Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud and Michael Redgrave, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his six-decade career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. From 1955, Olivier also performed in radio broadcasts and, from 1956, had considerable success in television roles.
After attending drama school, Olivier began his professional career 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. In 1926 he joined the Birmingham Repertory Company, where he was given the chance to play a wide range of key roles. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives, and in 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy 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. 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 (1964) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970).
In 1930, to gain money for his forthcoming marriage, Olivier began his film career with small roles in two films. In 1939 he appeared as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights in a role that saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The following year he was again nominated for the same award for his portrayal of Maxim de Winter in Rebecca. In 1944 he produced, directed and appeared as Henry V of England in Henry V. There were Oscar nominations for the film, including Best Picture and Best Actor, but it won none and the film instead won a "Special Award". He won the Best Actor award for the 1948 film Hamlet, which became the first non-American film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He later received Oscar nominations for roles in Richard III (1955), The Entertainer (1960), Othello (1965), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976) and The Boys from Brazil (1978). In 1979 he was also presented with an Honorary Award, at the Academy Awards, to recognise his lifetime of contribution to the art of film. He was nominated for nine other acting Oscars and one each for production and direction. Throughout his career Olivier appeared in radio dramas and poetry readings, and made his television debut in 1956.
After being ill for the last twenty-two years of his life, Olivier died of kidney failure at the age of 82 on 11 July 1989. Reflecting on Olivier's pioneering of Britain's National Theatre, the broadcaster Melvyn Bragg wrote: "[N]o one doubts that the National is perhaps his most enduring monument". Olivier's claim to theatrical greatness lay not only in his acting, but by being, in the words of the English theatre director Peter Hall, "the supreme man of the theatre of our time".
Theatre As actor
This table contains Olivier's known professional theatrical roles. It also contains the occasions when he both acted and directed. It does not contain those productions where he was a director but did not appear on stage. It also omits the amateur productions in which he performed at school, mostly Shakespeare, playing, among other roles, Brutus, Puck and also female roles, including Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew.
+ Stage credits of Olivier Production Date Role Theatre(London, unless otherwise noted) Number of performances Unfailing Instinct Brighton Hippodrome and tour Policeman Brighton Hippodrome and tour Antonio Century Theatre and London area tour Julius Caesar Century Theatre and London area tour Henry VIII – 20 March 1926 First Serving Man Empire Theatre 127 Oedipus Tyrannus Suppliant, Guard and Servant New Scala Theatre 1 –19 March 1926 Servant to Orsino Empire Theatre 4 – 12 June 1926 Minstrel Kingsway Theatre 76 Gentleman Theatre Royal, Haymarket 1 Royal Court Theatre 1 Minor role Clacton –November 1926 Tour Birmingham Repertory Theatre Something to Talk About Birmingham Repertory Theatre Well of the Saints Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre Walk on parts Birmingham Repertory Theatre Uncle Vanya Vanya Birmingham Repertory Theatre All's Well That Ends Well Parolles Birmingham Repertory Theatre Young Man Birmingham Repertory Theatre She Stoops to Conquer Birmingham Repertory Theatre Quality Street Birmingham Repertory Theatre Bird in Hand Birmingham Repertory Theatre Advertising April Birmingham Repertory Theatre Young Man Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre Aren't Women Wonderful Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre – 4 February 1928 Young Man Royal Court Theatre 32 Macbeth –13 March 1928 Malcolm Royal Court Theatre 32 Back to Methuselah –31 March 1928 Martellus Royal Court Theatre 11 Harold –24 April 1928 Harold Royal Court Theatre 25 – 26 May 1928 Lord Royal Court Theatre 32 Bird in Hand Royalty Theatre Paul Among the Jews(Paulus unter den Juden) –9 July 1928 Chanan Prince of Wales Theatre 2 Royalty Theatre 1 Journey's End –10 December 1928 Apollo Theatre 2 Beau Geste – 4 March 1929 His Majesty's Theatre 39 Prize Giving at Woodside House School (sketch) McTavish VI Queen's Theatre 1 – 20 April 1929 New Theatre 48 Paris Bound –27 April 1929 Golders Green Hippodrome 8 Paris Bound – 25 May 1929 Lyric Theatre 31 Garrick Theatre 53 –10 August 1929 Golders Green Hippodrome 8 Murder on the Second Floor Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre, New York Fortune Theatre 97 100 