 In 1917 , Ernest Hartley was transferred to Bangalore as an officer in the Indian Cavalry , while Gertrude and Vivian stayed in Ootacamund . At the age of three , young Vivian made her first stage appearance for her mother 's amateur theatre group , reciting " Little Bo Peep " . Gertrude Hartley tried to instil an appreciation of literature in her daughter and introduced her to the works of Hans Christian Andersen , Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling , as well as stories of Greek mythology and Indian folklore . At the age of six , Vivian was sent by her mother to the Convent of the Sacred Heart ( now Woldingham School ) then situated in Roehampton , southwest London , from Loreto Convent , Darjeeling . One of her friends there was future actress Maureen O 'Sullivan , two years her senior , to whom Vivian expressed her desire to become " a great actress " . She was removed from the school by her father , and travelling with her parents for four years , she attended schools in Europe , notably in Dinard , Biarritz , San Remo and Paris , becoming fluent in both French and Italian . The family returned to Britain in 1931 . She attended A Connecticut Yankee , one of O 'Sullivan 's films playing in London 's West End and told her parents of her ambitions to become an actress . Shortly after , her father enrolled Vivian at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art ( RADA ) in London . 
