Which actress played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind?

Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. Leigh was a British actress who won the role after producer David O. Selznick conducted an extensive search for the film's central character.

The 1939 film adapts Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel and follows Scarlett through the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Leigh's performance made her internationally famous and earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She later won the same award for playing Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

A common mix-up is confusing Leigh with Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie Hamilton, or with Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck, actresses considered for major roles but not Scarlett. Clark Gable played Rhett Butler, Scarlett's volatile romantic partner. Leigh was English, despite playing a character from Georgia, and her casting was initially seen as a surprising choice because she was relatively unknown to American audiences.