Laurence Olivier
1907-05-22 ( 117 years old ) in 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Laurence Olivier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies

The Bannfoot Ferry 2024-06-22
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story 2023-06-02
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony 2021-03-26
Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent 2020-01-03
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood 2018-07-27
Nothing Like a Dame 2018-05-02
And the Oscar Goes To... 2014-02-01
Discovering Hamlet 2011-11-01
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff 2010-05-05
Jornal Português (1938-1951) 2005-12-12
Revisiting Brideshead 2005-10-15
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 2004-09-17
The Kid Stays in the Picture 2002-08-16
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love 2001-09-13
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories 2000-08-01
The Filth and the Fury 2000-03-29
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood 1999-01-23
The South Bank Show: Noël Coward 1992-03-01
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker 1991-10-28
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond 1990-10-22
War Requiem 1989-01-06
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind 1988-10-01
Gregory Peck: His Own Man 1988-03-08
Directed by William Wyler 1986-05-01
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend 1986-04-19
Wild Geese II 1985-10-18
Night of 100 Stars II 1985-03-10
To Be Hamlet 1985-01-19
The Bounty 1984-05-04
A Voyage Round My Father 1984-04-19
The Ebony Tower 1984-04-01
A Talent for Murder 1983-12-19
The Jigsaw Man 1983-11-11
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson 1983-08-23
King Lear 1983-04-03
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage 1983-02-25
Clash of the Titans 1981-06-12
Inchon 1981-05-04
At the Haunted End of the Day 1981-01-01
The Jazz Singer 1980-12-17
Dracula 1979-07-20
A Little Romance 1979-04-27
The Boys from Brazil 1978-10-05
The Betsy 1978-02-02
Daphne Laureola 1978-01-15
Saturday, Sunday, Monday 1978-01-01
Come Back, Little Sheba 1977-12-31
A Bridge Too Far 1977-06-15
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1976-12-06
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution 1976-10-24
The Gentleman Tramp 1976-10-10
Marathon Man 1976-10-08
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People 1976-10-06
The Collection 1976-01-01
Love Among the Ruins 1975-03-06
The Rehearsal 1974-01-01
The Merchant of Venice 1973-10-07
Long Day's Journey Into Night 1973-03-10
Sleuth 1972-12-10
Lady Caroline Lamb 1972-11-22
Nicholas and Alexandra 1971-11-29
Tree of Life 1971-01-01
Three Sisters 1970-04-01
David Copperfield 1969-12-01
Battle of Britain 1969-09-15
Oh! What a Lovely War 1969-03-10
Male of the Species 1969-01-03
The Dance of Death 1969-01-01
The Shoes of the Fisherman 1968-11-14
Romeo and Juliet 1968-04-02
Great Acting: Laurence Olivier 1966-12-31
Khartoum 1966-06-09
Othello 1965-12-15
Bunny Lake Is Missing 1965-10-03
Olivier Talks About Othello 1965-01-01
Uncle Vanya 1963-11-20
The Power and the Glory 1963-05-31
Term of Trial 1962-08-16
Hollywood: The Selznick Years 1961-12-31
Spartacus 1960-10-13
The Entertainer 1960-07-25
The Moon and Sixpence 1959-10-30
The Devil's Disciple 1959-08-20
The Prince and the Showgirl 1957-06-13
Richard III 1955-12-13
The Beggar's Opera 1953-08-24
A Queen Is Crowned 1953-06-02
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci 1953-01-01
Carrie 1952-07-17
The Magic Box 1952-01-01
Hamlet 1948-12-10
Henry V 1944-11-24
This Happy Breed 1944-05-28
The Volunteer 1944-01-10
The Demi-Paradise 1943-11-18
Malta G.C. 1942-01-01
49th Parallel 1941-11-24
That Hamilton Woman 1941-04-03
Words for Battle 1941-01-24
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards 1940-07-31
Pride and Prejudice 1940-07-26
Hollywood: Style Center of the World 1940-05-29
Rebecca 1940-03-23
21 Days Together 1940-01-07
Wuthering Heights 1939-04-07
Q Planes 1939-02-21
The Divorce of Lady X 1938-01-15
Fire Over England 1937-03-05
The Conquest of the Air 1936-12-01
As You Like It 1936-09-02
Moscow Nights 1935-11-05
No Funny Business 1933-03-30
Perfect Understanding 1933-01-15
Westward Passage 1932-05-27
The Yellow Ticket 1931-10-30
Friends and Lovers 1931-10-03
Potiphar's Wife 1931-03-28
Too Many Crooks 1930-08-01
The Temporary Widow 1930-07-13

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