Image of Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright. Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. He is regarded by some to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, in the same category as David Garrick, Richard Burbage, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in their own centuries. Olivier's AMPAS acknowledgments are considerable: fourteen Oscar nominations, with two awards (for Best Actor and Best Picture for the 1948 film Hamlet), and two honorary awards including a statuette and certificate. He was also awarded five Emmy awards from the nine nominations he received. Additionally, he was a three-time Golden Globe and BAFTA winner. Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from the title role in Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil. A High church clergyman's son who found fame on the West End stage, Olivier became determined early on to master Shakespeare, and eventually came to be regarded as one of the foremost Shakespeare interpreters of the 20th century. He continued to act until the year before his death in 1989. Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III. He also preserved his Othello on film, with its stage cast virtually intact. For television, he starred in The Moon and Sixpence, John Gabriel Borkman, Long Day's Journey into Night, Brideshead Revisited, The Merchant of Venice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and King Lear, among others. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Olivier among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, at number 14 on the list. Description above from the Wikipedia article Laurence Olivier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
May 22, 1907 In Dorking, Surrey, England, UK
Movie/TV Credits:
111
First Appeared:
In the movie The Temporary Widow 1930-07-13
Latest Project:
Movie Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent 2020-01-03
Known For
Filmography
Movie Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent Self (archive footage) 2020-01-03
Movie Nothing Like a Dame Self (archive footage) 2018-05-02
Movie Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Self (archive footage) 2018-07-27
Movie Trumbo Crassus (archive footage) (uncredited) 2015-10-27
Movie And the Oscar Goes To... Self (archive footage) 2014-02-01
Movie Discovering Hamlet Hamlet (archive footage) 2011-11-01
Movie Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff Self (archive footage) 2010-05-05
Movie Jornal Português (1938-1951) Self (archive footage) 2005-12-12
Movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage) 2004-09-17
Movie The Kid Stays in the Picture Self (archive footage) 2002-08-16
Movie The Filth and the Fury Richard III (archive footage) 2000-03-29
Movie Sir John Mills' Moving Memories Self (archive footage) 2000-08-01
Movie Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood Self (archive footage) 1999-01-23
Movie The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender Self (archive footage) 1997-11-01
Movie Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker Superintendent Newhouse (archive footage) (uncredited) 1991-10-28
Movie War Requiem The Old Soldier 1989-01-06
Movie Gregory Peck: His Own Man Self (archive footage) 1988-03-08
Movie The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind Self (archive footage) 1988-10-01
Movie Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend Self (from The Prince and the Showgirl [1957]) (archive footage) 1986-04-19
Series Peter the Great King William III of Orange 1986-02-02
Movie Directed by William Wyler Self 1986-05-01
Series Lost Empires Harry Burrard 1986-10-24
Movie Night of 100 Stars II Self 1985-03-10
Movie Wild Geese II Rudolf Hess 1985-10-18
Movie The Bounty Admiral Hood 1984-05-04
Movie The Ebony Tower 1984-04-01
Movie A Voyage Round My Father Clifford Mortimer 1984-04-19
Series The Last Days of Pompeii Gaius 1984-05-06
Movie Terror in the Aisles Doctor Christian Szell (Archive Footage) 1984-10-26
Movie Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage Self (archive footage) (uncredited) 1983-02-25
Movie King Lear King Lear 1983-04-03
