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Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Acting · Production

Born May 22, 1907, 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.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (54)
  • 2028Charmed Lives: A Family Romance — Self (archive footage)
  • 2024Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration — Self (archive footage)
  • 2024The Bannfoot Ferry — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent — Self (archive footage)
  • 2019Churchill and the Movie Mogul — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Nothing Like a Dame — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016The Greats: Vivien Leigh — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016The Vivien Leigh Archive at the V&A — Self (archive footage)
  • Iconic Couples of Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
  • 2015Jornal Português (1938-1951) — Self (archive footage)
  • Talking Pictures — Self (archive footage)
  • 2012Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe — Self (archive footage)
  • 2010Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008The Making of 'Rebecca' — Self (archive footage)
  • 2005Revisiting Brideshead — Self (archive footage)
  • 2004The Prince, The Showgirl and Me — Self (archive footage)
  • 2001Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love — Self (archive footage)
  • 2000Sir John Mills' Moving Memories — Self (archive footage)
  • 2000Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance — Self (archive footage)
  • 1999Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
  • 1995Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell — Self (archive footage)
  • 1993Korda: I Don't Grow on Trees: Part One — Self
  • 1990Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond — Self (archive footage)
  • 1988Gregory Peck: His Own Man — Self (archive footage)
  • 1988The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind — Self (archive footage)
  • 1987Eve and Marilyn — Self (archive photo)
  • 1986Directed by William Wyler — Self
  • 1985Night of 100 Stars II — Self
  • 1985To Be Hamlet — Self
  • 1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • 1982Laurence Olivier: A Life — Self
  • 1982Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady — Self
  • 1981At the Haunted End of the Day — Self
  • 1976The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People — Self
  • 1974The Rehearsal — Self
  • Male of the Species — Self - Presenter
  • The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
  • Omnibus — Self (archive footage)
  • The Carol Burnett Show — Self - Audience Member
  • ABC Stage 67 — Self, Self (archive footage)
  • 1966Great Acting: Laurence Olivier — Self - Interviewee
  • 1961Hollywood: The Selznick Years — Self - Maxim de Winter (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • The Mike Douglas Show — Self
  • Tony Awards — Self - Recipient
  • The Oscars — Self
  • The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
  • 1946British Pathé: Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier — Self
  • Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
  • 1944The Volunteer — Self
  • 1940Cavalcade of the Academy Awards — Self
  • 1940Hollywood: Style Center of the World — Self
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