[244], Olivier spent the last 15 years of his life securing his finances and dealing with deteriorating health,[1] which included thrombosis and dermatomyositis, a degenerative muscle disorder. [126] In Richard III, according to Billington, Olivier's triumph was absolute: "so much so that it became his most frequently imitated performance and one whose supremacy went unchallenged until Antony Sher played the role forty years later". For the last week, ending on 28 March 1936, Olivier was Mercutio and Gielgud Romeo. [291], In comparing Olivier and the other leading actors of his generation, Ustinov wrote, "It is of course vain to talk of who is and who is not the greatest actor. In January 1950 he produced, directed and starred in Christopher Fry's verse play Venus Observed. [upon being awarded his second honorary Academy Award in 1979, an Oscar statuette for Lifetime Achievement, "for the full body of his work, for the unique achievements of his entire career and his lifetime of contribution to the art of film," presented by, [on needing to reshoot their torture scene in. Olivier is generally considered to have been … His surname came from a great-great-grandfather who was of French Huguenot origin.One of Olivier's earliest successes as a Shakespearean actor on the London stage came in 1935 when he played "Romeo" and "Mercutio" in alternate performances of "Romeo and Juliet" with John Gielgud. What a Lovely War, for which he won another BAFTA award,[173] followed by Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding in Battle of Britain. In the two one-act plays his switch from searing tragedy and horror in the first half to farcical comedy in the second impressed most critics and audience members, though a minority felt that the transformation from Sophocles's bloodily blinded hero to Sheridan's vain and ludicrous Mr Puff "smacked of a quick-change turn in a music hall". [178], Leigh became pregnant in 1956 and withdrew from the production of Coward's comedy South Sea Bubble. [200][269], In February 1960, for his contribution to the film industry, Olivier was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with a star at 6319 Hollywood Boulevard;[270] he is included in the American Theater Hall of Fame. [187], Osborne was already at work on a new play, The Entertainer, an allegory of Britain's post-colonial decline, centred on a seedy variety comedian, Archie Rice. [first address in the House of Lords, 1971] I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture. The production was popular, despite poor reviews, but the expensive production did little to help the finances of Laurence Olivier Productions. Initially he proposed Gielgud and Olivier as his colleagues, but the former declined, saying, "It would be a disaster, you would have to spend your whole time as referee between Larry and me. [k] My great triumph came in New York when one night I managed to break Noël up on the stage without giggling myself. [146] The Times said that the triumvirate's years were the greatest in the Old Vic's history;[147] as The Guardian put it, "the governors summarily sacked them in the interests of a more mediocre company spirit". Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High Anglican priest. Tynan considered resigning over this interference with the management's artistic freedom, but Olivier himself stayed firmly in place, and Tynan also remained. Only, Was nominated 13 times for the Academy Award, nine times as Best Actor, once as Best Supporting Actor, twice for Best Picture, and once as Best Director. 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). If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. [235][236] Although he initially declined the honour, Harold Wilson, the incumbent prime minister, wrote to him, then invited him and Plowright to dinner, and persuaded him to accept. Official Sites, A handsome man with a magnificent speaking voice, Often played noble and fiercely proud leaders and royalty figures, 1985: When presenting at the Oscars, he forgot to name the Best Picture nominees. What I felt to be my image was boring me to death. They married soon after the release of The Entertainer (1960). In 1955 Richardson, advised by Gielgud, had turned down the role of Estragon in. Also, you have to know life - bastards included - and it takes a bit of one to know one, don't you think? [119] He was unimpressed, and later commented that "this was my first absolute fob-off, and I regarded it as such. [115] Walton also provided the music for Olivier's next two Shakespearean adaptations, Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). Cooper advised him to remain where he was and speak to the film director Alexander Korda, who was based in the US at Churchill's behest, with connections to British Intelligence. Some of us are better at it than others, but we all do it. [212] Several of the roles he played were minor characters, including a crazed butler in Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear and a pompous solicitor in Maugham's Home and Beauty; the vulgar soldier Captain Brazen in Farquhar's 1706 comedy The Recruiting Officer was a larger role but not the leading one. He observed, "Ralph was a natural actor, he couldn't stop being a perfect actor; Olivier did it through sheer hard work and determination. Sir. Her notices in the part were damning,[z] but the production by Peter Brook and Olivier's performance as Titus received the greatest ovation in Stratford history from the first-night audience, and the critics hailed the production as a landmark in post-war British theatre. She would be shaking and white and quite distraught at the end of it. The Order of Merit recognizes distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. After his wedding Olivier wanted to help the war effort. Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier. [159] Olivier began to notice a change in Leigh's behaviour, and he later recounted that "I would find Vivien sitting on the corner of the bed, wringing her hands and sobbing, in a state of grave distress; I would naturally try desperately to give her some comfort, but for some time she would be inconsolable. [135] During the run of Cyrano, Richardson was knighted, to Olivier's undisguised envy. And even … Gielgud had seen Olivier in Queen of Scots, spotted his potential, and now gave him a major step up in his career. Jourdain Olivier, an ancestor, arrived in Britain in 1688 as chaplain to William of Orange. [204], In 1961 Olivier accepted the directorship of a new theatrical venture, the Chichester Festival. Was awarded a life peer on June 13, 1970 in the Queen's Birthday Honours as Baron Olivier, of Brighton in the County of Sussex, the first actor to be accorded this distinction. "[290] The American actor William Redfield had a similar view: Ironically enough, Laurence Olivier is less gifted than Marlon Brando. Laurence Olivier, British actor, in a suit and tie. Pages 837-843. [1] The resulting film was a commercial and critical success that earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and created his screen reputation. I insisted on getting married from a pathetic mixture of religious and animal promptings. [174] Gielgud later commented: Somehow the production did not work. I cannot come on looking like me and be someone else. [1] In 1945 the company toured Germany, where they were seen by many thousands of Allied servicemen; they also appeared at the Comédie-Française theatre in Paris, the first foreign company to be given that honour. Following a bad fall in March 1989, Olivier endured his final operation, a hip replacement. [22] On leaving the school after a year, Olivier gained work with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband Lewis Casson as a bit-part player, understudy and assistant stage manager for their London company. 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. [224] In the same year Olivier portrayed the Mahdi, opposite Heston as General Gordon, in the film Khartoum. The production was chiefly remarkable for the star's quarrels with the director, Orson Welles, who according to the biographer Francis Beckett suffered the "appalling treatment" that Olivier had inflicted on Gielgud at Stratford five years earlier. Olivier again ignored his director and undermined his authority. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. [to a young actress who complained she was not taken seriously because she was a blonde] But my dear, it was your decision! Olivier was also offered an honorary degree from, For his appearances in screen versions of, Billington cites one of the best known instances of Olivier's physicality: "a sense of daring [which] showed itself, physically, in such feats as his famous headlong deathfall off a 12-foot-high platform in, Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, List of awards and nominations received by Laurence Olivier, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Shakespeare: Laurence Olivier as Hamlet: original 1948 Telegraph review", "Olivier worn out by love and lust of Vivien Leigh", British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "Theatre: Olivier in 'The Entertainer'; John Osborne Play Opens at Royale", "In the shadow of a giant – Laurence Olivier", "Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier of Brighton", "Laurence Olivier: still the actor's actor 25 years after his death", "In Praise of the Holy Trinity: Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson", "Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier (1907–1989)", Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actor, New York Drama Critics Award for Best Actor, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor, Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute Honorees, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laurence_Olivier&oldid=1002101247, Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners, Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award winners, Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners, Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners, Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners, Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners, People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 January 2021, at 21:35. [234] In June 1970 he became the first actor to be created a peer for services to the theatre. But he is still the definitive actor of the twentieth century. I hated myself for cheating on Jill, but then I had cheated before, but this was something different. [125] The first three productions met with acclaim from reviewers and audiences; Uncle Vanya had a mixed reception, although The Times thought Olivier's Astrov "a most distinguished portrait" and Richardson's Vanya "the perfect compound of absurdity and pathos". He was gifted, brilliant, and one of the great controversial figures of our time in theatre, which is a virtue and not a vice at all."[287]. [285] In an obituary tribute in The Times, Bernard Levin wrote, "What we have lost with Laurence Olivier is glory. [221] The National Theatre production of Othello was released as a film in 1965, which earned four Academy Award nominations, including another for Best Actor for Olivier. More Buying Choices £5.29 (15 Used & New offers) Paperback. He held the post for six years, and a stable family life was at last possible. A small troupe toured the provinces, with Sybil Thorndike at its head. He was treated for prostate cancer and, during rehearsals for his production of Chekhov's Three Sisters he was hospitalised with pneumonia.
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