View source for Laurence Olivier

{{Short description|English actor and director (1907–1989)}}
{{Redirect|Lord Olivier|his uncle|Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier}}
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{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
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{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name               = The Lord Olivier
| honorific_suffix   = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|size=100%}}
| image              = Lord Olivier 6 Allan Warren.jpg
| caption            = Olivier in 1972
| birth_name         = Laurence Kerr Olivier
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1907|5|22|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Dorking]], Surrey, England
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1989|7|11|1907|5|22|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Ashurst, West Sussex]], England
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Actor
* director
* producer
}}
| alma_mater         = [[Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art]]
| spouse             = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|[[Jill Esmond]]|1930|1940|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Vivien Leigh]]|1940|1960|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Joan Plowright]]|1961}}}}
| children           = 4
}}
{{Laurence Olivier sidebar}}

'''Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|size=100%|sep=,}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɒr|ə|n|s|_|ˈ|k|ɜːr|_|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|v|i|eɪ}} {{respell|LORR|ənss|_|KUR|_|ə|LIV|ee|ay}}; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries [[Ralph Richardson]] and [[John Gielgud]] made up a trio of male actors who dominated the [[Theatre of the United Kingdom|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 theatre|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 (theatre director)|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 (play)|''Richard III'']] and [[Sophocles]]'s [[Oedipus Rex|''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 (play)|The Entertainer]]'', a part he later played [[The Entertainer (film)|on film]]. From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain's [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]], running a resident company that fostered many future stars. His own parts there included the title role in ''[[Othello (1965 British film)|Othello]]'' (1965), and [[Shylock]] in ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' (1970).

Among Olivier's films are ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (1939), ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'' (1940) and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor/director: ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'' (1944), ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948) and ''[[Richard III (1955 film)|Richard III]]'' (1955). His later films included ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960), ''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (film)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'' (1968), ''[[Sleuth (1972 film)|Sleuth]]'' (1972), ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]'' (1976) and ''[[The Boys from Brazil (film)|The Boys from Brazil]]'' (1978). His television appearances included an adaptation of ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (1959 film)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1960), ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night (ITV Sunday Night Theatre)|Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' (1973), ''[[Love Among the Ruins (film)|Love Among the Ruins]]'' (1975), ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]'' (1976), ''[[Brideshead Revisited (TV series)|Brideshead Revisited]]'' (1981) and ''[[King Lear (1983 TV programme)|King Lear]]'' (1983).

Olivier's honours included a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] (1947), a [[life peer]]age (1970) and the [[Order of Merit]] (1981). For his on-screen work he received two [[Academy Awards]], two [[British Academy Film Awards]], five [[Primetime Emmy Award|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.

==Life and career==
{{See also|Laurence Olivier on stage and screen}}

===1907–1924: Early life and education===
[[File:Birthplace of Actor Sir Laurence Olivier, Wathen Road, Dorking - geograph.org.uk - 110689.jpg|thumb|upright|The house in Wathen Road, [[Dorking]], Surrey, where Olivier was born in 1907]]
Olivier was born in [[Dorking]], Surrey, the youngest of the three children of Agnes Louise (''née'' Crookenden) and Reverend Gerard Kerr Olivier.{{sfn|Billington|2004}} He had two older siblings: Sybille and Gerard Dacres "Dickie".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=12}} His great-great-grandfather was of French [[Huguenot]] descent, and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen.{{efn|Gerard's father Henry Arnold Olivier (1826–1912) was a priest who had eight children, his other sons all achieving success in secular spheres: [[Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier|Sydney]] became [[Governor of Jamaica]] and later [[Secretary of State for India]], [[Herbert Arnould Olivier|Herbert]] was a successful portrait painter, and Henry (1850–1935) had a military career, ending as a [[colonel]].{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=11}}}} Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster, but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=13}} He belonged to the [[high church]], [[ritualist]] wing of [[Anglicanism]] and was known as "Father Olivier". Some Anglican congregations did not like this style,{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=13}} and the only church posts he was offered were temporary, usually deputising for regular [[Incumbent (ecclesiastical)|incumbents]] in their absence. This meant a nomadic existence, and for Laurence's first few years, he never lived in one place long enough to make friends.{{sfn|Beckett|2005|p=2}}

In 1912, when Olivier was five, his father secured a permanent appointment as assistant [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] at [[St Saviour's, Pimlico]]. He held the post for six years, and a stable family life was at last possible.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=14}} Olivier was devoted to his mother, but not to his father, whom he found a cold and remote parent,{{sfn|Beckett|2005|p=6}} though he learned a great deal of the art of performing from him. As a young man Gerard Olivier had considered a stage career and was a dramatic and effective preacher. Olivier wrote that his father knew "when to drop the voice, when to bellow about the perils of hellfire, when to slip in a gag, when suddenly to wax sentimental&nbsp;... The quick changes of mood and manner absorbed me, and I have never forgotten them."{{sfn|Kiernan|1981|p=12}}

