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.
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer...
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Romeo and Juliet
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love against the wishes of their feuding families....
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Clash of the Titans
as ZeusTo win the right to marry his love, the beautiful princess Andromeda, and fulfil his destiny,...
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49th Parallel
as Johnnie, the TrapperIn the early days of World War II, a German U-boat is sunk in Canada's Hudson Bay. Hoping to...
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Rebecca
as Maxim de WinterStory of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in...
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Marathon Man
as SzellA graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving...
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The Bounty
as Admiral HoodThe familiar story of Lieutenant Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This...
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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
as Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage)When gigantic robots attack New York City, "Sky Captain" uses his private air force to fight...
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The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII...
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Dracula
as Prof. Abraham Van HelsingRomanticized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 classic. Count Dracula is a subject of fatal...
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Wuthering Heights
as HeathcliffThe Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns...
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Battle of Britain
as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh DowdingIn 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for...
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The Boys from Brazil
as Ezra LiebermanNazi hunter Ezra Lieberman discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
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Bunny Lake Is Missing
as Supt. NewhouseA woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she...
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Khartoum
as MahdiEnglish General Charles George Gordon is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by...
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The Prince and the Showgirl
as The RegentAn American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign...
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That Hamilton Woman
as Lord Horatio NelsonThe story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships with Sir...
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Sleuth
as Andrew WykeA mystery novelist devises an insurance scam with his wife's lover – but things aren't exactly...
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Pride and Prejudice
as Mr. DarcyMrs. Bennet wishes to wed her five unmarried daughters and is overjoyed when a wealthy bachelor...
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Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous hunchback...
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Henry V
as King HenryIn the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the...
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Hamlet
as Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of GhostWinner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s...
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The Entertainer
as Archie RiceArchie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay...
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Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is...
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The Shoes of the Fisherman
as Piotr Ilyich KamenevAll eyes focus on the Vatican, watching for the traditional puffs of white smoke that signal the...
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The Kid Stays in the Picture
as Self (archive footage)Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
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Othello
as OthelloGeneral Othello's marriage is destroyed when vengeful Ensign Iago convinces him that his new...
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The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
as Professor James MoriartyConcerned about his friend's cocaine use, Dr. Watson tricks Sherlock Holmes into travelling to...
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Carrie
as George HurstwoodCarrie's dreams of adventure in the big city are quickly squashed as she discovers all that...
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The Filth and the Fury
as Richard III (archive footage)Julien Temple's second documentary profiling punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols is an...
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A Little Romance
as JuliusIntellectually precocious teenager Lauren King lives in Paris with her somewhat ditzy mother. On...
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The Devil's Disciple
as Gen. BurgoyneIn a small New England town during the American War of Independence, Dick Dudgeon, a...
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This Happy Breed
as Narrator (voice)In 1919, Frank Gibbons returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house,...
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And the Oscar Goes To...
as Self (archive footage)The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND...
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Nothing Like a Dame
as Self (archive footage)BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Elieen...
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The Jazz Singer
as Cantor RabinovitchA young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family...
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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas,...
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Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage)In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the...
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Fire Over England
as Michael IngolbyThe film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), focusing on...
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The Jigsaw Man
as Adm. Sir Gerald ScaithPhilip Kimberly, the former head of the British Secret Service who defected to Russia, is given...
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Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as Superintendent Newhouse (archive footage) (uncredited)This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie...
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Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling...
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Q Planes
as Tony McVaneIn England, an eccentric police inspector, an earnest test pilot and a spunky female reporter...
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Wild Geese II
as Rudolf HessA group of mercenaries is hired to spring Rudolf Hess from Spandau Prison in Berlin.
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Oh! What a Lovely War
as Field Marshal Sir John FrenchThe working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the three boys...
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Westward Passage
as Nicholas 'Nick' AllenA struggling writer divorces his wife to pursue his career without interference, but they meet...
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Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage)Hopkins’ career has spanned several decades, which is why we will also use many interviews that...
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As You Like It
as OrlandoFilm version of Shakespeare's comedy of a young woman who disguises herself as a man to win the...
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The Betsy
as Loren HardemanRuthless patriarch Loren hires racecar driver Angelo to build a more efficient vehicle against...
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Three Sisters
as Dr. Ivan ChebutikinNearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual...
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The Magic Box
as Police Constable 94-BNow old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As...
