Biography for
Margaret Mitchell (I)

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Date of Birth

8 November 1900, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Date of Death

16 August 1949, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (road accident)

Birth Name

Peggy Mitchell

Nickname

Peggy

Height

4' 9½" (1.46 m)

Spouse

John R. Marsh	(July 1925 - 16 August 1949) (her death)
Red Berrien Upshaw	(2 September 1922 - 1924)

Trivia

Learned some of the history contained in "Gone With the Wind" from her father, who was once head of the Atlanta Historical Society. Other material came from relatives who lived through the Civil War.

Early writing career began as a journalist for the Atlanta Journal (1922-26).

Began writing "Gone With the Wind" in 1926 after a horse riding accident gave her chronic arm and back injuries.

She claimed she never intended to publish "Gone With the Wind". In 1935, a friend of hers told a visiting MacMillan editor about it. After some cajoling, she brought the manuscript to his hotel. He said the stack of papers was almost as tall as she was, most of the pages were mildewed and the chapters were out of order. He ignored her subsequent requests that he return the manuscript while coaxing her into polishing it. It was published the next year and, to date, has sold more copies than every other book except the Bible.

Steadfastly refused to help in the production of the movie. She told David O. Selznick that he had bought the book. It was his to do with as he pleased. She sent her friend, Susan Myrick, to Selznick as a technical advisor. After that, Selznick left her alone.

In another effort to discourage questions about the film adaptation of "Gone With the Wind", she told newspaper reporters - in all the seriousness she could muster - that she thought Groucho Marx would make a good Rhett Butler.

After her death, her brother Stephens Mitchell controlled the copyright to "Gone With the Wind". During his life, he steadfastly refused to grant rights to any sequel (print or film) or filmed remake. Only after his death was the sequel approved, which was adapted as the TV miniseries "Scarlett" (1994).

Graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts [1922]

Pictured on a 1¢ US definitive postage stamp in the Great Americans series, issued 30 June 1986.

Died after being hit by a car while crossing the street with her husband in Atlanta.

In 1936, producer David O. Selznick bought the film rights to Margaret Mitchell's novel for $50,000. Later, after Gone with the Wind (1939) became a blockbuster film, Selznick realized he had underpaid Mitchell and gave her an additional $50,000.

She personally approved of the interpretation of Scarlett O'Hara by actress Vivien Leigh when she finally saw Gone with the Wind (1939). Overall, she also liked the film with a few minor quibbles. She thought the house at Tara (the O'Hara family plantation) should have been much more modest. She also reportedly did not like the introductory "crawl" that appears on the screen after the opening titles ("There was a land of cavaliers and cotton fields called the Old South ... ").

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