[[File:All Saints, Margaret Street Church, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|alt=interior of ornate Victorian church|Interior of [[All Saints, Margaret Street]]]]
In 1916, after attending a series of preparatory schools, Olivier passed the singing examination for admission to the choir school of [[All Saints, Margaret Street]], in central London. His elder brother was already a pupil and Olivier gradually settled in, though he felt himself to be something of an outsider.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=17–18}} The church's style of worship was (and remains) [[Anglo-Catholic]], with emphasis on ritual, vestments and incense.{{sfn|Denny|1985|p=269}} The theatricality of the services appealed to Olivier,{{efn|In a biography of Olivier, [[Melvyn Bragg]] observes that all three of the great theatrical trinity of the century—[[Ralph Richardson]], [[John Gielgud]] and Olivier—went through deeply religious phases when young.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=34}}}} and the vicar encouraged the students to develop a taste for secular as well as religious drama.<ref name="tynan-interview"/> In a school production of ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' in 1917, the ten-year-old Olivier's performance as Brutus impressed an audience that included [[Lady Tree]], the young [[Sybil Thorndike]] and [[Ellen Terry]], who wrote in her diary, "The small boy who played Brutus is already a great actor."{{sfnm|1a1=Findlater|1y=1971|1p=207|2a1=Beckett|2y=2005|2p=9}} He later won praise in other schoolboy productions, as Maria in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' (1918) and Katherine in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' (1922).{{sfn|Kiernan|1981|p=20}}

From All Saints, Olivier went on to [[St Edward's School, Oxford]], from 1921 to 1924.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|pp=17–18}} He made little mark until his final year, when he played [[Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Puck]] in the school's production of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''; his performance was a tour de force that won him popularity among his fellow pupils.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=26}}{{efn|Olivier had not been especially popular until then, and noted in his diary at the time that he played "very well, to everyone's disgust".{{sfn|Barker|1984|p=15}}}} In January 1924, his brother left England to work in India as a rubber planter. Olivier missed him greatly and asked his father how soon he could follow. He recalled in his memoirs that his father replied, "Don't be such a fool, you're not going to India, you're going on the stage."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=15}}{{efn|Olivier said that he was surprised and moved that his father, who until then he had thought did not care about him, had devoted considerable thought to his son's future.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=38}}}}

===1924–1929: Early acting career===
In 1924 Gerard Olivier, a habitually frugal man, told his son that he must gain not only admission to the [[Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art]], but also a scholarship with a bursary to cover his tuition fees and living expenses.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=29}} Olivier's sister had been a student there and was a favourite of [[Elsie Fogerty]], the founder and principal of the school. Olivier later speculated that it was on the strength of this connection that Fogerty agreed to award him the bursary.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=29}}{{efn|Olivier's biographers W. A. Darlington and Anthony Holden both suggest another reason: Fogerty's determination to recruit more male students, there being at the time only six boys to seventy girls enrolled at the school.{{sfnm|1a1=Darlington|1y=1968|1p=1|2a1=Holden|2y=1988|2p=29}}}}

[[File:Peggy-Ashcroft-1936-2.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=young woman, dark-haired, in left profile|[[Peggy Ashcroft]], a contemporary and friend of Olivier's at the [[Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art]] in London, photographed in 1936]]

One of Olivier's contemporaries at the school was [[Peggy Ashcroft]], who observed he was "rather uncouth in that his sleeves were too short and his hair stood on end but he was intensely lively and great fun".{{sfnm|1a1=Billington|1y=2004|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2p=23}} By his own admission he was not a very conscientious student, but Fogerty liked him and later said that he and Ashcroft stood out among her many pupils.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=32}}

After leaving the Central School in 1925, Olivier worked for small theatrical companies;{{sfn|Beckett|2005|pp=18–19}} his first stage appearance was in a sketch called ''The Unfailing Instinct'' at the [[Brighton Hippodrome]] in August 1925.{{sfn|Beckett|2005|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=25, 485}} Later that year, he was taken on by Sybil Thorndike (the daughter of a friend of Olivier's father) and her husband [[Lewis Casson]] as a bit-part player, understudy and assistant stage manager for their London company.{{sfn|Beckett|2005|pp=18–19}} Olivier modelled his performing style on that of [[Gerald du Maurier]], of whom he said, "He seemed to mutter on stage but had such perfect technique. When I started I was so busy doing a du Maurier that no one ever heard a word I said. The Shakespearean actors one saw were terrible hams like [[Frank Benson (actor)|Frank Benson]]."{{sfn|Mortimer|1984|p=61}} Olivier's concern with speaking naturally and avoiding what he called "singing" Shakespeare's verse was the cause of much frustration in his early career, as critics regularly decried his delivery.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=59}}

In 1926, on Thorndike's recommendation, Olivier joined the [[Birmingham Repertory Company]].{{sfn|Jackson|2013|p=67}} His biographer [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] describes the Birmingham company as "Olivier's university", where in his second year he was given the chance to play a wide range of important roles, including Tony Lumpkin in ''[[She Stoops to Conquer]]'', the title role in ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'', and Parolles in ''[[All's Well That Ends Well]]''.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=455}} Billington adds that the engagement led to "a lifelong friendship with his fellow actor [[Ralph Richardson]] that was to have a decisive effect on the British theatre."{{sfn|Billington|2004}}

While playing the juvenile lead in ''Bird in Hand'' at the [[Royalty Theatre]] in June 1928, Olivier began a relationship with [[Jill Esmond]], the daughter of the actors [[Henry V. Esmond]] and [[Eva Moore]].{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=28}} Olivier later recounted that he thought "she would most certainly do excellent well for a wife&nbsp;... I wasn't likely to do any better at my age and with my undistinguished track-record, so I promptly fell in love with her."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=75}}

