Laurence Olivier, as photographed in 1939 by Carl Van Vechten

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989) was an English actor and director, esteemed by many as the greatest actor of the 20th century.

Life

Laurence Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey. He attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. It was his father, a clergyman, who decided that Laurence - or Kim as the family called him - would become an actor. 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 his portrayal of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights in 1939.

He was founding director (1962-1973) of the National Theatre of Great Britain for which he received his peerage.

On July 25, 1930, he married Jill Esmond, whom Olivier biographer Donald Spoto described as "a diffident lesbian." They had one son, Tarquin, and were divorced on January 29, 1940. By 1938, he had embarked on a torrid affair with Vivien Leigh, who was also married. Finally divorced by their respective spouses, they married on August 31, 1940 at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, with Katharine Hepburn as the maid of honour. They were divorced on December 2, 1960. Olivier married Joan Plowright on March 17, 1961.

Esmond named Leigh as co-respondent in her divorce on grounds of adultery. Leigh named Plowright as co-respondent in her divorce, also on grounds of adultery. 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," referring to biographer Donald Spoto's claim that Kaye and Olivier were lovers. He was reportedly also intimate with playwright Noel Coward.

In his book "Melting the Stone: A Journey Around My Father", Olivier and Plowright's son, Richard, described Laurence as being more interested in his work than in his children, and would actually become depressed when he didn't have a job.

Among his honours are 10 Oscar nominations. He won both Best Actor and Best Picture (as the producer) for Hamlet in 1949, and two honorary Oscars (1947, for Henry V; 1979). He was created a Knight Bachelor in 1947, and a life peer in 1970 (the first actor to be accorded this distinction) as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in the County of Sussex, and was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1981.

After the opening of the National Theatre, Olivier became concerned that he had not done enough to provide for his family after he died. As a result between 1973 and 1986 when his health gave out he did many films and TV specials on a 'paycheck' basis on the condition that he would not have to promote the film on release.

He died in Steyning, West Sussex, England, from complications of a neuromuscular disorder and cancer at the age of 82.

Lord Olivier is interred in Westminster Abbey, London. The Laurence Olivier Awards, organised by The Society of London Theatre , were renamed in his honour in 1984.

Fifteen years after his death, Olivier once again received star billing in a movie. Through the use of computer graphics, footage of him as a young man was integrated into the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow in which Olivier "played" the villain.

Acting appearances in London's West End

• The Merry Wives of Windsor - 1924
• Henry IV Part 2 - 1925
• Henry VIII - 1925
• Oedipus Tyrannus - 1926
• The Cenci - 1926
• The Marvellous History of Saint Bernard - 1926
• The Merchant of Venice - 1926
• The Song - 1926
• The Adding Machine - 1928
• Macbeth - 1928
• Back to Methuselah - 1928
• Harold - 1928
• The Taming of the Shrew - 1928
• Bird in Hand - 1928
• Paul Among The Jews - 1928
• The Dark Path - 1928
• Journey's End - 1928
• Beau Geste - 1929
• Prize Giving at Woodside House School (sketch) - 1929
• The Circle of Chalk - 1929
• Paris Bound - 1929
• The Stranger Within - 1929
• The Last Enemy - 1929
• 100 Not Out (sketch) 1930
• After All - 1930
• Private Lives -1930
• Some Other Private Lives (sketch) 1930
• The Rats of Norway - 1931
• Biography - 1934
• Queen of Scots - 1934
• Theatre Royal - 1934
• Journey's End - 1934
• A Kiss for Cinderella - 1934
• November Afternoon (sketch) - 1934
• The Winning Post - 1934
• Ringmaster - 1935
• November Afternoon (sketch) - 1935
• Notices (sketch) - 1935
• The Down and Outs Matinee - 1935
• Golden Arrow - 1935
• Romeo and Juliet - 1935
• Bees on the Boatdeck - 1936
• Hamlet - 1937
• Twelfth Night - 1937
• Henry V - 1937
• Macbeth - 1937
• Othello -1938
• The King of Nowhere - 1938
• Coriolanus - 1938
• Here's To Our Enterprise - 1938
• Henry V (scene) - 1942
• Elsie Fogerty Jubilee Matine - 1942
• Peer Gynt - 1944
• Arms and the Man - 1944
• Richard III - 1944
• Uncle Vanya - 1945
• Henry IV Part 1 - 1945
• Henry IV Part 2 - 1945
• Oedipus & The Critic - 1945
• King Lear - 1946
• The School for Scandal - 1949
• Richard III - 1949
• Antigone - 1949
• Venus Observed - 1950
• Caesar and Cleopatra - 1951
• Antony and Cleopatra - 1951
• The Sid Field Tribute - 1951
• The Sleeping Prince - 1953
• The Entertainer - 1957
• Titus Andronicus - 1957
• Rhinoceros - 1960
• Semi-Detached - 1962
• Uncle Vanya - 1963
• The Recruiting Officer - 1963
• Othello - 1964
• The Master Builder - 1964
• Love for Love - 1965
• The Dance of Death - 1967
• A Flea in her Ear - 1967
• Home and Beauty - 1969
• The Merchant of Venice - 1970
• Long Day's Journey Into Night - 1971
• Saturday, Sunday, Monday - 1973
• The Party - 1973
• Tribute to the Lady - 1974
• Time (as hologram) - 1986

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 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• Rebecca - 1940 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• 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 - 2 Oscar nominations: Best Actor, Best Picture (also Academy Honorary Award)
• Hamlet - 1948 - 2 Oscars: Best Actor, Best Picture; also nominated for Best Director
• The Magic Box - 1951
• Carrie - 1952
• The Beggar's Opera - 1953
• Richard III - 1955 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• The Prince and the Showgirl - 1957
• The Devil's Disciple - 1959
• The Entertainer - 1960 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• Spartacus - 1960
• Term of Trial - 1962
• Uncle Vanya - 1963
• Bunny Lake Is Missing - 1965
• Othello - 1965 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• 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 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• Lady Caroline Lamb - 1972
• The Rehearsal - 1974
• Marathon Man - 1976 - Oscar nomination: Best Supporting Actor
• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution - 1976
• A Bridge Too Far - 1977
• The Betsy - 1978
• The Boys from Brazil - 1978 - Oscar nomination: Best Actor
• 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
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - 2004 (via computer-manipulated stock footage in his honor)

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
• The World At War - 1974
• 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

External links