Laurence Olivier
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.
Known For
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Great Performances
1971
Great Performances
1971
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
0Tony Awards
1956
0Tony Awards
1956
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Golden Globe Awards
1944
The South Bank Show
1978
The Carol Burnett Show
1967
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Omnibus
1967
Filmography
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self · 1961
Great Performances
as Harry · 1971
Great Performances
as Self · 1971
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest · 1968
Tony Awards
as Self - Recipient · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self · 1956
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Nominee · 1944
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient · 1944
The South Bank Show
· 1978
The Carol Burnett Show
as Self - Audience Member · 1967
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self · 1948
Omnibus
as Self (archive footage) · 1967
Omnibus
· 1967
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
as Narrator · 1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
as James Tyrone Sr. · 1969
The Oscars
as Self · 1953
Jesus of Nazareth
as Nicodemus · 1977
The World at War
as Narrator · 1973
Spartacus
as Marcus Licinius Crassus · 1960
Talking Pictures
as Self (archive footage) · 2013
Brideshead Revisited
as Alexander Flyte · 1981
A Bridge Too Far
as Dr. Jan Spaander · 1977
Clash of the Titans
as Zeus · 1981
ABC Stage 67
as Self · 1966
ABC Stage 67
as Self (archive footage) · 1966
Romeo and Juliet
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited) · 1968
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
as Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage) · 2004
Rebecca
as Maxim de Winter · 1940
Laurence Olivier Presents
as Big Daddy · 1976
Laurence Olivier Presents
as Doc Delaney · 1976
Laurence Olivier Presents
as Antonio · 1976
Laurence Olivier Presents
as Sir Joseph · 1976
Battle of Britain
as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding · 1969
The Bounty
as Admiral Hood · 1984
Peter the Great
as King William III of Orange · 1986
Wuthering Heights
as Heathcliff · 1939
Marathon Man
as Dr. Christian Szell · 1976
The Boys from Brazil
as Ezra Lieberman · 1978
The Last Days of Pompeii
as Gaius · 1984
Pride and Prejudice
as Mr. Darcy · 1940
Lost Empires
as Harry Burrard · 1986
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage) · 2015
Bunny Lake Is Missing
as Newhouse · 1965
The Devil's Disciple
as Gen. Burgoyne · 1959
49th Parallel
as Johnnie, the Trapper · 1941
Richard III
as Richard III · 1955
That Hamilton Woman
as Lord Horatio Nelson · 1941
Hamlet
as Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of Ghost · 1948
Nothing Like a Dame
as Self (archive footage) · 2018
Nicholas and Alexandra
as Count Witte · 1971
Wagner
as Pfeuffer · 1983
The Betsy
as Loren Hardeman · 1978
Henry V
as King Henry · 1944
The Prince and the Showgirl
as The Regent · 1957
Khartoum
as Mahdi · 1966
Dracula
as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing · 1979
Sleuth
as Andrew Wyke · 1972
The Shoes of the Fisherman
as Piotr Ilyich Kamenev · 1968
The Demi-Paradise
as Ivan Kouznetsoff · 1943
Male of the Species
as Self - Presenter · 1969
The Jazz Singer
as Cantor Rabinovitch · 1980
This Happy Breed
as Narrator (voice) · 1944
A Little Romance
as Julius · 1979
Oh! What a Lovely War
as Field Marshal Sir John French · 1969
The Divorce of Lady X
as Everard Logan · 1938
1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year
· 2023
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage) · 2021
21 Days
as Larry Durrant · 1940
Westward Passage
as Nicholas 'Nick' Allen · 1932
Wild Geese II
as Rudolf Hess · 1985
Fire Over England
as Michael Ingolby · 1937
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage) · 2018
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
as Professor James Moriarty · 1976
The Filth and the Fury
as Richard III (archive footage) · 2000
Night of 100 Stars II
as Self · 1985
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage) · 2010
Carrie
as George Hurstwood · 1952
Jornal Português (1938-1951)
as Self (archive footage) · 2015
The Jigsaw Man
as Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith · 1983
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
as Self (archive footage) · 1995
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
as Big Daddy · 1976
Laurence Olivier: A Life
as Self · 1982
Love Among the Ruins
as Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones · 1976
The Prince, The Showgirl and Me
as Self (archive footage) · 2004
Directed by William Wyler