In 1928 Olivier created the role of Stanhope in [[R.&nbsp;C. Sherriff]]'s ''[[Journey's End]]'', in which he scored a great success at its single Sunday night premiere.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=32}} He was offered the part in the [[West End theatre|West End]] production the following year, but turned it down in favour of the more glamorous role of [[Beau Geste]] in a stage adaptation of [[P. C. Wren]]'s 1929 novel of the same name. ''Journey's End'' became a long-running success; ''Beau Geste'' failed.{{sfn|Billington|2004}} ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'' commented, "Mr.&nbsp;Laurence Olivier did his best as Beau, but he deserves and will get better parts. Mr.&nbsp;Olivier is going to make a big name for himself".<ref name="Guard: Beau Geste"/> For the rest of 1929 Olivier appeared in seven plays, all of which were short-lived. Billington ascribes this failure rate to poor choices by Olivier rather than mere bad luck.{{sfn|Billington|2004}}{{efn|Gielgud and Olivier himself later considered that not being in the nearly two-year run of ''Journey's End''{{sfn|Gaye|1967|p=1533}} helped Olivier's career. Gielgud wrote in the 1970s, "Olivier made his name in three plays that failed with the public—''Beau Geste'', ''The Circle of Chalk'' with [[Anna May Wong]], and ''The Rats of Norway'' by Keith Winter. In all three plays he got superb notices personally, so that in a curious way it made his career to be in failures."{{sfn|Gielgud|1979|p=219}} Olivier said much the same to Bragg in the 1980s.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=45}}}}

===1930–1935: Rising star===
In 1930, with his impending marriage in mind, Olivier earned some extra money with small roles in two films.{{sfn|Olivier|1994|pp=81–82}} In April he travelled to Berlin to film the English-language version of ''[[The Temporary Widow]]'', a crime comedy with [[Lilian Harvey]],{{efn|A German-language version was also filmed, in which Olivier did not appear.{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|p=36}}}} and in May he spent four nights working on another comedy, ''[[Too Many Crooks (1930 film)|Too Many Crooks]]''.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=38–39}} During work on the latter film, for which he was paid £60,{{efn|The £60 salary in 1930 was approximately £11,000 in 2019.<ref name="RPI convert"/>}} he met Laurence Evans, who became his personal manager.{{sfn|Olivier|1994|pp=81–82}} Olivier did not enjoy working in film, which he dismissed as "this anaemic little medium which could not stand great acting",{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=65}} but financially it was much more rewarding than his theatre work.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=38}}

Olivier and Esmond married on 25 July 1930 at All Saints, Margaret Street,{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=42}} although within weeks both realised they had erred. Olivier later recorded that the marriage was "a pretty crass mistake. I insisted on getting married from a pathetic mixture of religious and animal promptings.&nbsp;... She had admitted to me that she was in love elsewhere and could never love me as completely as I would wish."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=88}}{{efn|Esmond was predominantly lesbian; this was socially unacceptable in her lifetime, and was rarely mentioned.{{sfnm|1a1=Garber|1y=2013|1p=136|2a1=Beckett|2y=2005|2p=30}}}}{{efn|Their son, (Simon) Tarquin, was born in August 1936.{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=77}}}} Olivier later recounted that following the wedding he did not keep a diary for ten years and never followed religious practices again, although he considered those facts to be "mere coincidence", unconnected to the nuptials.{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=89}}

In 1930 [[Noël Coward]] cast Olivier as Victor Prynne in his new play ''[[Private Lives]]'', which opened at the new [[Phoenix Theatre (London)|Phoenix Theatre]] in London in September. Coward and [[Gertrude Lawrence]] played the lead roles, Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne. Victor is a secondary character, along with Sybil Chase; the author called them "extra puppets, lightly wooden ninepins, only to be repeatedly knocked down and stood up again".{{sfn|Lesley|1976|p=136}} To make them credible spouses for Amanda and Elyot, Coward was determined that two outstandingly attractive performers should play the parts.{{sfn|Lesley|1976|p=137}} Olivier played Victor in the West End and then on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]; [[Adrianne Allen]] was Sybil in London, but could not go to New York, where the part was taken by Esmond.{{sfn|Castle|1972|p=115}} In addition to giving the 23-year-old Olivier his first successful West End role, Coward became something of a mentor. In the late 1960s Olivier told [[Sheridan Morley]]:

{{Blockquote|He gave me a sense of balance, of right and wrong. He would make me read; I never used to read anything at all. I remember he said, "Right, my boy, ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'', ''[[Of Human Bondage]]'' and ''[[The Old Wives' Tale]]'' by [[Arnold Bennett]]. That'll do, those are three of the best. Read them". I did.&nbsp;... Noël also did a priceless thing, he taught me not to giggle on the stage. Once already I'd been fired for doing it, and I was very nearly sacked from the Birmingham Rep. for the same reason. Noël cured me; by trying to make me laugh outrageously, he taught me how not to give in to it.{{efn|The biographer Cole Lesley wrote that Coward "invented a dog called Roger, unseen but who was always on stage with them when he and Larry had a scene together. Roger belonged to Noel but was madly attracted by Larry, especially to his private parts both before and behind, to which he invisibly did unmentionable things in full sight of the audience. 'Down, Roger,' Noel would whisper, or, 'Not in front of the vicar!' until in the end, as though this time the dog really had gone much too far, a shocked ''{{'}}Roger!{{'}}'' was quite enough".{{sfn|Lesley|1976|p=138}}}} My great triumph came in New York when one night I managed to break Noël up on the stage without giggling myself."{{sfn|Morley|1974|p=176}}}}

[[File:Jill Esmond and Laurence Olivier 1932.jpg|left|alt=young woman and man seated at a table with maid standing centre|thumb|Olivier, with his first wife [[Jill Esmond]] (left), in 1932]]

