Wife Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh
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26 Wathen Rd, Dorking RH4 1JY, UK
86 Elgin Cres, London W11, UK
22 Lupus St, Pimlico, London SW1V 3DZ, Regno Unito
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 62-64 Eton Ave, London NW3 3HY, Regno Unito
8856 Appian Way, Los Angeles, CA 90046
74 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London SW3 5TT, Regno Unito
Garden of Allah, 8152 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Durham Cottage, 4 Christchurch St, London SW3 4AP, UK
Notley Abbey, Aylesbury Rd, Haddenham, Long Crendon, Aylesbury HP17 8TN, UK
54 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9BE, UK
520 N Crescent Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
606 N Camden Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
1107 San Ysidro Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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1101 Tower Rd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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5 Ovington Square, London SW3 1LH, UK
4 Royal Cres, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1AL, UK
7 St. Leonard's Terrace, London SW3 4QB, UK
Mulberry Walk, London SW3
The View, 20 Palace Street, Westminster SW1E 5BA
The Malt House, Ingram Cl, Steyning BN44 3QD, UK
Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, Westminster, London SW1P 3PA, Regno Unito
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 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 Peggy 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 (1964) 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).
Franco Zeffirelli; Laurence Olivier
by Lewis Morley
resin print, 1960s
6 1/8 in. x 8 1/8 in. (156 mm x 207 mm)
Given by Lewis Morley, 1989
Photographs Collection
NPG x125257
Vivien Leigh; Laurence Olivier
by Paul Tanqueray
half-plate glass negative, 1942
Photographs Collection
NPG x180373
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, by Jean Howard
Westminster Abbey, London
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.
Olivier possibly had a brief affair with the actor Henry Ainley, according to the biographer Michael Munn.[77][r] Olivier never overtly acknowledged his affair with Ainley, although Ainley's letters to him are clear. Olivier's third wife, the actress Joan Plowright, expressed surprise at hearing the possibility, but commented, "If he did, so what?"[78] Later, there were also persistent rumours of an affair with the entertainer Danny Kaye,[79] although Coleman considers them to be unsubstantiated;[80] Plowright also dismisses the rumours.[81]
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