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Laurence Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (/ˈlɒrəns ˈkɜːr əˈlɪvi/; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who 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.

"Lord Olivier" redirects here. For his uncle, see Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier.


The Lord Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier

(1907-05-22)22 May 1907
Dorking, Surrey, England

11 July 1989(1989-07-11) (aged 82)

Steyning, West Sussex, England
  • Actor
  • director
  • producer

4

Olivier's family had no theatrical connections, but his 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 Peggy 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 Spartacus (1960), 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 two 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.

Awards and memorials[edit]

From academic and other institutions, Olivier received honorary doctorates from Tufts University in Massachusetts (1946), Oxford (1957) and Edinburgh (1964). He was also awarded the Danish Sonning Prize in 1966, the Gold Medallion of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities in 1968; and the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts in 1976.[268][269][af]


For his work in films, Olivier received four Academy Awards: an honorary award for Henry V (1947), a Best Actor award and one as producer for Hamlet (1948), and a second honorary award in 1979 to recognise his lifetime of contribution to the art of film. He was nominated for nine other acting Oscars and one each for production and direction.[270][271] He also won two British Academy Film Awards out of ten nominations,[ag] five Emmy Awards out of nine nominations,[ah] and three Golden Globe Awards out of six nominations.[ai] He was nominated once for a Tony Award (for best actor, as Archie Rice) but did not win.[203][273]


In February 1960, for his contribution to the film industry, Olivier was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with a star at 6319 Hollywood Boulevard;[274] he is included in the American Theater Hall of Fame.[275] In 1977 Olivier was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship.[276]


In addition to the naming of the National Theatre's largest auditorium in Olivier's honour, he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, bestowed annually since 1984 by the Society of London Theatre.[268] In 1991 Gielgud unveiled a memorial stone commemorating Olivier in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.[277] In 2007, the centenary of Olivier's birth, a life-sized statue of him was unveiled on the South Bank, outside the National Theatre;[278] the same year the BFI held a retrospective season of his film work.[279]

Laurence Olivier Awards

List of British Academy Award nominees and winners

List of actors with Academy Award nominations

List of actors with three or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories

List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories

Official website

at IMDb 

Laurence Olivier

at Emmys.com

Laurence Olivier

at the BFI's Screenonline

Laurence Olivier

at the British Film Institute

Laurence Olivier: 10 essential films

at the British Library

Laurence Olivier Archive

at the TCM Movie Database

Laurence Olivier

at the Internet Broadway Database

Laurence Olivier

at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Portraits of Laurence Olivier