Laurence Olivier

Acting · 3.1 popularity

Age

119

Movies

137

Born: May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989
From: Dorking, Surrey, England, UK
Website: Visit site

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.

Works

137 films

Spartacus

19607.5

Romeo and Juliet

19687.4

Clash of the Titans

19816.9

A Bridge Too Far

19777.2

The Betsy

19784.8

Rebecca

19407.9

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

20045.9

Wuthering Heights

19397.2

The Bounty

19846.8

Marathon Man

19767.2

Battle of Britain

19696.8

The Boys from Brazil

19786.7

Dracula

19796.4

The Prince and the Showgirl

19576.3

Pride and Prejudice

19406.9

Sleuth

19727.7

Hamlet

19487.4

That Hamilton Woman

19417.1

Khartoum

19666.3

The Jazz Singer

19805.9

A Little Romance

19796.8

Nicholas and Alexandra

19717.0

The Devil's Disciple

19596.8

Wild Geese II

19854.9

Richard III

19557.2

49th Parallel

19417.0

To Be Hamlet

1985

Oh! What a Lovely War

19696.6

Bunny Lake Is Missing

19657.2

The Shoes of the Fisherman

19686.8

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

19766.2

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

20214.5

Daphne Laureola

19787.5

Nothing Like a Dame

20186.8

Westward Passage

19326.3

Directed by William Wyler

1986

Night of 100 Stars II

19856.8

The Jigsaw Man

19835.0

Othello

19656.4

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

The Filth and the Fury

20006.9

Carrie

19526.4

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

20185.9

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

19826.0

21 Days

19406.1

Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration

20244.5

Fire Over England

19376.2

Inchon

19813.9

Henry V

19446.7

Uncle Vanya

19635.5

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

19888.2

Churchill and the Movie Mogul

20197.3

Love Among the Ruins

19767.0

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

19918.0

The Magic Box

19526.5

Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love

20018.0

Friends and Lovers

19314.9

Sir John Mills' Moving Memories

20007.0

The Merchant of Venice

19738.5

Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond

19908.5

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

19405.8

Q Planes

19396.0

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

19406.3

This Happy Breed

19447.1

Lady Caroline Lamb

19725.9

The Power and the Glory

19639.0

Potiphar's Wife

19318.0

Discovering Hamlet

20117.5

War Requiem

19896.3

The Divorce of Lady X

19385.9

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

20106.7

Words for Battle

19416.5

The Entertainer

19606.2

Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

20236.4

Three Sisters

19704.3

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

19614.4

Laurence Olivier: A Life

198210.0

The Bannfoot Ferry

2024

The Prince, The Showgirl and Me

2004

The Collection

19764.4

Rebecca

1950

The Ebony Tower

1984

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

19765.0

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

19867.4

Great Acting: Laurence Olivier

196610.0

No Funny Business

193310.0

The Conquest of the Air

19315.4

Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell

19952.0

Term of Trial

19626.1

Marilyn, dernières séances

20087.0

A Talent for Murder

19836.9

Perfect Understanding

19336.6

Charmed Lives: A Family Romance

2028

The Beggar's Opera

19535.1

David Copperfield

19695.6

Jornal Português (1938-1951)

2015

Moscow Nights

19345.9

Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent

20217.4

The Yellow Ticket

19315.1

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

19787.0

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

20127.0

Olivier Talks About Othello

1965

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

20127.2

A Voyage Round My Father

19847.4

Gregory Peck: His Own Man

19886.7

The Moon and Sixpence

19597.0

Come Back, Little Sheba

19777.0

King Lear

19836.7

Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson

19833.8

Private Lives

1940

Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance

20009.0

The Demi-Paradise

19436.6

Revisiting Brideshead

20058.0

Marilyn Monroe

198610.0

As You Like It

19365.4

The Legend of Marilyn Monroe

19666.7

Male of the Species

19695.5

Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood

19997.8

The Vivien Leigh Archive at the V&A

20169.0

The Gentleman Tramp

19767.1

The Making of 'Rebecca'

2008

The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People

19767.0

Marilyn despite herself

20128.0

The Body of Marilyn Monroe

20048.0

The Temporary Widow

19307.0

A Queen Is Crowned

19537.1

The Rehearsal

19745.4

The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci

1953

Long Day's Journey Into Night

19737.0

Too Many Crooks

19309.0

Tree of Life

1971

The Dance of Death

19696.7

The Volunteer

19445.0

The Greats: Vivien Leigh

20167.0

Korda: I Don't Grow on Trees: Part One

1993

At the Haunted End of the Day

1981

Malta G.C.

19427.0