In 1931 [[RKO Pictures]] offered Olivier a two-film contract at $1,000 a week;{{efn|$1,000 in 1931 was approximately $15,500 in 2015.<ref name="CPI convert"/>}} he discussed the possibility with Coward, who, irked, told Olivier "You've no artistic integrity, that's your trouble; this is how you cheapen yourself."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=92}} He accepted and moved to Hollywood, despite some misgivings. His first film was the drama ''[[Friends and Lovers (1931 film)|Friends and Lovers]]'', in a supporting role, before RKO loaned him to [[Fox Film|Fox Studios]] for his first film lead, a British journalist in a Russia under [[martial law]] in ''[[The Yellow Ticket]]'', alongside [[Elissa Landi]] and [[Lionel Barrymore]].{{sfnm|1a1=Olivier|1y=1994|1pp=93–94|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2pp=43–44}} The cultural historian [[Jeffrey Richards]] describes Olivier's look as an attempt by Fox Studios to produce a likeness of [[Ronald Colman]], and Colman's moustache, voice and manner are "perfectly reproduced".{{sfn|Richards|2014|p=64}} Olivier returned to RKO to complete his contract with the 1932 drama ''[[Westward Passage]]'', which was a commercial failure.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=71}} Olivier's initial foray into American films had not provided the breakthrough he hoped for; disillusioned with Hollywood, he returned to London, where he appeared in two British films, ''[[Perfect Understanding]]'' with [[Gloria Swanson]] and ''[[No Funny Business]]''—in which Esmond also appeared. He was tempted back to Hollywood in 1933 to appear opposite [[Greta Garbo]] in ''[[Queen Christina (film)|Queen Christina]]'', but was replaced after two weeks of filming because of a lack of chemistry between the two.{{sfnm|1a1=Billington|1y=2004|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2pp=44–45|3a1=Richards|3y=2010|3p=165}}

Olivier's stage roles in 1934 included Bothwell in [[Gordon Daviot]]'s ''Queen of Scots'', which was only a moderate success for him and for the play, but led to an important engagement for the same management ([[Bronson Albery]]) shortly afterwards. In the interim he had a great success playing a thinly disguised version of the American actor [[John Barrymore]] in [[George S. Kaufman]] and [[Edna Ferber]]'s ''[[The Royal Family (play)|Theatre Royal]]''<!-- Staged under this name in UK -->. His success was vitiated by his breaking an ankle two months into the run, in one of the athletic, acrobatic stunts with which he liked to enliven his performances.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|pp=32–33}}

{{Quote box
| bgcolor = #CEF6EC
| salign = right
| quote = Mr Olivier was about twenty times as much in love with Peggy Ashcroft as Mr Gielgud is. But Mr Gielgud spoke most of the poetry far better than Mr Olivier&nbsp;... Yet—I must out with it—the fire of Mr Olivier's passion carried the play along as Mr Gielgud's doesn't quite.
| source = [[Herbert Farjeon]] on the rival Romeos{{sfn|Findlater|1971|p=57}}
| align = right
| width = 33%
}}
In 1935, under Albery's management, [[John Gielgud]] staged ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]], co-starring with Peggy Ashcroft, [[Edith Evans]] and Olivier. Gielgud had seen Olivier in ''Queen of Scots'', spotted his potential, and gave him a major step up in his career. For the first weeks of the run Gielgud played [[Mercutio]] and Olivier played [[Romeo]], after which they exchanged roles.{{efn|The original casting applied from 18 October to 28 November 1935; the two leading men then switched roles for alternating periods of several weeks at a time during the run. For the last week, ending on 28 March 1936, Olivier was Mercutio and Gielgud Romeo.<ref name="jg-plans"/>}} The production broke all box-office records for the play, running for 189 performances.{{efn|The previous record was 161 performances, by [[Henry Irving]] and Ellen Terry in 1882.<ref name="jg-plans"/>}} Olivier was enraged at the notices after the first night, which praised the virility of his performance but fiercely criticised his speaking of Shakespeare's verse, contrasting it with his co-star's mastery of the poetry.{{efn|Although most contemporary critics thought that Gielgud spoke the verse well and Olivier did not, Gielgud himself came to think they may have been wrong. He said in the 1980s, "He [Olivier] was much more natural than I in his speech, too natural I thought at the time, but now I think he was right and I was wrong and that it was time to say the lines the modern way. He was always so bold: and even if you disagreed, as I sometimes did, about his conception, you had to admire its execution, the energy and force with which he carried it through."{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=60}}}} The friendship between the two men was prickly, on Olivier's side, for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Morley|2001|pp=122–123}}

===1936–1938: Old Vic and Vivien Leigh===
In May 1936 Olivier and Richardson jointly directed and starred in a new piece by [[J.&nbsp;B. Priestley]], ''[[Bees on the Boatdeck]]''. Both actors won excellent notices, but the play, an allegory of Britain's decay, did not attract the public and closed after four weeks.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=60}} Later in the same year Olivier accepted an invitation to join [[the Old Vic]] company. The theatre, in an unfashionable location south of the [[Thames]], had offered inexpensive tickets for opera and drama under its proprietor [[Lilian Baylis]] since 1912.{{sfn|Gilbert|2009|p=16}} Her drama company specialised in the plays of Shakespeare, and many leading actors had taken very large cuts in their pay to develop their Shakespearean techniques there.{{efn|Olivier had received £500–£600 a week for his recent film work; at the Old Vic his weekly wage was £20.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=114}}}} Gielgud had been in the company from 1929 to 1931 and Richardson from 1930 to 1932.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=36}} Among the actors whom Olivier joined in late 1936 were [[Edith Evans]], [[Ruth Gordon]], [[Alec Guinness]] and [[Michael Redgrave]].{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=115}} In January 1937 Olivier took the title role in an uncut version of ''[[Hamlet]]'' in which once again his delivery of the verse was unfavourably compared with that of Gielgud, who had played the role on the same stage seven years previously to enormous acclaim.{{efn|[[Ivor Brown]] called Gielgud's performance "tremendous&nbsp;... the best Hamlet of [my] experience."<ref name="ivor hamlet"/> [[James Agate]] wrote, "I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that it is the high water-mark of English Shakespearean acting of our time."{{sfn|Croall|2000|p=129}}}} ''[[The Observer]]''{{'}}s [[Ivor Brown]] praised Olivier's "magnetism and muscularity" but missed "the kind of pathos so richly established by Mr Gielgud".<ref name="ivor hamlet2"/> The reviewer in ''The Times'' found the performance "full of vitality", but at times "too light&nbsp;... the character slips from Mr Olivier's grasp".<ref name="times-hamlet"/>

