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.
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Clash of the Titans
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Romeo and Juliet
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Marathon Man
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The Bounty
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The Boys from Brazil
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Hamlet
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Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
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Three Sisters
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Night of 100 Stars II
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Jornal Português (1938-1951)
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Lady Caroline Lamb
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Love Among the Ruins
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Wild Geese II
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Perfect Understanding
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King Lear
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The Moon and Sixpence
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The Collection
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As You Like It
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21 Days Together
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Jesus Of Nazareth
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
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The Merchant of Venice
as ShylockAn Edwardian take on the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.
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The Beggar's Opera
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War Requiem
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Directed by William Wyler
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A Voyage Round My Father
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Friends and Lovers
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Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
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Male of the Species
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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 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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Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
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Westward Passage
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The Bannfoot Ferry
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Revisiting Brideshead
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Potiphar's Wife
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A Queen Is Crowned
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The Dance of Death
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Daphne Laureola
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The Temporary Widow
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The Rehearsal
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Moscow Nights
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Gregory Peck: His Own Man
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Too Many Crooks
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Uncle Vanya
as Dr. AstrovAdaptation of Chekhov's play from the Chichester Festival.
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The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
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Saturday, Sunday, Monday
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Words for Battle
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Long Day's Journey Into Night
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Vivien Leigh, autant en emporte le vent
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At the Haunted End of the Day
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No Funny Business
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Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
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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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The Mike Douglas Show
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Great Performances
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Great Performances
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Tony Awards
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Tony Awards
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Golden Globe Awards
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Golden Globe Awards
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The Carol Burnett Show
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The Oscars
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Jesus of Nazareth
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The Dick Cavett Show
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The Ed Sullivan Show
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Brideshead Revisited
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The World at War
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Omnibus
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Peter the Great
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The Last Days of Pompeii
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ABC Stage 67
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ABC Stage 67
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Talking Pictures
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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 AntonioLaurence 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 Sir JosephLaurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran...
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Lost Empires
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Male of the Species
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Wagner
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