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.
Recent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 Years Later (2025) | Henry V (archive footage) | 6.5 |
| 2 | Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story (2023) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 3 | Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony (2021) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 4 | Nothing Like a Dame (2018) | Self (archive footage) | 7.7 |
| 5 | Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 6 | Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 7 | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) | Dr. Totenkopf (archive footage) | 5.8 |
| 8 | The Filth and the Fury (2000) | Richard III (archive footage) | - |
| 9 | War Requiem (1989) | The Old Soldier | 6 |
| 10 | The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) | Self (archive footage) | - |
| 11 | Wild Geese II (1985) | Rudolf Hess | 6 |
| 12 | The Bounty (1984) | Admiral Hood | 6.4 |
| 13 | The Ebony Tower (1984) | Henry Breasley | - |
| 14 | The Jigsaw Man (1983) | Adm. Sir Gerald Scaith | - |
| 15 | King Lear (1983) | King Lear | - |
| 16 | Inchon (1981) | Gen. Douglas MacArthur | - |
| 17 | Clash of the Titans (1981) | Zeus | 7 |
| 18 | The Jazz Singer (1980) | Cantor Rabinovitch | 8 |
| 19 | A Little Romance (1979) | Julius | 6 |
| 20 | Dracula (1979) | Prof. Abraham Van Helsing | 6.3 |
| 21 | The Boys from Brazil (1978) | Ezra Lieberman | 6.8 |
| 22 | The Betsy (1978) | Loren Hardeman | 6 |
| 23 | A Bridge Too Far (1977) | Dr. Jan Spaander | 7.9 |
| 24 | Love Among the Ruins (1976) | Sir Arthur Glanville-Jones | - |
| 25 | Marathon Man (1976) | Dr. Christian Szell | 7.4 |
| 26 | The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) | Professor James Moriarty | 7 |
| 27 | The Collection (1976) | Harry | - |
| 28 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) | Big Daddy | 5 |
| 29 | Long Day's Journey Into Night (1973) | James Tyrone Sr. | - |
| 30 | The Merchant of Venice (1973) | Shylock | 7.5 |
| 31 | Sleuth (1972) | Andrew Wyke | 8.4 |
| 32 | Lady Caroline Lamb (1972) | Duke of Wellington | 6 |
| 33 | Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) | Count Witte | 8 |
| 34 | Three Sisters (1970) | Director / Writer | - |
| 35 | Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) | Field Marshal Sir John French | 6.5 |
| 36 | David Copperfield (1969) | Mr. Creakle | - |
| 37 | Battle of Britain (1969) | Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding | 7.5 |
| 38 | Romeo and Juliet (1968) | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 6 |
| 39 | The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) | Piotr Ilyich Kamenev | 3 |
| 40 | Khartoum (1966) | Mahdi | 7.5 |
| 41 | Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) | Supt. Newhouse | - |
| 42 | Spartacus (1960) | Marcus Licinius Crassus | 7.3 |
| 43 | The Entertainer (1960) | Archie Rice | 4 |
| 44 | The Devil's Disciple (1959) | Gen. Burgoyne | - |
| 45 | The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) | Director / Writer | 5 |
| 46 | Richard III (1955) | Director / Writer | - |
| 47 | Carrie (1952) | George Hurstwood | 5 |
| 48 | The Magic Box (1952) | Police Constable 94-B | - |
| 49 | Hamlet (1948) | Director / Writer | 5.8 |
| 50 | This Happy Breed (1944) | Narrator (voice) | 5 |
| 51 | Henry V (1944) | Director / Writer | 3 |
| 52 | The Demi-Paradise (1943) | Ivan Kouznetsoff | - |
| 53 | That Hamilton Woman (1941) | Lord Horatio Nelson | 5 |
| 54 | 49th Parallel (1941) | Johnnie, the Trapper | 4 |
| 55 | 21 Days Together (1940) | Larry Durrant | 10 |
| 56 | Rebecca (1940) | Maxim de Winter | 7.4 |
| 57 | Pride and Prejudice (1940) | Mr. Darcy | 6.3 |
| 58 | Q Planes (1939) | Tony McVane | - |
| 59 | Wuthering Heights (1939) | Heathcliff | 6.5 |
| 60 | The Divorce of Lady X (1938) | Everard Logan | - |
| 61 | Fire Over England (1937) | Michael Ingolby | 6 |
| 62 | As You Like It (1936) | Orlando | - |
| 63 | Westward Passage (1932) | Nicholas 'Nick' Allen | - |