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Inchon
as Gen. Douglas MacArthurGen. Douglas MacArthur leads a Korean War campaign, and the war tests a married couple's...
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The Demi-Paradise
as Ivan KouznetsoffIvan Kouznetsoff, a Russian engineer, recounts during World War II his stay in England prior to...
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The Power and the Glory
as PriestBased on Graham Greene's novel about a flawed but devoted priest in 1930s Mexico who attempts to...
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Lady Caroline Lamb
as Duke of WellingtonLady Caroline Lamb, dissatisfied in her marriage, has an affair with the dashing Romantic poet...
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The Conquest of the Air
as Vincent LunardiThis early docudrama uses dramatic reenactment, working models of early flying machines, and...
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The Dance of Death
as EdgarAn egocentric artillery captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in...
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21 Days Together
as Larry DurrantAfter Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is...
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Love Among the Ruins
as Sir Arthur Glanville-JonesAn aging actress and socialite, Jessica Medlicott has ended her engagement with a younger man...
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Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as Self (from The Prince and the Showgirl [1957]) (archive footage)Her story is well-known — the lonely child who yearned for affection and approval which she...
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Jesus Of Nazareth
as NicodemusRobert Powell stars in the epic 1977 drama chronicling the birth, life, crucifixion and...
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David Copperfield
as Mr. CreakleA made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into...
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Perfect Understanding
as Nicholas RandallA young couple decide to marry under the condition that they agree never to disagree. That...
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Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
as Self (archive footage)The extraordinary life of playwright, singer, actor, composer, and director Noël Coward, who...
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Night of 100 Stars II
as SelfThis special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited...
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Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
as Self (archive footage)The life and career of two-time Oscar winner Vivien Leigh, who battled tuberculosis and...
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King Lear
as King LearAn aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters and rejects...
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War Requiem
as The Old SoldierDuring World War I, British soldier Owen is mortified by the examples of cruelty that surround...
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Term of Trial
as Graham WeirA schoolteacher plagued by alcoholism and his refusal to serve in World War II, Graham Weir...
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The Divorce of Lady X
as Everard LoganThe morning after a London barrister lets a mystery woman stay in his suite, a friend files for...
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Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
as Self (archive footage)A film biography with a difference, Sir John Mills' Moving Memories charts the life of one of...
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The Moon and Sixpence
as Charles StricklandA staid, dull Englishman abruptly deserts his wife and children to become a painter in the South...
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The Yellow Ticket
as Julian RolfeA young Russian girl is forced into a life of prostitution in Czarist Russia, and she and a...
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Male of the Species
as PresenterNever trust a man whoever he is. This is the bitter lesson learned by Mary MacNeil in her...
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The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage)This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests,...
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as SelfThis 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...
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The Temporary Widow
as Peter BilleKitty Kellermann is put on trial for murdering her husband, a failed painter. When her counsel...
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Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Maxim de Winter (archive footage) (uncredited)Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O....
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Moscow Nights
as Captain Ivan IgnatoffDuring the First World War, Russian officer Ignatoff, wounded, falls in love with his nurse,...
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The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
as SelfProducer Robert Evans dominates with his trademark promotional style, but Schlesinger gets a...
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
as Big DaddyAn alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his...
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The Merchant of Venice
as ShylockAn Edwardian take on the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.
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Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
as Self (archive footage)A portrait of the 30 year relationship between Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. With comments...
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The Collection
as HarrySet in the rarefied world of West End boutique owners and fashion designers, The Collection...
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Uncle Vanya
as Dr. AstrovAdaptation of Chekhov's play from the Chichester Festival.
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Directed by William Wyler
as SelfDocumentary about the famed Hollywood director.
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Friends and Lovers
as Lieutenant Ned NicholsBritish Army captain Geoff Roberts carries on an affair with Alva, the wife of the cruel Victor...
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Revisiting Brideshead
as Self (archive footage)Documentary with an affectionate look back at the classic Granada TV dramatisation of Evelyn...
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The Bannfoot Ferry
as Self (archive footage)A forgotten history of Northern Ireland is unveiled through a journey into Ulster Television’s...
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The Gentleman Tramp
as NarratorA film about the life and work of the master comedy filmmaker, Charles Chaplin.
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Come Back, Little Sheba
as Doc DelaneyAn emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal...
