Laurence Olivier
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Laurence Olivier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Directed Movies
Director: Laurence Olivier
Writers: Laurence Olivier,
Cast: Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Felix Aylmer, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Norman Wooland, Peter Cushing, Russell Thorndike, Stanley Holloway, Terence Morgan,
Director: Laurence Olivier
Writers: Alan Dent,
Cast: Ernest Thesiger, Felix Aylmer, Freda Jackson, Frederick Cooper, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Ralph Truman, Renée Asherson, Robert Helpmann, Robert Newton,
Acted Movies
Director: Roger Donaldson
Writers: Robert Bolt,
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Bernard Hill, Daniel Day-Lewis, Edward Fox, Laurence Olivier, Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson, Phil Davis, Tevaite Vernette, Wi Kuki Kaa,
Director: Desmond Davis
Writers: Beverley Cross,
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Claire Bloom, Flora Robson, Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Siân Phillips, Tim Pigott-Smith, Ursula Andress,
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Writers: Herbert Baker,
Cast: Catlin Adams, Franklyn Ajaye, James Booth, Laurence Olivier, Lucie Arnaz, Luther Waters, Mike Kellin, Neil Diamond, Paul Nicholas, Sully Boyar,
Director: John Schlesinger
Writers: William Goldman,
Cast: Allen Joseph, Dustin Hoffman, Fritz Weaver, Laurence Olivier, Marc Lawrence, Marthe Keller, Richard Bright, Roy Scheider, Tito Goya, William Devane,
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writers: Anthony Shaffer,
Cast: Alec Cawthorne, Eve Channing, John Matthews, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Teddy Martin,
Director: Guy Hamilton
Writers: Wilfred Greatorex,
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Curd Jürgens, Harry Andrews, Ian McShane, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Michael Redgrave, Nigel Patrick, Trevor Howard,
Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Penelope Mortimer,
Cast: Adrienne Corri, Anna Massey, Carol Lynley, Clive Revill, Finlay Currie, Keir Dullea, Laurence Olivier, Lucie Mannheim, Martita Hunt, Noël Coward,
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Peter Ustinov,
Cast: Charles Laughton, Herbert Lom, Jean Simmons, John Gavin, John Ireland, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Nina Foch, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis,
Director: Tony Richardson
Writers: Nigel Kneale,
Cast: Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Brenda De Banzie, Daniel Massey, Joan Plowright, Laurence Olivier, Miriam Karlin, Roger Livesey, Shirley Anne Field, Thora Hird,
Director: Laurence Olivier
Writers: Laurence Olivier,
Cast: Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Felix Aylmer, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Norman Wooland, Peter Cushing, Russell Thorndike, Stanley Holloway, Terence Morgan,
Director: Laurence Olivier
Writers: Alan Dent,
Cast: Ernest Thesiger, Felix Aylmer, Freda Jackson, Frederick Cooper, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Ralph Truman, Renée Asherson, Robert Helpmann, Robert Newton,
Director: Michael Powell
Writers: Emeric Pressburger,
Cast: Anton Walbrook, Eric Portman, John Chandos, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Howard, Niall MacGinnis, Peter Moore, Raymond Lovell, Raymond Massey, Richard George,
Director: Alexander Korda
Writers: R.C. Sherriff,
Cast: Alan Mowbray, Gilbert Emery, Gladys Cooper, Halliwell Hobbes, Heather Angel, Henry Wilcoxon, Laurence Olivier, Miles Mander, Sara Allgood, Vivien Leigh,
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Writers: Jane Murfin,
Cast: Ann Rutherford, Edmund Gwenn, Edna May Oliver, Frieda Inescort, Greer Garson, Heather Angel, Karen Morley, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland, Maureen O'Sullivan,
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Robert E. Sherwood,
Cast: C. Aubrey Smith, Florence Bates, George Sanders, Gladys Cooper, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson, Laurence Olivier, Melville Cooper, Nigel Bruce, Reginald Denny,
Director: William Wyler
Writers: Charles MacArthur,
Cast: Cecil Kellaway, David Niven, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Hugh Williams, Laurence Olivier, Leo G. Carroll, Merle Oberon, Miles Mander,
Written Movies
Director: Laurence Olivier
Writers: Laurence Olivier,
Cast: Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Felix Aylmer, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Norman Wooland, Peter Cushing, Russell Thorndike, Stanley Holloway, Terence Morgan,