Sir Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier
of Brighton, (May 22, 1907 - July 11, 1989) was an English actor and director, esteemed by
many as the greatest actor of the 20th century.
Laurence Olivier was born in Dorking. He attended the Central School of Speech Training and
Dramatic Art. His stage breakthrough was in Noel Coward's Private Lives ( in 1930), and in
Romeo and Juliet ( in 1935) alternating the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with John Gielgud. His
film breakthrough was portrayal of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights in 1939.
He was founding director (1962-1973) of the National Theatre of Great Britain.
On July 25, 1930, he married actress Jill Esmond, whom Olivier biographer Donald Spoto
described as "a diffident lesbian." They had one son, Tarquin, and were divorced on January
29, 1940.
On August 31, 1940 he married actress Vivien Leigh. They were divorced on December 2, 1960.
On March 17, 1961 he married actress Joan Plowright. They had one son and two daughters. He
was not notably faithful in those marriages and had extramarital affairs with both men and
women: Joan Plowright said "I have always resented the comments that it was I who was the
homewrecker of Larry's marriage to Vivien Leigh. Danny Kaye was attached to Larry far earlier
than I." Olivier reportedly was also intimate with playwright Noel Coward.
Among his honours are 10 Oscar nominations (he won best actor/picture for Hamlet in 1949), and
two honorary Oscars (1947, 1979). He was knighted in 1947, made a life peer in 1970 (the first
actor to achieve this distinction), and was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1981.
He died in Steyning, West Sussex, England, of complications of a neuromuscular disorder and
cancer.
Lord Olivier is interred in Westminster Abbey, London, England. The Laurence Olivier Awards,
organised by The Society of London Theatre, were renamed in his honour in 1984.
Acting Appearances in London
Private Lives -1930
Romeo and Juliet - 1935
The Entertainer - 1957
Acting Appearances on Broadway
Murder on the Second Floor - 1929
Private Lives - 1931
The Green Bay Tree - 1933
No Time for Comedy - 1939
Romeo and Juliet - 1940 (also producer, composer, director, and designer)
King Henry IV, Part I - 1946
King Henry IV, Part II - 1946
Uncle Vanya - 1946
Oedipus Rex - 1946
The Critic - 1946
Antony and Cleopatra - 1952 (also producer)
The Entertainer - 1958
Becket - 1960-1
Productions on Broadway
Romeo and Juliet - 1940 (also acted, composed, directed, and designed)
Daphne Laureola - 1950 (producer)
Antony and Cleopatra - 1952 (also acted)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - 1967-8 (producer, director)
Venus Observed - 1952 (producer and director)
Romeo and Juliet - 1940 (also producer, composer, director, and designer)
Broadway Directing Credits
Romeo and Juliet - 1940 (also acted, composed, produced, and designed)
Venus Observed - 1952 (producer and director)
The Tumbler - 1960 (director)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - 1967-8 (producer, director)
Filumena - 1980 (director)
Movie Credits
The Temporary Widow - 1930
Too Many Crooks - 1930
Friends and Lovers - 1931
The Yellow Ticket - 1931
Potiphar's Wife - 1931
Westward Passage - 1932
Perfect Understanding - 1933
No Funny Business - 1933
Moscow Nights - 1936
Conquest of the Air - 1936
As You Like It - 1936
Fire Over England - 1937
The Divorce of Lady X - 1938
Q Planes - 1939
Wuthering Heights - 1939
Rebecca - 1940
21 Days - 1940
Pride and Prejudice - 1940
That Hamilton Woman - 1941
Forty-Ninth Parallel - 1941
The Demi-Paradise - 1943
This Happy Breed - 1944
The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with his Battell at Agincourt in France - 1944
Hamlet - 1948
The Magic Box - 1951
Carrie - 1952
The Beggar's Opera - 1953
Richard III - 1955
The Prince and the Showgirl - 1957
The Devil's Disciple - 1959
The Entertainer - 1960
Spartacus - 1960
Term of Trial - 1962
Uncle Vanya - 1963
Bunny Lake Is Missing - 1965
Othello - 1965
Khartoum - 1966
Romeo and Juliet - 1968
The Shoes of the Fisherman - 1968
Oh! What a Lovely War - 1969
The Dance of Death - 1969
Battle of Britain - 1969
Three Sisters - 1970
Nicholas and Alexandra - 1971
Sleuth - 1972
Lady Caroline Lamb - 1972
The Rehearsal - 1974
Marathon Man - 1976
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution - 1976
A Bridge Too Far - 1977
The Betsy - 1978
The Boys from Brazil - 1978
A Little Romance - 1979
Dracula - 1979
The Jazz Singer - 1980
Inchon - 1981
Clash of the Titans - 1981
The Jigsaw Man - 1983
The Bounty - 1984
Wild Geese II - 1985
War Requiem - 1989
Television Credits
John Gabriel Borkman - 1958
The Moon and Sixpence - 1959
The Power and the Glory - 1961
Male of the Species - 1969
David Copperfield - 1969
Long Day's Journey Into Night - 1973
The Merchant of Venice - 1973
Love Among the Ruins - 1975
The Collection - 1976
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - 1976
Jesus of Nazareth - 1977
Come Back, Little Sheba - 1977
Daphne Laureola - 1978
Brideshead Revisited - 1981
A Voyage Round My Father - 1982
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson - 1983
Wagner - 1983
A Talent for Murder - 1984
King Lear - 1984
The Last Days of Pompeii - 1984
The Ebony Tower - 1984
Peter the Great - 1986
Lost Empires - 1986
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wiki/Laurence_Olivier
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