrington, in 2015.
($1 = 0.7732 pound)
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew
Lewis)
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