| Birth: | May 22, 1907 | | Death: | Jul. 11, 1989 | 
Actor, director, and producer, considered one of the greatest actors of all time; certainly one of the most honored, he was the youngest actor to be knighted and the first actor to be raised to the peerage. Born the son of a vicar in Dorking, Surrey, he was first noticed in school productions -- the renowned actress Dame Ellen Terry, a patron of the school he attended, was so taken by his performance in "Julius Caesar" that she saw the production twice and made a note in her diary that "The small boy who played Brutus is already a great actor" -- but his early career was uneven. He gained serious notices in a supporting role in Noel Coward's "Private Lives" (1930), but what finally established his reputation was a production of "Romeo and Juliet" (1935) where he alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with John Gielgud. A season at the Old Vic Theatre in 1937-38 brought mixed reviews for his performances as Hamlet, Iago, and Macbeth, but his Henry V and Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night" were triumphs, and his Coriolanius was a tour de force and established him as one of the great modern Shakespearean actors. Meanwhile, his film career had been fitful. He had minor roles in minor English and Hollywood films in the early 1930s, an unsuccessful attempt to film Shakespeare with "As You Like It" in 1936, and a popular success with the frothy "The Divorce of Lady X" with Merle Oberon in 1938, but 1937's "Fire Over England" was fateful for the fact that his co-star was Vivien Leigh, with whom he began a rather public affair, despite their both being married to others at the time. Olivier's Hollywood career seemed set to take off in 1939 -- he credited director William Wyler with really teaching him how to act for the camera in "Wuthering Heights," which earned him his first Oscar nomination -- but World War II intervened. He wanted to join the RAF, but he was contractually obligated to finish a number of film projects, including Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" (1940; second Oscar nomination), "Pride and Prejudice" (1940), and "That Hamilton Woman" (1941), which again co-starred Vivien Leigh, whom he married in 1941 after his divorce from his first wife, actress Jill Esmond. He finally was able to join the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and logged over 200 hours of flying time, but never saw combat. His greatest contribution to the war effort came with some of the morale-building propaganda films he made, most famously with his landmark 1944 production of "Henry V," the first Shakespearean film to be a major critical and box-office hit, earning four Oscar nominations including two for Olivier personally as actor and producer as well as a Special Achievement Award. In 1944 the Navy released him, and he and Ralph Richardson established a new company at the Old Vic which performed a repertory of Shakespeare's "Richard III," Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," and George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man," all the time rehearsing and performing under the threat of German V-1 rocket attacks. In their second season, Olivier played Hotspur and Justice Shallow to Richardson's Falstaff in "Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2" and Olivier pulled off another tour de force by playing a double bill of Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus" and Richard Brinsley Sheridan's farce "The Critic" in the same night. He was knighted shortly after his fortieth birthday while filming "Hamlet," which, on its release in 1948 earned him another three Oscar nominations as producer, director, and actor, winning for picture and actor. From 1950 onwards he divided his time between films -- appearing in such varied fare as "Carrie" (1952), Peter Brook's film of John Gay's 18th-century ballad opera "The Beggar's Opera" (1953; his only musical role), "Richard III" (1955; Oscar nomination) and "The Prince and the Showgirl" (1957; with Marilyn Monroe), both of which he also directed; George Bernard Shaw's "The Devil's Disciple" (1959) as General Burgoyne; Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" (1960) -- and the stage, most notably in classical roles, including a 1951 double bill of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" with George Bernard Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" which he played with Vivien Leigh in both London and New York; and a 1955 season co-starring with Leigh in Royal Shakespeare Company productions of "Titus Andronicus," "Twelfth Night," and "Macbeth." He also appeared in contemporary drama, including John Osborne's "The Entertainer" as a broken-down music-hall performer (1957; filmed 1960, his ninth Oscar nomination), and Eugene Ionesco's absurdist farce "Rhinoceros" (1960; directed by Orson Welles). His co-star in "The Entertainer" was Joan Plowright, who became his third wife after his divorce from Vivien Leigh. In 1962 he became director of the National Theatre of Great Britain, dividing his time between acting, directing, and producing: "Othello" (1964; filmed 1965; another Oscar nomination), Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters" (1969; filmed 1970, also co-director), "The Merchant of Venice" (1970; televised 1974) and Eugene O'Neill's "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" (1971; televised 1973, Emmy award). In 1970, his work at the National was recognized by his being elevated to the peerage as Baron Olivier of Brighton. (Despite his numerous awards and titles, however, in conversation he would only respond if people addressed him as "Larry.") After leaving the helm of the National in 1973, he began to experience health problems; his last stage appearance was in "The Party" (1973, at the National) -- afterwards he limited his appearances to film and television: Academy award nominations for "Sleuth" (1972), "Marathon Man" (1976), and "The Boys from Brazil" (1978); as well as cameos in numerous films such as "Oh! What A Lovely War!" and "The Battle of Britain" (both 1969), "Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971), "A Bridge Too Far" (1977), and "The Bounty" (1984). Sometimes his choices weren't very wise, in retrospect; he is the only actor two have won two "Razzies" for Worst Actor -- "The Jazz Singer" (1980) and "Inchon" (1981) -- as well as two Oscars. (He defended his taking sometimes-unworthy roles for the money: "I've got three children in university.") His last role was as the (non-speaking) Old Soldier in Derek Jarman's film of Benjamin Britten's oratorio "War Requiem" (1989), though archival footage of him was digitized and used to create a virtual performance as Dr. Totenkopf in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2003). He died at his home in Steyning, West Sussex, from the effects of dermato-poly-myositis, a rare degenerative muscle disorder. He was cremated and his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey, only the fourth actor to be so honored. (bio by: Paul F. Wilson)
Search Amazon for Laurence Olivier | | | Burial:
Westminster Abbey
Westminster
Greater London, England
Plot: Poets Corner
GPS (lat/lon): 51.5000801, -0.1292300 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 1668 |
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