British actor, Laurence Olivier, with a small moustache wears a dark suit and herringbone tie

Laurence Olivier

(1907–89)

British actor, director, producer, writer (died aged 82) | Henry V (1944), Rebecca (1940), The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

Distinguished British stage actor whose film appearances were reasonably frequent

Mini Biography

Received an honorary Academy Award in 1979 ‘for the full body of his work, for the unique achievements of his entire career and his lifetime of contribution to the art of film.’.

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Select Laurence Olivier Filmography

Perfect Understanding (1933)
Nicholas Randall
Fire Over England (1937)
Michael
The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
Everard Logan
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Heathcliff
Q Planes (1939)
Tony McVane
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Mr Darcy
21 Days (1940)
Larry
Rebecca (1940)
‘Maxim’ de Winter
That Hamilton Woman (1941)
Lord Horatio Nelson
49th Parallel (1941)
Johnnie – the Trapper
The Demi-Paradise (1943)
Ivan Kouznetsoff
Henry V (1944)
King Henry V of England
Hamlet (1948)
Hamlet - Prince of Denmark
Carrie (1952)
George Hurstwood
A Queen Is Crowned (1953)
Himself – Narrator
Richard III (1955)
Richard III
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)
The Regent
The Devil’s Disciple (1959)
Gen Burgoyne
The Entertainer (1960)
Archie Rice
Spartacus (1960)
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
Superintendent Newhouse
Othello (1965)
Othello
Khartoum (1966)
The Mahdi
Battle of Britain (1969)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
David Copperfield (1970)
Mr Creakle
Three Sisters (1970)
Dr Ivan Chebutikin
Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)
Duke of Wellington
Marathon Man (1976)
Szell
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
Ezra Lieberman
The Jazz Singer (1980)
Cantor Rabinovitch
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Zeus
The Jigsaw Man (1983)
Adm Sir Gerald Scaith
The Bounty (1984)
Admiral Hood
Wild Geese II (1985)
Rudolf Hess
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story (2023)
Himself
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Personal Details

Born
Died
Jill Esmond
Wife  m. 1930–1940 (divorced)
Distinguished British leading lady, Vivien Leigh
Wife  m. 1940–1961 (divorced)
Photograph of English actress, Joan Plowright (1)
Wife  m. 1961–1989 (his death)

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