No Time for Comedy 1939, and ran for 179 performances. The cast included Laurence Olivier as Gaylord Esterbrook and Katharine Cornell as Linda Paige, and was directed by Cornell's husband Guthrie McClintic. Olivier starred in this play in New York while his lover, Vivien Leigh, was filming "Gone With the Wind" in Hollywood, causing Leigh stress due to their separation, and according to GWTW lore, influenced her portrayal as Scarlett O'Hara and according to her personal assistant at the time, hurry production so she could be reunited with him. No Time for Comedy No Time for Comedy is a 1940 American comedy-drama film based
Wuthering Heights (1939 film) loyal, wife even when Mr. Lockwood visits. The project was initially intended as a vehicle for Merle Oberon, who was under contract with Goldwyn at the time. However, when Laurence Olivier was cast as Heathcliff, Vivien Leigh wanted to play the lead role alongside her then-lover and future husband. Studio executives felt the role could not go to an actress who was largely unknown in America, but they did offer Leigh the part of Isabella Linton. She declined, and Geraldine Fitzgerald was cast. Leigh was cast in "Gone with the Wind" that same year, for which she won an Academy