RITA
Rita lives in the house that she was born in. Her parents and aunt lived there, as did her grandmother. Now it's just Rita, and she's about to celebrate her 90th birthday.
She went to school around the corner and loved it. She left at 15 and got a job in a local photo studio in their development and printing department.
Film photography was huge in those days. Every town had studios where people had their photos taken, and thousands were employed in the industry.
Unfortunately, the boss was "a bit free with his hands", but Rita had to put up with it to keep the job.
She then got a job at a different studio, and an 'old timer' who worked there taught Rita how to retouch photos by hand. The photos were on glass plates. Rita learnt the fiddly job of painting out blemishes, whitening eyes and improving eyelashes. She's always loved painting and drawing, so she enjoyed this job.
Rita's aunt loved the arts and greatly influenced her niece. Rita got her love of clothes from her and her love of the theatre.
Rita especially loved Shakespeare. When she was small, the sermons at her local church were in Elizabethan English. This made it much easier for her to understand Shakespeare.
The actors she loved the most were Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. She first saw them in 'The Sleeping Prince' at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Their performances had a profound effect on the then-20-year-old Rita. She went on to see all of their plays and films.
Rita much preferred the theatre to the cinema. To her, the contact between the actors and the audience was something special.
Through her theatre visits, she made friends and discovered that some would wait at the stage door after a production. Rita would never have done this alone, but because they went, she decided to join them. As Vivien Leigh left the theatre, she would always take time to talk to the fans. This was so exciting for Rita. At the time, Leigh was one of the most famous actors in the world, having won 2 Oscars for ‘Gone with the Wind' and, 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'
When Leigh was rehearsing for an Old Vic tour of Australasia at a theatre in Finsbury Park, Rita waited at the stage door with some flowers.
When Leigh arrived, she was delighted with the flowers and invited Rita to watch the rehearsals. Afterwards, they chatted about Leigh's upcoming tour, and Rita said she would miss her. Leigh then gave her a list of all the addresses she would be staying at while away and asked her to write.
Rita did and was thrilled when the first postcard arrived from Australia. Over the following years, the pair wrote over 50 letters to each other right up to Leigh's death from TB in 1976 at just 53. Leigh's letters to Rita were often very personal. She was surprisingly open when she wrote to her fans.
After her death, Rita wanted to do something to help preserve the memory of Vivien, so along with her friend Joyce, she set up the 'Vivien Leigh Circle', of which she is still president.
The club grew with more and more members joining, including younger people who weren't born when Leigh was alive.
The group meet regularly and go on trips to see the places where Vivien lived and performed.
Rita donated all her correspondence and photos of Leigh to the V&A, where it is held as part of the 'Vivien Leigh Collection'.
Many images of Leigh in books and online are often credited as 'from the Rita Malyon collection.'
Rita's love of the theatre and Leigh has made her many friends and given her an insight into a world far beyond her suburban home.
Watching the 90-year-old as she enthusiastically went through her memorabilia, one can still see that star-struck young girl from 70 years ago.
When she goes out, Rita always wears her headscarf - just like the Hollywood legend that shaped her life.
