Biography

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 …

Filmography

Title	Character	Year	Rating
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage)	2004	5.9
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories	Self (archive footage)	2000	7.0
War Requiem	The Old Soldier	1989	6.341
To Be Hamlet	Self	1985	—
The Bounty	Admiral Hood	1984	6.739
The Jigsaw Man	Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith	1983	4.976
Clash of the Titans	Zeus	1981	6.906
The Jazz Singer	Cantor Rabinovitch	1980	5.887
A Little Romance	Julius	1979	6.835
Dracula	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing	1979	6.381
A Bridge Too Far	Dr. Jan Spaander	1977	7.2
Marathon Man	Dr. Christian Szell	1976	7.182
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution	Professor James Moriarty	1976	6.243
Sleuth	Andrew Wyke	1972	7.678
Oh! What a Lovely War	Field Marshal Sir John French	1969	6.73
Battle of Britain	Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh …	1969	6.864
The Dance of Death	Edgar	1969	6.667
Khartoum	Mahdi	1966	6.323
Bunny Lake Is Missing	Newhouse	1965	7.237
Spartacus	Marcus Licinius Crassus	1960	7.536
The Prince and the Showgirl	The Regent	1957	6.376
Richard III	Richard III	1955	7.196
Carrie	George Hurstwood	1952	6.479
Hamlet	Hamlet - Prince of Denmark …	1948	7.436
Henry V	King Henry	1944	6.693
49th Parallel	Johnnie, the Trapper	1941	6.962
That Hamilton Woman	Lord Horatio Nelson	1941	7.17
Rebecca	Maxim de Winter	1940	7.891
Wuthering Heights	Heathcliff	1939	7.189
Fire Over England	Michael Ingolby	1937	6.188

Known for	Acting
Credits	30
Born	1907
From	Dorking, Surrey, England, …

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