Olivier, Lord
Olivier, Lord(Sir Laurence) (1907–89),British stage and film actor and director. At 15 as Kate in a school version of The Taming of the Shrew this son of a high Anglican vicar attracted the praise of Dame Ellen Terry. By 1930 he was a name in the West End and by 1939 a lauded Hollywood star. Meanwhile in 1935 in London he had performed the parts of Romeo and Mercutio in succession with the more classical John Gielgud. Olivier's animal magnetism and impetuous verse-speaking provoked debate. The next year he appeared as Orlando in a coy film of As You Like It. He confirmed his position as a major stage actor at the Old Vic in 1937–8 when under Tyrone Guthrie he played Sir Toby Belch, Henry V, Hamlet, Macbeth, Iago, and Coriolanus. He divorced his first wife and married the beautiful film star Vivien Leigh, and in 1940 they collaborated on a disastrous Romeo and Juliet on Broadway. Released from war service he adapted,...
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