Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier,
OM (
22 May 1907–
11 July 1989) was an
Academy Award winning
English actor,
director, and
producer. He was regarded by many critics, including
Russell Lees as among the greatest actors of the 20th century.
[Russell Lees commentary for Richard III (1955) DVD, 2004, Criterion] His career stretched over several decades, prolific both on stage and in film. In both media, he played a wide variety of roles, from
Othello to a Nazi dentist, (in
Marathon Man) to Sir Toby Belch.
A
High Church clergyman's son who found fame on the
West End stage, Olivier became determined to master Shakespeare, and in turn he became one of the foremost interpreters of the bard in the 20th century. In later years, Olivier became torn by guilt over having left his second wife
Vivien Leigh, and so he immersed himself in his work.
[Terry Coleman, Olivier (Henry Holt and Co., 2005; ISBN 0805075364)] Olivier played over 120 stage roles, including:
Macbeth,
Romeo,
Hamlet,
Othello,
Uncle Vanya, and
Archie Rice. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including
William Wyler's
Wuthering Heights,
Alfred Hitchcock's
Rebecca, and his own
Hamlet.
Olivier was born in
1907 in
Dorking,
Surrey. He was raised in a severe, strict, and religious household, ruled over by his father, Gerard Kerr Olivier, an Anglican priest.
[Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor: An Autobiography, (Simon and Schuster, 1985; ISBN 0671417010)]Young Laurence took solace in the care of his mother, Agnes, and was grief-stricken when she died (at 48) when he was only 12.
[Coleman, Olivier, 13] He was educated at
St Edward's School,
Oxford, and, at 15, played Katherine in his school's production of
The Taming of the Shrew. It was his father who decided that Laurence — or "Kim" as the family called him — would become an actor.
[Coleman, Olivier, 21.]Olivier then attended the
Central School of Dramatic Art at the age of 17.
[James Agee, "Masterpiece"; James Agee: Film Writing and Selected Journalism (New York: Library of America, 2005; ISBN 1-931082-82-0), pp. 412–20. A review of Henry V, first published in Time (8 April 1946) and from there reprinted within Agee on Film, which is reprinted in toto within the newer book. The second part of this article is reproduced as Laurence Olivier Biography.] In 1926, he joined
The Birmingham Repertory company.
[A short summary of Olivier's life, found on his official site, laurenceolivier.com] At first he was given only paltry tasks at the theatre, such as being the bell-ringer; however, his roles eventually became more significant, and in 1937 he was playing roles such as Hamlet and Macbeth.
Throughout his career he insisted that his acting was pure technique, and he was contemptuous of contemporaries who adopted the 'Method' taught by
Stanislavsky.
Olivier met and married
Jill Esmond in
1930 and had one son, Tarquin, born in
1936.
He made his film debut in
The Temporary Widow, and played his first leading role on film in
The Yellow Ticket; however, he held film in little regard.
His stage breakthroughs were in
Noel Coward's
Private Lives in 1930, and in
Romeo and Juliet in 1935, alternating the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with
John Gielgud. Olivier disliked Gielgud, and was irritated by the fact that Gielgud was getting better reviews than he was.
[Coleman, Olivier, 64, 65] He continued to hold his scorn for film, and though he constantly worked for
Alexander Korda, he still felt most at home on the stage. He made his first Shakespeare film,
As You Like It with
Paul Czinner, however, Olivier disliked it, thinking that Shakespeare did not work well on film. Olivier then saw a production of
The Mask of Virtue, and one thing in particular interested him about it: Vivien Leigh.
Olivier congratulated Leigh on her performance, and a friendship began. Olivier took her to lunch one day, and the friendship developed.
[Coleman, Olivier, 76, and Chapter 7 in general] Alexander Korda cast the two as leads in
Fire Over England, and when the film was finished, the two began an affair. They appeared in two other films together,
21 Days, and Korda's epic,
That Hamilton Woman, with Olivier as
Lord Nelson. They wanted to marry, but both Leigh's husband and Olivier's wife at the time, Jill Esmond, at first, refused to divorce them. Finally divorced, they married on
31 August 1940, at the San Ysidro Ranch in
Santa Barbara, California, with
Katharine Hepburn as
maid of honour.
Olivier and Leigh planned to star in a run of
Romeo and Juliet in
New York. It was an extravagant production, and was a commercial failure.
[Coleman, Olivier, 133] However, back in England, Olivier became the co-manager of the Old Vic Theatre, along with his good friend
Ralph Richardson, and
John Burrell.
Wuthering Heights
Olivier continued to hold his contempt for films, claiming they were "just a quick way to earn money."
He got his break in
Hollywood when cast as Heathcliff in
Samuel Goldwyn's production of
Wuthering Heights. Director William Wyler disagreed with Olivier on many things regarding his performance, and forced Olivier to alter his style. Olivier later admitted that this was for the better, and his performance in the film earned him his first
Oscar nomination. But he was still unhappy and still felt most at home on the stage.
This success led to more leading roles for Olivier, including Maxim de Winter in
Alfred Hitchcock's
Rebecca, and Mr. Darcy in
MGM's
Pride and Prejudice.
When
World War II broke out, Olivier intended to join the Air Force, but was still contractually obliged to other parties. He apparently disliked actors such as
Charles Laughton and Sir
Cedric Hardwicke, who would hold charity cricket matches to help the war effort.
[Coleman, Olivier, 142] Olivier took flying lessons, and racked up over 200 hours.
After two years of service, he became a lieutenant in the
Fleet Air Arm but never saw combat.
When Olivier returned to London, and to the stage, the populace noticed a change in him. Olivier's only explanation was: "Maybe it's just that I've got older."
