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Photo of Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Actor, Producer, Director, Writer, Additional Credits
Born May 22, 1907Died July 11, 1989 (82 years)
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.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Laurence Olivier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • The Boys from Brazil
  • Jesus of Nazareth
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Hamlet
  • Brideshead Revisited
  • 49th Parallel
  • Henry V
  • This Happy Breed
  • The Entertainer
  • The Divorce of Lady X
  • A Queen Is Crowned
Known For
  • Rebecca
  • Spartacus
  • Sleuth
  • Marathon Man
  • Hamlet
  • The World at War
  • The Boys from Brazil
  • Henry V
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
  • The Prince and the Showgirl
  • Richard III
  • A Little Romance
  • A Bridge Too Far
  • Dracula
  • Clash of the Titans
  • Bunny Lake Is Missing
  • The Entertainer
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Oh! What a Lovely War
  • Khartoum
  • Battle of Britain
  • 49th Parallel
  • The Bounty

Filmography

2015
Trumbo · as Crassus
2011
Discovering Hamlet · as Hamlet (archive Footage)
2009
2008
Truly, Madly, Cheaply!: British B Movies · as King Henry V Of England
2005
Brave New World · as Dr. Totenkopf
2004
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow · as Dr. Totenkopf (archive Footage)
2000
The Filth and the Fury · as Richard Iii (archive Footage)
1999
1998
1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker · as Superintendent Newhouse (archive Footage) (uncredited)
1989
War Requiem · as The Old Soldier
1986
Lost Empires (TV Series) · as Harry Burrard
1986
Peter the Great (TV Series) · as King William Iii Of Orange
1985
Wild Geese II · as Rudolf Hess
1984
The Ebony Tower · as Henry Breasley
1984
Terror in the Aisles · as Doctor Christian Szell
1984
The Last Days of Pompeii (TV Series) · as Gaius
1984
The Bounty · as Admiral Hood
1984
A Talent for Murder · as Dr. Anthony Wainwright
1983
The Jigsaw Man · as Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith
1983
Wagner (TV Series) · as Pfeuffer
1983
Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson · as Joe Halpern
1983
King Lear · as King Lear
1982
A Voyage Round My Father · as Clifford Mortimer
1981
Brideshead Revisited (TV Series) · as Alexander Flyte, Lord Marchmain
1981
1981
Inchon · as Gen. Douglas Macarthur
1980
The Jazz Singer · as Cantor Rabinovitch
1979
Dracula · as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
1979
A Little Romance · as Julius
1978
The Boys from Brazil · as Ezra Lieberman
1978
The Betsy · as Loren Hardeman
1978
Daphne Laureola · as Sir Joseph
1978
1977
Come Back, Little Sheba · as Doc Delaney
1977
A Bridge Too Far · as Dr. Jan Spaander
1977
Jesus of Nazareth (TV Series) · as Nicodemus
1977
Jesus Of Nazareth · as Nicodemus
1976
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof · as Big Daddy
1976
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution · as Professor James Moriarty
1976
Marathon Man · as Szell
1975
The Gentleman Tramp · as Narrator
1975
Love Among the Ruins · as Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones
1973
The World at War (TV Series) · as Narrator
1973
1972
Sleuth · as Andrew Wyke
1972
Lady Caroline Lamb · as Duke Of Wellington
1971
Nicholas and Alexandra · as Count Witte
1971
Great Performances (TV Series) · as Harry
1970
Three Sisters · as Dr. Ivan Chebutikin
1970
David Copperfield · as Mr. Creakle
1969
Battle of Britain · as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
1969
Oh! What a Lovely War · as Field Marshal Sir John French
1969
Hollywood: The Selznick Years · as Maxim De Winter (archive Footage) (uncredited)
1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre (TV Series) · as Narrator
1969
Male of the Species · as Presenter
1969
The Dance of Death · as Edgar
1968
The Shoes of the Fisherman · as Piotr Ilyich Kamenev
1968
Romeo and Juliet · as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1966
Khartoum · as Mahdi
1965
Othello · as Othello
1965
Bunny Lake Is Missing · as Supt. Newhouse
1964
NET Playhouse (TV Series) · as Dr. Astrov
1963
Uncle Vanya · as Dr. Astrov
1962
Term of Trial · as Graham Weir
1961
1960
The Entertainer · as Archie Rice
1960
Spartacus · as Marcus Licinius Crassus
1959
The Moon and Sixpence · as Charles Strickland
1959
The Devil's Disciple · as Gen. Burgoyne
1957
1955
Richard III · as Richard Iii
1955
ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) · as John Gabriel Borkman
1953
The Beggar's Opera · as Macheath
1953
1953
1952
Carrie · as George Hurstwood
1951
The Magic Box · as Police Constable 94-B
1948
Hamlet · as Hamlet - Prince Of Denmark / Voice Of Ghost
1944
Henry V · as King Henry
1944
This Happy Breed · as Narrator (voice)
1943
Adventure for Two · as Ivan Kouznetsoff
1942
Malta G.C. · as Narrator
1941
49th Parallel · as Johnnie, The Trapper
1941
That Hamilton Woman · as Lord Horatio Nelson
1940
Pride and Prejudice · as Mr. Darcy
1940
Rebecca · as Maxim De Winter
1940
21 Days Together · as Larry Durrant
1939
Clouds Over Europe · as Tony Mcvane
1939
1938
The Divorce of Lady X · as Everard Logan
1937
Fire Over England · as Michael Ingolby
1936
As You Like It · as Orlando
1934
I Stand Condemned · as Captain Ivan Ignatoff
1933
Perfect Understanding · as Nicholas Randall
1932
Westward Passage · as Nicholas 'nick' Allen
1931
The Conquest of the Air · as Vincent Lunardi
1931
The Yellow Ticket · as Julian Rolfe
1931
Friends and Lovers · as Lieutenant Ned Nichols
1930
Too Many Crooks · as The Boy

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