Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, 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. His family had no theatrical connections, but Olivier's 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 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 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 four 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.
Filmography · 148
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Recipient
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · Self - Nominee
Great Performances
1971 · Harry
The Carol Burnett Show
1967 · Self - Audience Member
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
Omnibus
1967 · Self (archive footage)
The Oscars
1953 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969 · Narrator
Spartacus
1960 · Marcus Licinius Crassu...
The Betsy
1978 · Loren Hardeman
Jesus of Nazareth
1977 · Nicodemus
Clash of the Titans
1981 · Zeus
Romeo and Juliet
1968 · Narrator (voice) (uncr...
Rebecca
1940 · Maxim de Winter
Brideshead Revisited
1981 · Alexander Flyte
A Bridge Too Far
1977 · Dr. Jan Spaander
Talking Pictures
2013 · Self (archive footage)
ABC Stage 67
1966 · Self
Wuthering Heights
1939 · Heathcliff
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
2004 · Dr. Totenkopf (archive...
The Bounty
1984 · Admiral Hood
Marathon Man
1976 · Dr. Christian Szell
The World at War
1973 · Narrator
Pride and Prejudice
1940 · Mr. Darcy
The Boys from Brazil
1978 · Ezra Lieberman
Peter the Great
1986 · King William III of Or...
Khartoum
1966 · Mahdi
Battle of Britain
1969 · Air Chief Marshal Sir...
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976 · Big Daddy
Sleuth
1972 · Andrew Wyke
Dracula
1979 · Prof. Abraham Van Hels...
Oh! What a Lovely War
1969 · Field Marshal Sir John...
The Prince and the Showgirl
1957 · The Regent
The Last Days of Pompeii
1984 · Gaius
The Jazz Singer
1980 · Cantor Rabinovitch
Hamlet
1948 · Hamlet - Prince of Den...
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021 · Self (archive footage)
21 Days
1940 · Larry Durrant
Wagner
1983 · Pfeuffer
A Little Romance
1979 · Julius
Iconic Couples of Hollywood
2015 · Self (archive footage)
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971 · Count Witte
The Jigsaw Man
1983 · Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith
Lost Empires
1986 · Harry Burrard
Richard III
1955 · Richard III
The Shoes of the Fisherman
1968 · Piotr Ilyich Kamenev
Bunny Lake Is Missing
1965 · Newhouse
That Hamilton Woman
1941 · Lord Horatio Nelson
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
2028 · Self (archive footage)
The Devil's Disciple
1959 · Gen. Burgoyne
Westward Passage
1932 · Nicholas 'Nick' Allen
49th Parallel
1941 · Johnnie, the Trapper
Wild Geese II
1985 · Rudolf Hess
Directed by William Wyler
1986 · Self
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
1976 · Professor James Moriar...
Uncle Vanya
1963 · Dr. Astrov
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983 · Self (archive footage)...
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
2001 · Self (archive footage)
To Be Hamlet
1985 · Self
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
2018 · Self (archive footage)
Inchon
1981 · Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
2019 · Self (archive footage)
Nothing Like a Dame
2018 · Self (archive footage)
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
1990 · Self (archive footage)
The Filth and the Fury
2000 · Richard III (archive f...
Male of the Species
1969 · Self - Presenter
The Magic Box
1952 · Police Constable 94-B
Rebecca
1950 · Maxim de winter
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · Superintendent Newhous...
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
2000 · Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940 · Self
The Merchant of Venice
1973 · Shylock
Laurence Olivier: A Life
1982 · Self
Fire Over England
1937 · Michael Ingolby
Henry V
1944 · King Henry
Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance
2000 · Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988 · Self (archive footage)
Othello
1965 · Othello
No Funny Business
1933 · Clive Dering
King Lear
1983 · King Lear
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010 · Self (archive footage)
Daphne Laureola
1978 · Sir Joseph
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
1988 · Self (archive footage)
This Happy Breed
1944 · Narrator (voice)
The Collection
1976 · Harry
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
2024 · Self (archive footage)
The Power and the Glory
1963 · Priest
Male of the Species
1969 · Presenter
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986 · archive footage
War Requiem
1989 · The Old Soldier
Q Planes
1939 · Tony McVane
Carrie
1952 · George Hurstwood
Love Among the Ruins
1976 · Sir Arthur Glanville-J...
Friends and Lovers
1931 · Lieutenant Ned Nichols
The Moon and Sixpence
1959 · Charles Strickland
Discovering Hamlet
2011 · Hamlet (archive footag...
Potiphar's Wife
1931 · Straker
The Divorce of Lady X
1938 · Everard Logan
The Gentleman Tramp
1976 · Narrator
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1976 · Big Daddy
The Entertainer
1960 · Archie Rice
Words for Battle
1941 · Narrator (voice)
Lady Caroline Lamb
1972 · Duke of Wellington
A Talent for Murder
1983 · Dr. Anthony Wainwright
The Yellow Ticket
1931 · Julian Rolfe
Marilyn, dernières séances
2008 · Self(archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940 · Self
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
1966
A Voyage Round My Father
1984 · Clifford Mortimer
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
2023 · Self (archive footage)
Three Sisters
1970 · Dr. Ivan Chebutikin
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012 · Self (archive footage)
The Beggar's Opera
1953 · MacHeath
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961 · Self - Maxim de Winter...
The Ebony Tower
1984 · Henry Breasley
Term of Trial
1962 · Graham Weir
The Conquest of the Air
1931 · Vincent Lunardi
Come Back, Little Sheba
1977 · Doc Delaney
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
1978 · Antonio
Marilyn despite herself
2012
David Copperfield
1969 · Mr. Creakle
Perfect Understanding
1933 · Nicholas Randall
The Demi-Paradise
1943 · Ivan Kouznetsoff
The Vivien Leigh Archive at the V&A
2016 · Self (archive footage)
The Volunteer
1944 · Self
As You Like It
1936 · Orlando
Moscow Nights
1934 · Captain Ivan Ignatoff
A Queen Is Crowned
1953 · Narrator
The Bannfoot Ferry
2024 · Self (archive footage)
Private Lives
1940 · Elyot Chase
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
1976 · Self
Revisiting Brideshead
2005 · Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe
1986 · archive footage
Long Day's Journey Into Night
1973 · James Tyrone Sr.
Too Many Crooks
1930 · The Boy
Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
2021 · Self (archive footage)
The Greats: Vivien Leigh
2016 · Self (archive footage)
The Rehearsal
1974 · Self
The Dance of Death
1969 · Edgar
The Making of 'Rebecca'
2008 · Self (archive footage)
Jornal Português (1938-1951)
2015 · Self (archive footage)
At the Haunted End of the Day
1981 · Self
The Temporary Widow
1930 · Peter Bille
Malta G.C.
1942 · Narrator