[[File:Old Vic0185.JPG|thumb|left|alt=exterior of Victorian theatre|[[The Old Vic]] (photographed in 2012), where Olivier honed his skill as a Shakespearean]]
After ''Hamlet'', the company presented ''Twelfth Night'' in what the director, [[Tyrone Guthrie]], summed up as "a baddish, immature production of mine, with Olivier outrageously amusing as [[Sir Toby Belch|Sir Toby]] and a very young Alec Guinness outrageous and more amusing as [[Sir Andrew Aguecheek|Sir Andrew]]".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=121}} ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' was the next play, presented in May to mark the [[Coronation of George VI]]. A pacifist, as he then was, Olivier was as reluctant to play the warrior king as Guthrie was to direct the piece, but the production was a success and Baylis had to extend the run from four to eight weeks.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=123}}

Following Olivier's success in Shakespearean stage productions, he made his first foray into Shakespeare on film in 1936, as [[Orlando (As You Like It)|Orlando]] in ''[[As You Like It (1936 film)|As You Like It]]'', directed by [[Paul Czinner]], "a charming if lightweight production", according to Michael Brooke of the [[British Film Institute]]'s (BFI's) [[Screenonline]].<ref name="BFI: AYLI"/> The following year Olivier appeared alongside [[Vivien Leigh]] in the historical drama ''[[Fire Over England]]''. He had first met Leigh briefly at the [[Savoy Hotel Grill Room|Savoy Grill]] and then again when she visited him during the run of ''Romeo and Juliet'', probably early in 1936, and the two had begun an affair sometime that year.{{sfnm|1a1=Olivier|1y=1992|1p=63|2a1=Coleman|2y=2006|2pp=75–76}} Of the relationship, Olivier later said that "I couldn't help myself with Vivien. No man could. I hated myself for cheating on Jill, but then I had cheated before, but this was something different. This wasn't just out of lust. This was love that I really didn't ask for but was drawn into."{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=60}} While his relationship with Leigh continued he conducted an affair with the actress [[Ann Todd]],{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=76, 79|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2p=61}} and possibly had a brief affair with the actor [[Henry Ainley]], according to the biographer [[Michael Munn]].{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=81, 505|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2pp=39–41}}{{efn|Olivier never overtly acknowledged his affair with Ainley, although Ainley's letters to him are clear. Olivier's third wife, the actress [[Joan Plowright]], expressed surprise at hearing the possibility, but commented, "If he did, so what?"{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=505}} Later, there were also persistent rumours of an affair with the entertainer [[Danny Kaye]],{{sfn|Capua|2003|pp=114 and 129}} although Coleman considers them to be unsubstantiated;{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=508–509}} Plowright also dismisses the rumours.<ref name="Spect: Plowright"/>}}

In June 1937 the Old Vic company took up an invitation to perform ''Hamlet'' in the courtyard of the castle at [[Kronborg|Elsinore]], where Shakespeare located the play. Olivier secured the casting of Leigh to replace Cherry Cottrell as [[Ophelia]]. Because of torrential rain the performance had to be moved from the castle courtyard to the ballroom of a local hotel, but the tradition of playing Hamlet at Elsinore was established, and Olivier was followed by, among others, Gielgud (1939), Redgrave (1950), [[Richard Burton]] (1954), [[Christopher Plummer]] (1964), [[Derek Jacobi]] (1979), [[Kenneth Branagh]] (1988) and [[Jude Law]] (2009).<ref name=Hamletscenen/> Back in London, the company staged ''[[Macbeth]]'', with Olivier in the title role. The stylised production by [[Michel Saint-Denis]] was not well liked, but Olivier had some good notices among the bad.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=131}} On returning from Denmark, Olivier and Leigh told their respective spouses about the affair and that their marriages were over; Esmond moved out of the marital house and in with her mother.{{sfn|Olivier|1992|p=70}} After Olivier and Leigh made a tour of Europe in mid-1937 they returned to separate film projects—''[[A Yank at Oxford]]'' for her and ''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]'' for him—and moved into a property together in [[Iver]], Buckinghamshire.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=77}}

Olivier returned to the Old Vic for a second season in 1938. For ''[[Othello]]'' he played [[Iago]], with Richardson in the title role. Guthrie wanted to experiment with the theory that Iago's villainy is driven by a suppressed love for [[Othello (character)|Othello]].{{sfn|Darlington|1968|pp=45–46}} Olivier was willing to co-operate, but Richardson was not; audiences and most critics failed to spot the supposed motivation of Olivier's Iago, and Richardson's Othello seemed underpowered.{{sfn|Neill|2006|p=78}} After that comparative failure, the company had a success with ''[[Coriolanus]]'' starring Olivier in the title role. The notices were laudatory, mentioning him alongside great predecessors such as [[Edmund Kean]], [[William Macready]] and [[Henry Irving]]. The actor [[Robert Speaight]] described it as "Olivier's first incontestably great performance".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=135}} This was Olivier's last appearance on a London stage for six years.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=135}}