as Self · 1986
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self - Maxim de Winter (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1961
Lady Caroline Lamb
as Duke of Wellington · 1972
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
· 1966
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1983
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
as Self (archive footage) · 1990
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
as Self (archive footage) · 2023
The Merchant of Venice
as Shylock · 1973
As You Like It
as Orlando · 1936
A Queen Is Crowned
as Narrator · 1953
The Collection
as Harry · 1976
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
as Self (archive footage) · 2028
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
as Self · 1982
War Requiem
as The Old Soldier · 1989
Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance
as Self (archive footage) · 2000
Uncle Vanya
as Dr. Astrov · 1963
Inchon
as Gen. Douglas MacArthur · 1981
Male of the Species
as Presenter · 1969
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
as Self (archive footage) · 1988
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as Self · 1940
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as Superintendent Newhouse (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1991
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage) · 1988
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
as Self (archive footage) · 2000
The Entertainer
as Archie Rice · 1960
The Conquest of the Air
as Vincent Lunardi · 1931
The Beggar's Opera
as MacHeath · 1953
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as archive footage · 1986
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
as Self (archive footage) · 2019
The Moon and Sixpence
as Charles Strickland · 1959
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
· 2012
Come Back, Little Sheba
as Doc Delaney · 1977
The Body of Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage · 2004
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
as Self (archive footage) · 2001
Othello
as Othello · 1965
Private Lives
as Elyot Chase · 1940
The Making of 'Rebecca'
as Self (archive footage) · 2008
Q Planes
as Tony McVane · 1939
Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
as Self (archive footage) · 2021
A Voyage Round My Father
as Clifford Mortimer · 1984
The Power and the Glory
as Priest · 1963
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Self · 1940
The Magic Box
as Police Constable 94-B · 1952
Daphne Laureola
as Sir Joseph · 1978
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
as Self (archive footage) · 2024
To Be Hamlet
as Self · 1985
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
as Self · 1976
Discovering Hamlet
as Hamlet (archive footage) · 2011
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage) · 1999
Friends and Lovers
as Lieutenant Ned Nichols · 1931
A Talent for Murder
as Dr. Anthony Wainwright · 1983
The Vivien Leigh Archive at the V&A
as Self (archive footage) · 2016
Korda: I Don't Grow on Trees: Part One
as Self · 1993
Rebecca
as Maxim de winter · 1950
Term of Trial
as Graham Weir · 1962
Marilyn despite herself
· 2012
The Ebony Tower
as Henry Breasley · 1984
Words for Battle
as Narrator (voice) · 1941
Three Sisters
as Dr. Ivan Chebutikin · 1970
Revisiting Brideshead
as Self (archive footage) · 2005
The Dance of Death
as Edgar · 1969
Long Day's Journey Into Night
as James Tyrone Sr. · 1973
The Greats: Vivien Leigh
as Self (archive footage) · 2016
The Bannfoot Ferry
as Self (archive footage) · 2024
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson
as Joe Halpern · 1983
King Lear
as King Lear · 1983
David Copperfield
as Mr. Creakle · 1969
Great Acting: Laurence Olivier
as Self - Interviewee · 1966
Marilyn, dernières séances
as Self(archive footage) · 2008
The Yellow Ticket
as Julian Rolfe · 1931
Too Many Crooks
as The Boy · 1930
Eve and Marilyn
as Self (archive photo) · 1987
No Funny Business
as Clive Dering · 1933
Perfect Understanding
as Nicholas Randall · 1933
The Rehearsal
as Self · 1974
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage) · 2012
Potiphar's Wife
as Straker · 1931
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
as Antonio · 1978
The Gentleman Tramp
as Narrator · 1976
At the Haunted End of the Day
as Self · 1981
Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage · 1986
Tree of Life
as Narrator · 1971
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
as Narrator · 1953
The Volunteer
as Self · 1944
Moscow Nights
as Captain Ivan Ignatoff · 1934
British Pathé: Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier
as Self · 1946
The Temporary Widow
as Peter Bille · 1930
Malta G.C.
as Narrator · 1942