Vivien Leigh friendship developed after he congratulated her on her performance. Olivier and Leigh began an affair while acting as lovers in "Fire Over England" (1937), but Olivier was still married to actress Jill Esmond. During this period, Leigh read the Margaret Mitchell novel "Gone with the Wind" and instructed her American agent to recommend her to David O. Selznick, who was planning a film version. She remarked to a journalist, "I've cast myself as Scarlett O'Hara", and "The Observer" film critic C. A. Lejeune recalled a conversation of the same period in which Leigh "stunned us all" with the assertion that
Cameron Mitchell (actor) In 1944, he served as a bombardier with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. His film career began with being contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945 for three years, initially with minor roles in films including "They Were Expendable" (with John Wayne and Robert Montgomery), but Mitchell quickly rose to leading man status. He co-starred with Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy in "Cass Timberlane" and with Wallace Beery in "The Mighty McGurk" (both 1947), and concluded his MGM period with two 1948 films starring Clark Gable: "Homecoming" (also with Turner) and "Command Decision". Mitchell originated the role