Vivien Leigh

Birth Name: Vivian Mary Hartley

Date of Birth: 5 November, 1913

Place of Birth: Darjeeling, Bengal Presidency, British India

Date of Death: 8 July, 1967

Date of Place: London, England, U.K.

Ethnicity: English, likely Armenian and Irish

Vivien Leigh was a British actress. She twice won the Academy Award for Best Actress, for Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). She also starred in Caesar and Cleopatra, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, and Ship of Fools.

She was born in India. Her father, Ernest Richard Hartley, was English, and may have been born on the Isle of Islay, Argyll, Scotland or in Bingley, West Yorkshire, England. Her mother, Gertrude M. F. (Yackjee/Yackje), was born in Darjeeling, India.

Vivien had a daughter, actress Suzanne Farrington, with her first husband, barrister Herbert Leigh Holman.

There are at least three different couples referred to by genealogists as Vivien’s paternal grandparents. One couple are Seth Hartley and Sarah Jane Mawson. Seth was born in Calverley, West Yorkshire, England. Sarah was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

Vivien’s maternal grandfather was named Michael John Yackjee/Yackje (the son of Johannes/John Gabriel Yackjee and Elizabeth). It appears that Michael was of Armenian origin.

Vivien’s maternal grandmother was named Mary Therisa/Teresa/Theresa/I. Robinson (the daughter of James Wilson/Wilston Robinson). Vivien’s maternal grandmother was usually said to be the daughter of Irish parents.

Sources: Genealogies of Vivien Leigh – https://www.geni.com
https://genealogy.links.org
http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk
http://townsley.info

Information about Vivien’s Armenian ancestry – http://chater-genealogy.blogspot.ca

A discussion of Vivien’s ancestry – http://www.gnxp.com

Marriage record of Vivien’s maternal grandparents, Michael John Yackjee/Yackje and Mary Therisa/Teresa/Theresa/I. Robinson – https://familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

103 Responses

  1. Tom says:

    The Indian contribution makes her beautiful indeed.
    Stunning eyes .

  2. Patty says:

    She is white.

    She not part Indian, it’s obvious just by looking at her. Get over it.

    • poppy says:

      Patty
      Obviously you are privy to information no one else has and you are taking it very personally .If you want to believe she is white and she is but she is also part Indian.Its your problem if you refuse to believe that she may be part Indian in the face of all the evidence known to her family,friends and history.
      You can’t get over it….so not worth talking about it.

  3. Patty says:

    Poppy, we all know those Bollywood women bleach like crazy, evidenced by both the women you posted, it’s quite obvious. Indian women don’t look like that.

    If Vivien was part Indian, it would be obvious and she would be much darker. Yackjee can be an Armenian name, I’m sure, and I have heard her mother took up her adopted Indian parents name.

    Vivien would be spinning in her grave if she knew what you all were trying to imply. She was simply born in India, like many other English women during that time.

    • Poppy says:

      Patty

      First …why would she be spinning in her grave and how do you know? And why did she have “indian adoptive parents “That does not make sense.

      As for Bollywood women bleaching their skin…..you would need a lotta bleach and a lot of money to cover the whole body and evenly .More than that you would need bleach that actually works and does not burn.Its common knowledge that bleach burns your skin off. So how come these do not have burnt skin or patches on their skin ?

      I must tell you that Kajol and Rani are rather average looking girls.They are considered quite dark as they are Bengali.North Indians are considered fair but not like white fair as white is considered a pale and pasty look hence not desired altho we have that look too.

      I believe certain europeans have issues when they see a Indian as they think that somehow or other this indian has made herself look lighter,taller or better bcuz they want to be “european” or white.They have issues accepting that Indians are naturally that way.

      Sorry to tell you but Bollywood has dark actresses like Rani or Kajol or Rekha and also lighter ones like Aish,Preity or Katrina and also mixed Indioan/Chinese actreeses like Manisha.They are all Indian and going on your logic wouldn’t the darker ones like Rani slap on extra bleach to whiten up further if it was that easy ? If it worked at all ?? There are many races in India and thats why the different looks but its still 75% Indo-aryan,indo-european and caucasian whether you like it or not.

      Its natural genetics.
      Only aid those women have is the same as you….makeup if they are able to afford it.None if they are poor and majority have little money but more sense.They have better things to do than buy bleach that burns off skin .

    • Poppy says:

      So if her name Yackjee is typical of Bengal and thats where she was born and many people in her life believed she was part Indian,why do you believe Yackjee is Irish or Armenian ? On what basis is Yackjee Irish ?
      She does not have to be darker.Nicoletter Sheriden has the same mix except her side is Punjabi.why is she so fair ?

      What about Boris Johnsons wife who is half Indian ?
      Actually…..there was a resistance fighter called Noor Inyat Khan.She was half Indian/half American and she lived in France at the time of the German occupation and she spoke French .Even the Nazis believed she was French.She was betrayed along with her mates and shot to death eventually for her resistance work and has been honoured by France . And as an aside her Gestapo captors cried on her death.

  4. Poppy says:

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004418/

    Kajol……another very typical Bengali girl

  5. Poppy says:

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611552/

    Rani Mukerjee

    A typical Bengali girl

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