===1938–1944: Hollywood and war years===
[[File:Laurence Olivier Merle Oberon Wuthering Heights.jpg|thumb|alt=studio still of young man and woman in outdoor setting|Olivier, with [[Merle Oberon]] in the 1939 film ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'']]
In 1938 Olivier joined Richardson to film the spy thriller ''[[Q Planes]]'', released the following year. [[Frank Nugent]], the critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', thought Olivier was "not quite so good" as Richardson, but was "quite acceptable".<ref name="NYT: Q Planes"/> In late 1938, lured by a salary of $50,000, the actor travelled to Hollywood to take the part of [[Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)|Heathcliff]] in the 1939 film ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'', alongside [[Merle Oberon]] and [[David Niven]].{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1p=105|2a1=Capua|2y=2003|2p=47}}{{efn|$50,000 in 1939 is approximately $850,000 in 2015.<ref name="CPI convert"/>}} In less than a month Leigh had joined him, explaining that her trip was "partially because Larry's there and partially because I intend to get the part of [[Scarlett O'Hara]]"—the role in ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' in which she was eventually cast.{{sfn|Capua|2003|p=48}} Olivier did not enjoy making ''Wuthering Heights'', and his approach to film acting, combined with a dislike for Oberon, led to tensions on set.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=107–108}} The director, [[William Wyler]], was a hard taskmaster, and Olivier learned to remove what Billington described as "the carapace of theatricality" to which he was prone, replacing it with "a palpable reality".{{sfn|Billington|2004}} The resulting film was a commercial and critical success that earned him a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] and created his screen reputation.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=102}}{{efn|[[Robert Donat]] won the award that year for his performance in ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)|Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]''.<ref name="Oscar: Wuthering"/>}} [[C. A. Lejeune|Caroline Lejeune]], writing for ''The Observer'', considered that "Olivier's dark, moody face, abrupt style, and a certain fine arrogance towards the world in his playing are just right" in the role,<ref name="Lejeune: Wuthering"/> while the reviewer for ''The Times'' wrote that Olivier "is a good embodiment of Heathcliff&nbsp;... impressive enough on a more human plane, speaking his lines with real distinction, and always both romantic and alive."<ref name="Times: Wuthering"/>

[[File:Laurence Olivier Joan Fontaine Rebecca.JPG|left|thumb|alt=young woman clinging as if for protection to slightly older man| Olivier with [[Joan Fontaine]] in the 1940 film ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'']]
After returning to London briefly in mid-1939, the couple returned to America, Leigh to film the final takes for ''Gone with the Wind'', and Olivier to prepare for filming of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]''—although the couple had hoped to appear in it together.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=132}} Instead, [[Joan Fontaine]] was selected for the role of Mrs de Winter, as the producer [[David O. Selznick]] thought that not only was she more suitable for the role, but that it was best to keep Olivier and Leigh apart until their divorces came through.{{sfn|Olivier|1992|p=77}} Olivier followed ''Rebecca'' with ''[[Pride and Prejudice (1940 film)|Pride and Prejudice]]'', in the role of [[Mr. Darcy]]. To his disappointment [[Elizabeth Bennet]] was played by [[Greer Garson]] rather than Leigh. He received good reviews for both films and showed a more confident screen presence than he had in his early work.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=103}} In January 1940 Olivier and Esmond were granted their divorce. In February, following another request from Leigh, her husband also applied for their marriage to be terminated.{{sfn|Capua|2003|p=47}}

On stage, Olivier and Leigh starred in ''Romeo and Juliet'' on Broadway. It was an extravagant production, but a commercial failure.{{sfn|Beckett|2005|pp=53–54}} In ''The New York Times'' [[Brooks Atkinson]] praised the scenery but not the acting: "Although Miss Leigh and Mr Olivier are handsome young people they hardly act their parts at all."<ref name="romeo-new-york-times"/> The couple had invested almost all their savings in the project, and its failure was a grave financial blow.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=189–190}} They were married in August 1940, at the [[San Ysidro Ranch]] in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]].{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=124}}

The war in Europe had been under way for a year and was going badly for Britain. After his wedding Olivier wanted to help the war effort. He telephoned [[Duff Cooper]], the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Minister of Information]] under [[Winston Churchill]], hoping to get a position in Cooper's department. Cooper advised him to remain where he was and speak to the film director [[Alexander Korda]], who was based in the US at Churchill's behest, with connections to British Intelligence.{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=139–140|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2p=105}}{{efn|Korda acted both as a cover for British Intelligence in the US, and as part of an unofficial propaganda machine to sway the still-neutral Americans.{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=139–140|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2p=105}}}} Korda—with Churchill's support and involvement—directed ''[[That Hamilton Woman]]'', with Olivier as [[Horatio Nelson]] and Leigh in the [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|title role]]. Korda saw that the relationship between the couple was strained. Olivier was tiring of Leigh's suffocating adulation, and she was drinking to excess.{{sfn|Korda|1981|p=158}} The film, in which the threat of [[Napoleon]] paralleled that of [[Hitler]], was seen by critics as "bad history but good British propaganda", according to the BFI.<ref name="BFI: Hamilton"/>

