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Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Actor · 1907 – 1989 · Dorking, Surrey, England, UK

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.

Movies24

  • Movie7.5

    Spartacus

    1960 · 2.5K votes

  • Movie6.9

    Clash of the Titans

    1981 · 891 votes

  • Movie7.9

    Rebecca

    1940 · 2K votes

  • Movie7.4

    Romeo and Juliet

    1968 · 753 votes

  • Movie7.2

    A Bridge Too Far

    1977 · 973 votes

  • Movie7.2

    Wuthering Heights

    1939 · 335 votes

  • Movie5.9
  • Movie6.8

    The Bounty

    1984 · 670 votes

  • Movie7.2

    Marathon Man

    1976 · 1.3K votes

  • Movie6.8

    Battle of Britain

    1969 · 361 votes

  • Movie6.7

    The Boys from Brazil

    1978 · 465 votes

  • Movie7.7

    Sleuth

    1972 · 749 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Pride and Prejudice

    1940 · 157 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Dracula

    1979 · 292 votes

  • Movie7.2

    Bunny Lake Is Missing

    1965 · 223 votes

  • Movie7.0

    49th Parallel

    1941 · 129 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Night of 100 Stars II

    1985 · 5 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Khartoum

    1966 · 130 votes

  • Movie6.4
  • Movie6.7
  • Movie7.4

    Hamlet

    1948 · 300 votes

  • Movie4.7

    Hannibal Hopkins et Sir Anthony

    Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

    2021 · 28 votes

  • Movie6.9

    A Little Romance

    1979 · 87 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Nothing Like a Dame

    2018 · 62 votes

Series22

  • TV5.8

    The Mike Douglas Show

    1961 · 11 votes

  • TV7.0

    Golden Globe Awards

    1944 · 20 votes

  • TV6.1

    Great Performances

    1971 · 25 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Dick Cavett Show

    1968 · 22 votes

  • TV
  • TV6.8

    The Ed Sullivan Show

    1948 · 23 votes

  • TV7.0

    The Oscars

    1953 · 84 votes

  • TV7.7

    The Carol Burnett Show

    1967 · 74 votes

  • TV7.2

    Omnibus

    1967 · 9 votes

  • TV7.0
  • TV7.8

    Brideshead Revisited

    1981 · 73 votes

  • TV7.8

    Jesus of Nazareth

    1977 · 571 votes

  • TV6.8

    ABC Stage 67

    1966 · 6 votes

  • TV6.2

    Talking Pictures

    2013 · 6 votes

  • TV8.3

    The World at War

    1973 · 187 votes

  • TV7.9

    Peter the Great

    1986 · 9 votes

  • TV7.4

    The Last Days of Pompeii

    1984 · 17 votes

  • TV4.7

    Male of the Species

    1969 · 3 votes

  • TV6.8

    Wagner

    1983 · 8 votes

  • TV8.0

    Couples mythiques du cinéma

    Iconic Couples of Hollywood

    2015 · 1 votes

  • TV5.8

    Lost Empires

    1986 · 8 votes

  • TV5.7