Cast

Laurence Olivier

Acting

Cast

Laurence Olivier

Known for

Acting

Born

1907-05-22

From

Dorking, Surrey, England, UK

Died

1989-07-11

Also known as Лоуренс Оливье, Sir Laurence Olivier, Laurence Kerr 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.

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Biography

The Betsy

Clash of the Titans

Rebecca

Spartacus

A Bridge Too Far

Romeo and Juliet

Wuthering Heights

Westward Passage

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Marathon Man

Battle of Britain

The Bounty

Sleuth

Uncle Vanya

The Boys from Brazil

The Devil's Disciple

A Little Romance

Dracula

Khartoum

Hamlet

Night of 100 Stars II

The Collection

Laurence Olivier: a life

Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

The Merchant of Venice

Nicholas and Alexandra

Bunny Lake Is Missing

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Inchon

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Pride and Prejudice

Oh! What a Lovely War

Daphne Laureola

That Hamilton Woman

21 Days

Directed by William Wyler

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

The Shoes of the Fisherman

This Happy Breed

Love Among the Ruins

49th Parallel

Wild Geese II

The Prince and the Showgirl

Potiphar's Wife

The Ebony Tower

Friends and Lovers

Nothing Like a Dame

The Jazz Singer

Gregory Peck: His Own Man

Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel

To Be Hamlet

Richard III

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

The Filth and the Fury

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

The Jigsaw Man

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

Discovering Hamlet

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

The Power and the Glory

Words for Battle

Lady Caroline Lamb

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

No Funny Business

The Yellow Ticket

Marilyn despite herself

Carrie

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

David Copperfield

Male of the Species

Revisiting Brideshead

The Prince, The Showgirl and Me

Rebecca

Henry V

Come Back, Little Sheba