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Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
as Self (archive footage)In "Gone with the Wind" she was an unforgettable Scarlett O'Hara. Beauty, two-time Oscar winner,...
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No Funny Business
as Clive Dering'Riviera. Professional co-respondents mistake one another for clients.' (British Film Catalogue)
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Long Day's Journey Into Night
as James Tyrone Sr.On a day in the summer of 1912, the family of retired matinee idol James Tyrone grapples with...
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Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as SelfThis short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them....
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The Beggar's Opera
as MacHeathAdaptation of John Gay's 18th century opera, featuring Laurence Olivier as MacHeath and Hugh...
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To Be Hamlet
as SelfDocumentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the...
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Gregory Peck: His Own Man
as Self (archive footage)Talented and enduring Academy Award-winning star, Gregory Peck, tells how it was when studios...
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A Talent for Murder
as Dr. Anthony WainwrightA famed mystery writer and her doctor ex-lover solve her daughter-in-law's murder.
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Discovering Hamlet
as Hamlet (archive footage)Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors...
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The Ebony Tower
as Henry BreasleyA brash young artist invades the secluded retirement of an elderly painter and finds that the...
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A Queen Is Crowned
as NarratorA lavish documentary film of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953.
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The Rehearsal
as SelfAn indictment of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. The film tries to give a reconstruction...
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Daphne Laureola
as Sir JosephA young man becomes infatuated with the exotic Lady Pitts whose much older husband is not pleased.
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A Voyage Round My Father
as Clifford MortimerA successful lawyer struck with blindness in middle age continues his battles in the courtroom...
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Saturday, Sunday, Monday
as AntonioOne Saturday evening Rosa Priore is preparing a magnificent Sunday lunch for her family and...
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At the Haunted End of the Day
as SelfA documentary by Tony Palmer on English composer Sir William Walton (1902–1983), made shortly...
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Jornal Português (1938-1951)
as Self (archive footage)The newsreel series Jornal Português (1938-1951) was produced for the Secretariat of National...
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Potiphar's Wife
as Straker'A good-looking chauffeur, employed by an aristocratic married lady is tempted to misconduct....
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Words for Battle
as Narrator (voice)Poetry by Rudyard Kipling, John Milton, and William Blake, and excerpts from speeches by Abraham...
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Too Many Crooks
as The BoyA man tries to burgle his own safe on the same night that a professional criminal attempts it.
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The Mike Douglas Show
as SelfThe Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that...
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The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - GuestThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various...
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Tony Awards
as SelfThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award,...
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Tony Awards
as Self - RecipientThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award,...
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The Carol Burnett Show
as Self - Audience MemberThe Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol...
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Golden Globe Awards
as Self - WinnerAn annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and...
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Golden Globe Awards
as Self - NomineeAn annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and...
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Great Performances
as HarryThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...
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Great Performances
as SelfThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...
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The Ed Sullivan Show
as SelfThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
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Jesus of Nazareth
as NicodemusDramatizes the Birth, Life, Ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, largely...
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Omnibus
as Self (archive footage)Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the...
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ABC Stage 67
as SelfABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety...
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The Oscars
as SelfAn annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...
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Brideshead Revisited
as Alexander Flyte, Lord MarchmainCharles Ryder, an agnostic man, becomes involved with members of the Flytes, a Catholic family...
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Talking Pictures
as Self (archive footage)A look back at television appearances by legends of the silver screen, using archive footage to...
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The World at War
as NarratorA documentary series that gives a historical account of the events of World War II, from its...
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The Last Days of Pompeii
as GaiusThis seven-hour British-Italian adaptation of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 epic, set against the...
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Laurence Olivier Presents
as Big DaddyLaurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...
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Laurence Olivier Presents
as Doc DelaneyLaurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...
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Laurence Olivier Presents
as AntonioLaurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...
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Laurence Olivier Presents
as Sir JosephLaurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...
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Lost Empires
as Harry BurrardIn 1913, young Richard Herncastle joins his Uncle Nick's magic act and is introduced to the...
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Peter the Great
as King William III of OrangePeter the Great is a 1986 NBC television mini-series starring Maximilian Schell as Russian...
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Wagner
as PfeufferA huge panorama of Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 Revolution, through his exile in...
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Male of the Species
as Self - PresenterNever trust a man whoever he is. This is the bitter lesson learned by Mary MacNeil in her...
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