Movie The Jigsaw Man Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith 1983-11-11
Series Wagner Pfeuffer 1983-10-03
Movie A Talent for Murder Dr. Anthony Wainwright 1983-12-19
Movie Inchon Gen. Douglas MacArthur 1981-05-04
Series Brideshead Revisited Alexander Flyte, Lord Marchmain 1981-10-12
Movie Clash of the Titans Zeus 1981-06-12
Movie The Jazz Singer Cantor Rabinovitch 1980-12-17
Movie A Little Romance Julius 1979-04-27
Movie Dracula Prof. Abraham Van Helsing 1979-07-20
Movie Saturday, Sunday, Monday Antonio 1978-01-01
Movie Daphne Laureola Sir Joseph 1978-01-15
Movie The Boys from Brazil Ezra Lieberman 1978-10-05
Movie The Betsy Loren Hardeman 1978-02-02
Series Jesus of Nazareth Nicodemus 1977-03-27
Movie A Bridge Too Far Dr. Jan Spaander 1977-06-15
Movie Come Back, Little Sheba Doc Delaney 1977-12-31
Movie The Collection Harry 1976-01-01
Movie Marathon Man Szell 1976-10-08
Movie The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Professor James Moriarty 1976-10-24
Movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Big Daddy 1976-12-06
Movie The Gentleman Tramp Narrator 1976-10-10
Movie Love Among the Ruins Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones 1975-03-06
Movie The Rehearsal Self 1974-01-01
Movie Long Day's Journey Into Night James Tyrone Sr. 1973-03-10
Movie The Merchant of Venice Shylock 1973-10-07
Series The World at War Narrator 1973-10-31
Movie Lady Caroline Lamb Duke of Wellington 1972-11-22
Movie Sleuth Andrew Wyke 1972-12-10
Movie Nicholas and Alexandra Count Witte 1971-11-29
Movie Three Sisters Dr. Ivan Chebutikin 1970-04-01
Movie The Dance of Death Edgar 1969-01-01
Movie Male of the Species Presenter 1969-01-03
Movie David Copperfield Mr. Creakle 1969-12-01
Movie Oh! What a Lovely War Field Marshal Sir John French 1969-03-10
Movie Battle of Britain Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding 1969-09-15
Movie Romeo and Juliet Narrator (voice) (uncredited) 1968-04-02
Movie The Shoes of the Fisherman Piotr Ilyich Kamenev 1968-11-14
Movie Khartoum Mahdi 1966-06-09
Movie Great Acting: Laurence Olivier Self - Interviewee 1966-12-31
Movie Bunny Lake Is Missing Supt. Newhouse 1965-10-03
Movie Othello Othello 1965-12-15
Movie The Power and the Glory Priest 1963-05-31
Movie Uncle Vanya Dr. Astrov 1963-11-20
Movie Term of Trial Graham Weir 1962-08-16
Movie Hollywood: The Selznick Years Maxim de Winter (archive footage) (uncredited) 1961-12-31
Movie The Entertainer Archie Rice 1960-07-25
Movie Spartacus Marcus Licinius Crassus 1960-10-13
Movie The Devil's Disciple Gen. Burgoyne 1959-08-20
Movie The Prince and the Showgirl The Regent 1957-06-13
Movie Richard III Richard III 1955-12-13
Movie The Beggar's Opera MacHeath 1953-08-24
Movie A Queen Is Crowned Narrator 1953-06-02
Movie The Magic Box Police Constable 94-B 1952-01-01
Movie Carrie George Hurstwood 1952-07-17
Movie Hamlet Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of Ghost 1948-12-10
Movie The Volunteer Self 1944-01-10
Movie This Happy Breed Narrator (voice) 1944-05-28
Movie Henry V King Henry 1944-11-24
Movie The Demi-Paradise Ivan Kouznetsoff 1943-11-18
Movie That Hamilton Woman Lord Horatio Nelson 1941-04-03
Movie 49th Parallel Johnnie, the Trapper 1941-11-24
Movie 21 Days Together Larry Durrant 1940-01-07
Movie Rebecca Maxim de Winter 1940-03-23
Movie Hollywood: Style Center of the World Self 1940-05-29
Movie Cavalcade of the Academy Awards Self 1940-07-31
Movie Pride and Prejudice Mr. Darcy 1940-07-26
Movie Q Planes Tony McVane 1939-02-21
Movie Wuthering Heights Heathcliff 1939-04-07
Movie The Divorce of Lady X Everard Logan 1938-01-15
Movie Fire Over England Michael Ingolby 1937-03-05
Movie As You Like It Orlando 1936-09-02
Movie The Conquest of the Air Vincent Lunardi 1936-12-01
Movie Moscow Nights Captain Ivan Ignatoff 1935-11-05
Movie Perfect Understanding Nicholas Randall 1933-01-15
Movie Westward Passage Nicholas 'Nick' Allen 1932-05-27
Movie Potiphar's Wife Straker 1931-03-28
Movie Friends and Lovers Lieutenant Ned Nichols 1931-10-03
Movie The Yellow Ticket Julian Rolfe 1931-10-30
Movie The Temporary Widow Peter Bille 1930-07-13
Movie Too Many Crooks The Boy 1930-08-01