Olivier's life was under threat from the Nazis and pro-German sympathisers. The studio owners were concerned enough that [[Samuel Goldwyn]] and [[Cecil B. DeMille]] both provided support and security to ensure his safety.{{sfn|Munn|2007| pp=117–119}} On the completion of filming, Olivier and Leigh returned to Britain. He had spent the previous year learning to fly and had completed nearly 250 hours by the time he left America. He intended to join the Royal Air Force but instead made another propaganda film, ''[[49th Parallel (film)|49th Parallel]]'', narrated short pieces for the Ministry of Information, and joined the [[Fleet Air Arm]] because Richardson was already in the service. Richardson had gained a reputation for crashing aircraft, which Olivier rapidly eclipsed.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=79}} Olivier and Leigh settled in a cottage just outside [[RNAS Worthy Down]], where he was stationed with a training squadron; Noël Coward visited the couple and thought Olivier looked unhappy.{{sfn|Coward|1983|p=8}} Olivier spent much of his time taking part in broadcasts and making speeches to build morale, and in 1942 he was invited to make another propaganda film, ''[[The Demi-Paradise]]'', in which he played a Soviet engineer who helps improve British-Russian relationships.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=152–153}}

[[File:Foreign Correspondents Visit British Film Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK, 1943 D16277.jpg|thumb|alt=group of journalists visiting film studios| Overseas newspaper correspondents visit the set of ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'' at Denham Studios in 1943]]
In 1943, at the behest of the Ministry of Information, Olivier began working on ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]''. Originally he had no intention of taking the directorial duties, but ended up directing and producing, in addition to taking the title role. He was assisted by an Italian internee, [[Filippo Del Giudice]], who had been released to produce propaganda for the Allied cause.{{sfn|Munn|2007|pp=128–129}} The decision was made to film the battle scenes in neutral Ireland, where it was easier to find the 650 extras. [[John Betjeman]], the press attaché at the British embassy in Dublin, played a key liaison role with the Irish government in making suitable arrangements.{{sfn|Jackson|2007|p=171}} The film was released in November 1944. Brooke, writing for the BFI, considers that it "came too late in the Second World War to be a call to arms as such, but formed a powerful reminder of what Britain was defending."<ref name="BFI: Henry"/> The music for the film was written by [[William Walton]], "a score that ranks with the best in film music", according to the music critic [[Michael Kennedy (music critic)|Michael Kennedy]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2004}} Walton also provided the music for Olivier's next two Shakespearean adaptations, ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948) and ''[[Richard III (1955 film)|Richard III]]'' (1955).<ref name="D Tel: Walton"/> ''Henry V'' was warmly received by critics. The reviewer for ''The Manchester Guardian'' wrote that the film combined "new art hand-in-hand with old genius, and both superbly of one mind", in a film that worked "triumphantly".<ref name="Guard: Henry"/> The critic for ''The Times'' considered that Olivier "plays Henry on a high, heroic note and never is there danger of a crack", in a film described as "a triumph of film craft".<ref name="Times: Henry"/> There were Oscar nominations for the film, including Best Picture and Best Actor, but it won none and Olivier was instead presented with a "Special Award".<ref name="Oscar: Henry"/> He was unimpressed, and later commented that "this was my first absolute fob-off, and I regarded it as such."{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=169}}

===1944–1948: Co-directing the Old Vic===
Throughout the war Tyrone Guthrie had striven to keep the Old Vic company going, even after German bombing in 1942 left the theatre a near-ruin. A small troupe toured the provinces, with Sybil Thorndike at its head. By 1944, with the tide of the war turning, Guthrie felt it time to re-establish the company in a London base and invited Richardson to head it.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=3}} Richardson made it a condition of accepting that he should share the acting and management in a triumvirate. Initially he proposed Gielgud and Olivier as his colleagues, but the former declined, saying, "It would be a disaster, you would have to spend your whole time as referee between Larry and me."{{sfn|Croall|2000| p=306}}{{efn|Almost everyone in theatrical circles called Olivier "Larry", but Richardson invariably addressed him as "Laurence". In contrast to this striking formality, Richardson addressed Gielgud as "Johnny".{{sfn|Miller|1995| p=32}}}} It was finally agreed that the third member would be the stage director [[John Burrell (theatre director)|John Burrell]]. The Old Vic governors approached the Royal Navy to secure the release of Richardson and Olivier; the [[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|Sea Lords]] consented, with, as Olivier put it, "a speediness and lack of reluctance which was positively hurtful."{{sfn|Holden|1988| p=184}}

[[File:Ralph Richardson.JPG|thumb|alt=middle-aged man, receding hair, with neat moustache|left|Co-director and co-star [[Ralph Richardson]] in the 1940s]]
The triumvirate secured the New Theatre for their first season and recruited a company. Thorndike was joined by, among others, [[Harcourt Williams]], [[Joyce Redman]] and [[Margaret Leighton]]. It was agreed to open with a repertory of four plays: ''[[Peer Gynt]]'', ''[[Arms and the Man]]'', ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' and ''Uncle Vanya''. Olivier's roles were the Button Moulder, Sergius, Richard and Astrov; Richardson played Peer, Bluntschli, Richmond and Vanya.{{sfn|Gaye|1967|pp=1030 and 1118}} The first three productions met with acclaim from reviewers and audiences; ''Uncle Vanya'' had a mixed reception, although ''The Times'' thought Olivier's Astrov "a most distinguished portrait" and Richardson's Vanya "the perfect compound of absurdity and pathos".<ref name="times vanya"/> In ''Richard III'', according to Billington, Olivier's triumph was absolute: "so much so that it became his most frequently imitated performance and one whose supremacy went unchallenged until [[Antony Sher]] played the role forty years later".{{sfn|Billington|2004}} In 1945 the company toured Germany, where they were seen by many thousands of Allied servicemen; they also appeared at the [[Comédie-Française]] theatre in Paris, the first foreign company to be given that honour.{{sfnm|1a1=O'Connor|1y=1982|1pp=121–122|2a1=Miller|2y=1995|2p=93}} The critic [[Harold Hobson]] wrote that Richardson and Olivier quickly "made the Old Vic the most famous theatre in the Anglo-Saxon world."{{sfn|Hobson|1958|p=55}}

