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
Clark Gable Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor and military officer, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He began his career appearing as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1930. The next year, he landed his first leading Hollywood role, and over the next three decades, he was a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures. Gable won an Academy Award for Best Actor for "It Happened One Night" (1934), and was nominated