Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier Movies and TV Shows

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 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, a part he later played on film. 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 (1965) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970). Among Olivier's films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). His later films included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence (1960), Long Day's Journey into Night (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976), Brideshead Revisited (1981) and King Lear (1983). Olivier's honours included a knighthood (1947), a life peerage (1970) and the Order of Merit (1981). For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, and Joan Plowright from 1961 until his death. Description above from the Wikipedia article Laurence Olivier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Personal info

  • Gender: Male
  • Date of birth: 5/22/1907 (116 years old)
  • Place of birth: Dorking, Surrey, England, UK
  • nationality: British
  • height: 1.78 m
  • Net worth: $20,000,000
Year
Genre
IMDB
TMDB
Available on the following streaming services in the United States
Nothing Like a Dame
IMDB 7.4
TMDB 69%
role:
Self (archive footage) & 1 more
2018

Documentary

7.4
69%
And the Oscar Goes To...
IMDB 7.1
TMDB 70%
role:
Self (archive footage)
Not available
2014

Documentary

TV Movie

7.1
70%
Not available
2010

Documentary

7.7
71%
2004

Action

Adventure

Mystery

Thriller

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

6.1
58%
The Filth and the Fury
IMDB 7.6
TMDB 71%
role:
Richard III (archive footage)
2000

Documentary

Music

7.6
71%
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The Bounty
IMDB 7.0
TMDB 67%
role:
Admiral Hood
1984

Action

Drama

History

7.0
67%
1981

Action

Adventure

Family

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

6.9
69%
Dracula
IMDB 6.5
TMDB 64%
role:
Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Not available
1979

Horror

Romance

6.5
64%
Not available
The Boys from Brazil
IMDB 7.0
TMDB 67%
role:
Ezra Lieberman
1978

Drama

Mystery

Thriller

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

7.0
67%
A Bridge Too Far
IMDB 7.4
TMDB 72%
role:
Dr. Jan Spaander
1977

Drama

History

War & Politics

7.4
72%
Jesus of Nazareth
IMDB 8.5
TMDB 77%
role:
Nicodemus
Not available
1977

Drama

8.5
77%
Not available
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
IMDB 6.6
TMDB 62%
role:
Professor James Moriarty
Not available
1976

Mystery

Thriller

6.6
62%
Not available
Marathon Man
IMDB 7.4
TMDB 73%
role:
Christian Szell
1976

Drama

Thriller

7.4
73%
The World at War
IMDB 9.2
TMDB 83%
role:
Narrator
Not available
1973

Documentary

War & Politics

9.2
83%
Not available
Sleuth
IMDB 8.0
TMDB 77%
role:
Andrew Wyke
Not available
1972

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

8.0
77%
Not available
Advertisement
Battle of Britain
IMDB 6.9
TMDB 68%
role:
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
1969

History

War & Politics

6.9
68%
Romeo and Juliet
IMDB 7.6
TMDB 74%
role:
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1968

Drama

Romance

7.6
74%
Khartoum
IMDB 6.8
TMDB 63%
role:
Mahdi
1966

Adventure

History

War & Politics

6.8
63%
Bunny Lake Is Missing
IMDB 7.3
TMDB 72%
role:
Supt. Newhouse
1965

Drama

Mystery

Thriller

7.3
72%
Spartacus
IMDB 7.9
TMDB 75%
role:
Marcus Licinius Crassus
1960

Adventure

Drama

History

War & Politics

7.9
75%
The Prince and the Showgirl
IMDB 6.4
TMDB 64%
role:
Producer & 2 more
1957

Comedy

Drama

Romance

6.4
64%
Richard III
IMDB 7.4
TMDB 72%
role:
Producer & 2 more
Not available
1955

Drama

History

7.4
72%
Not available
Hamlet
IMDB 7.6
TMDB 75%
role:
Director & 2 more
1948

Drama

7.6
75%
Henry V
IMDB 7.0
TMDB 68%
role:
Writer & 3 more
1944

Action

Drama

History

7.0
68%
49th Parallel
IMDB 7.3
TMDB 70%
role:
Johnnie, the Trapper
1941

Adventure

Drama

Thriller

War & Politics

7.3
70%
Advertisement
1940

Drama

Romance

7.4
69%
Rebecca
IMDB 8.1
TMDB 79%
role:
Maxim de Winter
Not available
1940

Drama

Mystery

Romance

Thriller

8.1
79%
Not available
Wuthering Heights
IMDB 7.5
TMDB 73%
role:
Heathcliff
1939

Drama

Romance

7.5
73%

FAQs

Some movies or TV shows available in the United States starring or involving Laurence Olivier are, for example, Nothing Like a Dame, Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
The streaming services with the largest selection are Prime Video, Amazon and iTunes.
The best Anystream ratings are Spartacus (7.7), Hamlet (7.6) and Romeo and Juliet (7.5).
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