Laurence Olivier

English actor and director (1907–1989)

AI overview

Laurence Olivier was an English actor and director who lived from 1907 to 1989 and became one of the most celebrated figures in theater and film. He matters because his performances and directorial work had a major influence on acting and cinema during the 20th century.

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Quotes

“Acting is illusion, as much illusion as magic is — and not so much a matter of being real. I mean, I would probably shock Lee Strasberg.”
“If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights. Art is a little bit larger than life — it's an exhalation of life and I think you probably need a little touch of madness.”
“Never. The shot is too big for the cannon.”
“I think that bloody old National nearly killed me.”
“Like coming for a living.”

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Article

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (/əˈlɪvieɪ/ ə-LIV-ee-ay; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989), was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Sir John Gielgud, Sir Michael Redgrave and Sir Ralph Richardson made up a quartet of male actors who 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.

Olivier's family had no theatrical connections, but his 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 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.