Not Out (sketch) Helen the nurse Queen's Theatre 1 After All – 6 April 1930 Ralph Arts Theatre 9 Private Lives – 20 September 1930 On tour: Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and Southsea 32 Private Lives – 20 December 1930 Phoenix Theatre 101 Some Other Private Lives (sketch) Alf Hippodrome 1 Private Lives Times Square Theater, New York 150 – 8 July 1933 Playhouse Theatre 107 Cort Theatre, New York 116 Biography – 2 June 1934 Globe Theatre 45 Queen of Scots – 8 September 1934 Bothwell New Theatre 106 Theatre Royal –20 October 1934 On tour: Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester 24 Theatre Royal – 23 December 1934 Lyric Theatre Journey's End Adelphi Theatre 1 Policeman Prince His Majesty's Theatre 1 November Afternoon (sketch) Man Comedy Theatre 1 Adelphi Theatre 1 Ringmaster – 22 March 1935 Tour: Oxford and Birmingham 15 Ringmaster Shaftesbury Theatre 8 November Afternoon (sketch) Man Hippodrome 1 Notices (sketch) Comedy Theatre 1 Reader Gaiety Theatre 1 Golden Arrow –18 May 1935 Also director New Theatre, Oxford 7 Golden Arrow – 15 June 1935 Also director Whitehall Theatre 19 Footman Grosvenor House 1 Romeo and Juliet – 28 March 1936 Romeo and Mercutio New Theatre 186 Bees on the Boat Deck – 6 June 1936 Lyric Theatre 37 Hamlet – 20 February 1937 Hamlet 42 Twelfth Night – 3 April 1937 42 Henry V – 22 May 1937 Henry V 50 Shakespeare Birthday Festival Romeo and Henry V 1 Midnight with the Stars Personal appearance Empire Theatre 1 Hamlet –6 June 1937 Hamlet Elsinore, Denmark 5 Macbeth – 15 January 1938 Macbeth then New Theatre 55 Othello – 12 March 1938 Iago 35 – 16 April 1938 Vivaldi 34 Coriolanus – 21 May 1938 35 Here's to Our Enterprise Lyceum Theatre 1 No Time for Comedy Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York 72 Romeo and Juliet – June 1940 RomeoAlso director 51st Street Theatre, New York 36 All Star Concert in aid of the Russian Relief Fund (scene from Romeo and Juliet) Romeo Empire Theatre, York 1 Esmond Knight Matinée (scene from Henry V) Henry V London Palladium 1 Elsie Fogerty Jubilee Matinée Poetry reader New Theatre 1 Arms and the Man –12 August 1944 Opera House, Manchester 9 Peer Gynt – 14 April 1945 New Theatre 83 Arms and the Man – 13 April 1945 New Theatre 67 Richard III –11 April 1945 Richard III New Theatre 83 Uncle Vanya – 12 April 1945 New Theatre 25 Arms and the Man ENSA Garrison Theatre, Antwerp Richard III Richard III ENSA Garrison Theatre, Antwerp Henry IV, Part 1 – 13 April 1946 Hotspur New Theatre 69 Henry IV, Part 2 – 13 April 1946 New Theatre 59 Oedipus andThe Critic – 27 April 1946 Oedipus andMr Puff New Theatre 76 Uncle Vanya – 14 June 1946 New Century Theatre, New York 8 Henry IV, Part 1 – 13 June 1946 Hotspur New Century Theatre, New York 18 Henry IV, Part 2 – 13 June 1946 New Century Theatre, New York 9 Oedipus andThe Critic – 15 June 1946 Oedipus andMr Puff New Century Theatre, New York 15 King Lear – 4 January 1947 Lear New Theatre 42 King Lear – 1 December 1946 Lear Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris 7 – 30 March 1948 Also director Capitol Theatre, Perth Richard III – 17 April 1948 Richard III Theatre Royal, Adelaide – 17 April 1948 Also director Theatre Royal, Adelaide Richard IIIThe Skin of Our Teeth – 12 June 1948 Richard III Mr Antrobus Princess Theatre Melbourne – 19 June 1948 Theatre Royal, Hobart Richard IIIThe Skin of Our Teeth – August 1948 Richard III Mr Antrobus New Tivoli Theatre, Sydney – September 1948 His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane St. James Theatre, Auckland St. James Theatre, Christchurch His Majesty's Theatre, Dunedin St. James Theatre, Wellington – 4 June 1949 Also director New Theatre 74 Richard III – 2 June 1949 Richard III New Theatre 35 Antigone – 1 June 1949 Chorus New Theatre 39 RADA Cabaret Personal appearance Lyceum Theatre 1 Venus Observed – 5 August 1950 Also director St James's Theatre 229 Caesar and Cleopatra – 28 April 1951 Opera House, Manchester 7 Antony and Cleopatra – 6 May 1951 Opera House, Manchester 7 Caesar and Cleopatra – 21 September 1951 St James's Theatre 77 Antony and Cleopatra – 22 September 1951 St James's Theatre 76 Appearance London Palladium 1 Caesar and Cleopatra –17 November 1951 Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool 7 Antony and Cleopatra –24 November 1951 Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool 7 Caesar and Cleopatra – 11 April 1952 Ziegfeld Theatre, New York 67 Antony and Cleopatra – 12 April 1952 Ziegfeld Theatre, New York 66 – 24 October 1953 Also director Tour: Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle 32 – 3 July 1954 Also director Phoenix Theatre 274 Midnight Cavalcade Appeared with Jack Buchanan London Palladium 1 All Star RADA Jubilee Matinée: Henry VIII Reader, Epilogue only Her Majesty's Theatre 1 Night of a Hundred Stars Appeared with Jack Buchanan London Palladium 1 Twelfth Night – 26 November 1955 Malvolio Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 81 Macbeth – 23 November 1955 Macbeth Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 56 Titus Andronicus – 25 November 1955 Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 29 Green Room Cavalcade London Coliseum 1 Night of 100 Stars Evening host and