Laurence Olivier
Biography
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no theatrical connections, but Olivier's father, a clergyman, decided that his son should become an actor. After attending a drama school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives, and he appeared in his first film. In 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, building it into a highly respected company. There his most celebrated roles included Shakespeare's Richard III and Sophocles's Oedipus. In the 1950s Olivier was an independent actor-manager, but his stage career was in the doldrums until he joined the avant garde English Stage Company in 1957 to play the title role in The Entertainer, a part he later played on film. From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain's National Theatre, running a resident company that fostered many future stars. His own parts there included the title role in Othello (1965) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970). Among Olivier's films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). His later films included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence (1960), Long Day's Journey into Night (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976), Brideshead Revisited (1981) and King Lear (1983). Olivier's honours included a knighthood (1947), a life peerage (1970) and the Order of Merit (1981). For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, and Joan Plowright from 1961 until his death.
Known For
Maxim de Winter
Rebecca
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Spartacus
Andrew Wyke
Sleuth
Dr. Christian Szell
Marathon Man
Heathcliff
Wuthering Heights
Self
To Be Hamlet
Zeus
Clash of the Titans
Supt. Newhouse
Bunny Lake Is Missing
Admiral Hood
The Bounty
Self (archive footage)
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Dr. Jan Spaander
A Bridge Too Far
Field Marshal Sir John French
Oh! What a Lovely War
Julius
A Little Romance
Michael Ingolby
Fire Over England
Johnnie, the Trapper
49th Parallel
The Regent
The Prince and the Showgirl
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Battle of Britain
Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of Ghost
Hamlet
King Henry
The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France
Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Dracula
Edgar
The Dance of Death
Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith
The Jigsaw Man
Mahdi
Khartoum
The Old Soldier
War Requiem
Professor James Moriarty
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
Richard III
Richard III
George Hurstwood
Carrie
Cantor Rabinovitch
The Jazz Singer
Lord Horatio Nelson
That Hamilton Woman
Mr. Darcy
Pride and Prejudice
Tony McVane
Q Planes
Everard Logan
The Divorce of Lady X
Orlando
As You Like It
Othello
Othello
Ezra Lieberman
The Boys from Brazil
Count Witte
Nicholas and Alexandra
Clifford Mortimer
A Voyage Round My Father
Larry Durrant
21 Days Together
Piotr Ilyich Kamenev
The Shoes of the Fisherman
King Lear
King Lear
Rudolf Hess
Wild Geese II
Archie Rice
The Entertainer
Police Constable 94-B
The Magic Box
Self (archive footage)
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Graham Weir
Term of Trial
Gen. Burgoyne
The Devil's Disciple
Loren Hardeman
The Betsy
Julian Rolfe
The Yellow Ticket
Narrator
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones
Love Among the Ruins
Priest
The Power and the Glory
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Inchon
Mr. Creakle
David Copperfield
Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Narrator (voice)
Words for Battle
Narrator
The Gentleman Tramp
Vincent Lunardi
The Conquest of the Air
Harry
The Collection
Captain Ivan Ignatoff
Moscow Nights
Nicholas 'Nick' Allen
Westward Passage
Lieutenant Ned Nichols
Friends and Lovers
Presenter
Male of the Species
Nicholas Randall
Perfect Understanding
Hamlet (archive footage)
Discovering Hamlet
Self (archive footage)
Hannibal Hopkins et Sir Anthony
Ivan Kouznetsoff
The Demi-Paradise
Self (archive footage)
Revisiting Brideshead
Shylock
The Merchant of Venice
Self (archive footage)
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
James Tyrone Sr.
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Dr. Ivan Chebutikin
Three Sisters
Doc Delaney
Come Back, Little Sheba
Big Daddy
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
MacHeath
The Beggar's Opera
Narrator
Malta G.C.
Duke of Wellington
Lady Caroline Lamb
Henry Breasley
The Ebony Tower
Self
The Rehearsal
Self (archive footage)
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
Narrator (voice)
This Happy Breed
Clive Dering
No Funny Business
Self
Night of 100 Stars II
Dr. Anthony Wainwright
A Talent for Murder
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Romeo and Juliet
Narrator
A Queen Is Crowned
Self (archive footage)
The Bannfoot Ferry
Sir Joseph
Daphne Laureola
Self (archive footage)
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
Self
The Volunteer
Peter Bille
The Temporary Widow
The Boy
Too Many Crooks
Straker
Potiphar's Wife
Antonio
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
Self
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
Jornal Português (1938-1951)
Self
At the Haunted End of the Day
Self - Interviewee
Great Acting: Laurence Olivier
Self
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
Richard III (archive footage)
The Filth and the Fury
Superintendent Newhouse (archive footage) (uncredited)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Self
Directed by William Wyler
Dr. Astrov
Uncle Vanya
Self - Host
Olivier Talks About Othello
Joe Halpern
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson
Self (archive footage)
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
Self (archive footage)
Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self (archive footage)
Nothing Like a Dame
Charles Strickland
The Moon and Sixpence
Narrator
Tree of Life
Self
Laurence Olivier: a life
Self (archive footage)
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
Elyot Chase
Private lives
Maxim de winter
Rebecca
Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Henry V (archive footage)
28 Years Later
Self
Korda: I Don't Grow on Trees: Part One
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
122
Gender
Male
Birthday
1907-05-22
Place of Birth
Dorking, Surrey, England, UK
Also Known As
Лоуренс Оливье