After gaining widespread popularity in the film medium, Olivier was approached by several investors (namely
Filippo Del Giudice,
Alexander Korda and
J. Arthur Rank), to create several Shakesperean films, based on stage productions of each respective play. Olivier tried his hand at directing, and as a result, created three highly successful films:
Henry V,
Hamlet and
Richard III.
Henry V
|
Laurence Olivier on Time cover featuring Henry V |
Olivier made his directorial debut with a film of Shakespeare's
Henry V. At first, he did not believe he was up to the task, instead trying to offer it to
William Wyler,
Carol Reed, and
Terence Young. The result, however, was an astounding success. It was the first widely successful Shakespeare film, and was considered a work of art by some. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, but the Academy, in Olivier's opinion, did not feel comfortable in giving out all of their major awards to a foreigner, so they gave him a special Honorary Award. Olivier disregarded the award as a "fob-off".
[Coleman, Olivier, 169]Hamlet
Olivier followed up on his success with an adaptation of
Hamlet. He had played this role more often than he had Henry, and was more at home with the melancholy Dane. The film was another resounding critical and commercial success both in Britain and abroad,
and won Olivier the Best Picture and Best Actor awards at the 1948 Academy Awards. This was the first British film to win Best Picture, and the only time that Olivier would win Best Actor, a category he would be nominated in five more times before his death. Olivier also became the first person to direct himself in an Oscar-winning performance, a feat not repeated until
Roberto Benigni directed himself to Best Actor in 1999 for
Life is Beautiful. Also, Olivier is still today the only actor ever to receive an Oscar for 'acting' Shakespeare. The running time of
Hamlet (1948) was not allowed to exceed two hours, and as a result Olivier cut almost half of Shakespeare's text, and was severely criticized for doing so by purists, although it won and has continued to attract popular acclaim.
Richard III
Olivier's third major Shakespeare project as director and star was as Richard III. Alexander Korda initially approached Olivier to reprise on film the role he had played to acclaim at the Old Vic in the 1940s. Although the film was critically well received, it was a financial failure.
Since the end of World War II, apart from his Shakespeare trilogy, Olivier had made only sporadic film appearances. Towards the end of the 1950s, British theatre was changing with the rise of the "
Angry Young Men".
John Osborne, author of
Look Back in Anger wrote a play for Olivier titled
The Entertainer, centred on a washed-up stage comedian called Archie Rice. As Olivier later stated, "I am Archie Rice. I am not Hamlet." During rehearsals of
The Entertainer, Olivier met
Joan Plowright.
[ Laurence Olivier @ Classic Movie Favourites] He left Vivien Leigh for Plowright, a decision that apparently gave him a sense of guilt for the rest of his life.
Olivier married Plowright on
St. Patrick's Day,
1961. Leigh died in
1967.
Olivier was one of the founders of the
National Theatre. He became the founding director; however, his career at the National ended, in his view, in betrayal, and tragedy.
[Coleman, Olivier]Othello
For Othello, Olivier underwent a transformation, requiring extensive study and heavy weightlifting, in order to get the physique needed for the Moor of Venice. It is said that he bellowed at a herd of cows for an hour to get the deep voice that was required. In 1965, the play was
filmed, and secured Olivier his 6th Oscar Nomination for Best Actor.
Three Sisters
Olivier's final film as director was the 1970 film
Three Sisters, based on the
Chekhov play of the same name, and the National Theatre production. It was, in Olivier's opinion, his best work as director.
Olivier had left his romantic screen persona and became a character actor, appearing more frequently in films. He was unrecognisable as Othello in the
film adaptation of the National Theatre play. After being gradually forced out of his role as director of the
Royal National Theatre, Olivier became concerned that he had not done enough to provide for his family for after he died. As a result between 1973 and 1986 when his health gave out he did many films and TV specials on a "pay cheque" basis on the condition that he would not have to promote the film on release. Some of these later films he even despised, such as the notorious flop
Inchon.
In 1967 Olivier underwent radiation treatment for
prostate cancer, and was also hospitalised with
pneumonia. For the remainder of his life, he would suffer from many different health problems, including
bronchitis,
amnesia and
pleurisy. In 1974 he was diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disorder, and nearly died in the following year, but he battled through the next decade, earning money in case of financial disaster.
When presenting the Oscars in 1985, he infamously presented the Best Picture winner of the year, by simply stepping up to the microphone and saying "Amadeus". He had grown forgetful at this late age, and he had forgotten to read out the nominees first.
[Coleman, Olivier, 482]He died in
Steyning,
West Sussex,
England, from
cancer in 1989, at the age of 82. Lord Olivier is interred in
Poets' Corner in
Westminster Abbey,
London, only the second actor (the first was
David Garrick) to be accorded that honour.
Since Olivier's death, several biographers have produced books about him, several of which bring up the claim that Olivier was bisexual. Joan Plowright said: referring to biographer Donald Spoto's claim that Kaye and Olivier were lovers.
[Donald Spoto, Laurence Olivier (Cooper Square Press; ISBN 0060183152)] There are also claims that he was intimate with playwright
Noel Coward. Terry Coleman's authorised biography of Olivier suggests a relationship between Olivier and an older actor,
Henry Ainley, based on correspondence from Ainley to Olivier,
*Laurence Olivier.com
*Olivier Entry Page
* Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Laurence Olivier
{{PersondataNAME=Olivier, Laurence | ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Olivier, Laurence Kerr; Olivier, Sir Laurence | SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor, producer, director, peer, knight | DATE OF BIRTH=May 22, 1907 | PLACE OF BIRTH=Dorking, Surrey, England | DATE OF DEATH=July 11, 1989 | PLACE OF DEATH=Steyning, West Sussex, England
|
