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Laurence Olivier
Acting
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 Noë…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Laurence Olivier's Filmography
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Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
as Self (archive footage)
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
as Self (archive footage)
The Bannfoot Ferry
as Self (archive footage)
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
as Self (archive footage)
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage)
Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
as Self (archive footage)
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
as Self (archive footage)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Nothing Like a Dame
as Self (archive footage)
The Vivien Leigh Archive at the V&A
as Self (archive footage)
The Greats: Vivien Leigh
as Self (archive footage)
Jornal Português (1938-1951)
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
Marilyn despite herself
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
Discovering Hamlet
as Hamlet (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Rebecca'
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn, dernières séances
as Self(archive footage)
Revisiting Brideshead
as Self (archive footage)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
as Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage)
The Prince, The Showgirl and Me
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
The Body of Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
as Self (archive footage)
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
as Self (archive footage)
Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance
as Self (archive footage)
The Filth and the Fury
as Richard III (archive footage)
No Poster
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Korda: I Don't Grow on Trees: Part One
as Self
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as Superintendent Newhouse (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
as Self (archive footage)
War Requiem
as The Old Soldier
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage)
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
as Self (archive footage)
Eve and Marilyn
as Self (archive photo)
Directed by William Wyler
as Self
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as archive footage
Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage
Wild Geese II
as Rudolf Hess
Night of 100 Stars II
as Self
To Be Hamlet
as Self
The Bounty
as Admiral Hood
A Voyage Round My Father
as Clifford Mortimer
The Ebony Tower
as Henry Breasley
A Talent for Murder
as Dr. Anthony Wainwright
The Jigsaw Man
as Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith
No Poster
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson
as Joe Halpern
King Lear
as King Lear
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Laurence Olivier: A Life
as Self
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
as Self
Clash of the Titans
as Zeus
Inchon
as Gen. Douglas MacArthur
At the Haunted End of the Day
as Self
The Jazz Singer
as Cantor Rabinovitch
Dracula
as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
A Little Romance
as Julius
The Boys from Brazil
as Ezra Lieberman
The Betsy
as Loren Hardeman
Daphne Laureola
as Sir Joseph
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
as Antonio
Come Back, Little Sheba
as Doc Delaney
A Bridge Too Far
as Dr. Jan Spaander
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
as Big Daddy
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
as Professor James Moriarty
The Gentleman Tramp
as Narrator
Marathon Man
as Dr. Christian Szell
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
as Self
Love Among the Ruins
as Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones
The Collection
as Harry
The Rehearsal
as Self
The Merchant of Venice
as Shylock
Long Day's Journey Into Night
as James Tyrone Sr.
Sleuth
as Andrew Wyke
Lady Caroline Lamb
as Duke of Wellington
Nicholas and Alexandra
as Count Witte
No Poster
Tree of Life
as Narrator
Three Sisters
as Dr. Ivan Chebutikin
David Copperfield
as Mr. Creakle
Battle of Britain
as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
The Dance of Death
as Edgar
Oh! What a Lovely War
as Field Marshal Sir John French
Male of the Species
as Presenter
The Shoes of the Fisherman
as Piotr Ilyich Kamenev
Romeo and Juliet
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
No Poster
Great Acting: Laurence Olivier
as Self - Interviewee
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Khartoum
as Mahdi
Othello
as Othello
Bunny Lake Is Missing
as Newhouse
Uncle Vanya
as Dr. Astrov
The Power and the Glory
as Priest
Term of Trial
as Graham Weir
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self - Maxim de Winter (archive footage) (uncredited)
Spartacus
as Marcus Licinius Crassus
The Entertainer
as Archie Rice
The Moon and Sixpence
as Charles Strickland
The Devil's Disciple
as Gen. Burgoyne
The Prince and the Showgirl
as The Regent
Richard III
as Richard III
The Beggar's Opera
as MacHeath
A Queen Is Crowned
as Narrator
No Poster
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
as Narrator
Carrie
as George Hurstwood
The Magic Box
as Police Constable 94-B
Rebecca
as Maxim de winter
Hamlet
as Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of Ghost
British Pathé: Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier
as Self
Henry V
as King Henry
This Happy Breed
as Narrator (voice)
The Volunteer
as Self
The Demi-Paradise
as Ivan Kouznetsoff
Malta G.C.
as Narrator
49th Parallel
as Johnnie, the Trapper
That Hamilton Woman
as Lord Horatio Nelson
Words for Battle
as Narrator (voice)
Private Lives
as Elyot Chase
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Self
Pride and Prejudice
as Mr. Darcy
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as Self
Rebecca
as Maxim de Winter
21 Days
as Larry Durrant
Wuthering Heights
as Heathcliff
Q Planes
as Tony McVane
The Divorce of Lady X
as Everard Logan
Fire Over England
as Michael Ingolby
As You Like It
as Orlando
Moscow Nights
as Captain Ivan Ignatoff
No Funny Business
as Clive Dering
Perfect Understanding
as Nicholas Randall
Westward Passage
as Nicholas 'Nick' Allen
The Conquest of the Air
as Vincent Lunardi
The Yellow Ticket
as Julian Rolfe
Friends and Lovers
as Lieutenant Ned Nichols
Potiphar's Wife
as Straker
Too Many Crooks
as The Boy
The Temporary Widow
as Peter Bille