The second season, in 1945, featured two double bills. The first consisted of ''Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2''. Olivier played the warrior Hotspur in the first and the doddering [[Justice Shallow]] in the second.{{efn|Sources generally refer to the two parts of ''Henry IV'' as a double bill, although as full-length plays they were given across two separate evenings.<ref name="times-henry-iv-ad"/>}} He received good notices, but by general consent the production belonged to Richardson as [[Falstaff]].{{sfn|Agate|1946|p=221}} In the second double bill it was Olivier who dominated, in the title roles of ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'' and ''[[The Critic (play)|The Critic]]''. In the two one-act plays his switch from searing tragedy and horror in the first half to farcical comedy in the second impressed most critics and audience members, though a minority felt that the transformation from [[Sophocles]]'s bloodily blinded hero to [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan|Sheridan]]'s vain and ludicrous Mr Puff "smacked of a quick-change turn in a music hall".{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=66}} After the London season the company played both the double bills and ''Uncle Vanya'' in a six-week run on Broadway.{{sfn|O'Connor|1982|p=129}}

The third, and final, London season under the triumvirate was in 1946–47. Olivier played King Lear, and Richardson took the title role in ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]''. Olivier would have preferred the roles to be reversed, but Richardson did not wish to attempt Lear.{{sfn|O'Connor|1982|p=135}} Olivier's Lear received good but not outstanding reviews. In his scenes of decline and madness towards the end of the play some critics found him less moving than his finest predecessors in the role.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=71}} The influential critic [[James Agate]] suggested that Olivier used his dazzling stage technique to disguise a lack of feeling, a charge that the actor strongly rejected, but which was often made throughout his later career.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|pp=90–91}} During the run of ''Cyrano'', Richardson was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]], to Olivier's undisguised envy.{{sfn|O'Connor|1982|p=149}} The younger man received the accolade six months later, by which time the days of the triumvirate were numbered. The high profile of the two star actors did not endear them to the new chairman of the Old Vic governors, [[Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher|Lord Esher]]. He had ambitions to be the first head of the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] and had no intention of letting actors run it.{{sfn|O'Connor|1982| pp=149–153}} He was encouraged by Guthrie, who, having instigated the appointment of Richardson and Olivier, had come to resent their knighthoods and international fame.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=126}}

In January 1947 Olivier began working on his second film as a director, ''Hamlet'' (1948), in which he also took the lead role. The original play was heavily cut to focus on the relationships, rather than the political intrigue. The film became a critical and commercial success in Britain and abroad, although Lejeune, in ''The Observer'', considered it "less effective than [Olivier's] stage work.&nbsp;... He speaks the lines nobly, and with the caress of one who loves them, but he nullifies his own thesis by never, for a moment, leaving the impression of a man who cannot make up his own mind; here, you feel rather, is an actor-producer-director who, in every circumstance, knows exactly what he wants, and gets it".<ref name="Obs: Hamlet"/> [[Campbell Dixon]], the critic for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' thought the film "brilliant&nbsp;... one of the masterpieces of the stage has been made into one of the greatest of films."<ref name="D Tel: Hamlet"/> ''Hamlet'' became the first non-American film to win the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]], while Olivier won the Award for Best Actor.<ref name="BFI: Hamlet"/>{{sfn|Munn|2007|pp=145–147}}{{efn|The film also won Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was nominated for awards for Best Actress ([[Jean Simmons]] as Ophelia), Best Score and Olivier as Best Director.<ref name="Oscar: Hamlet"/>}}

In 1948 Olivier led the Old Vic company on a six-month tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played Richard&nbsp;III, Sir Peter Teazle in Sheridan's'' [[The School for Scandal]]'' and Antrobus in [[Thornton Wilder]]'s ''[[The Skin of Our Teeth]]'', appearing alongside Leigh in the latter two plays. While Olivier was on the Australian tour and Richardson was in Hollywood, Esher terminated the contracts of the three directors, who were said to have "resigned".{{sfn|Miller|1995|pp=124 and 128}} [[Melvyn Bragg]] in a 1984 study of Olivier, and John Miller in the authorised biography of Richardson, both comment that Esher's action put back the establishment of a National Theatre for at least a decade.{{sfnm|1a1=Bragg|1y=1989|1p=87|2a1=Miller|2y=1995|2p=129}} Looking back in 1971, [[Bernard Levin]] wrote that the Old Vic company of 1944 to 1948 "was probably the most illustrious that has ever been assembled in this country".<ref name="levin tears"/> ''The Times'' said that the triumvirate's years were the greatest in the Old Vic's history;<ref name="times-rr-obit"/> as ''[[The Guardian]]'' put it, "the governors summarily sacked them in the interests of a more mediocre company spirit".<ref name="guardian-rr-obit"/>

===1948–1951: Post-war work===
[[File:Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh on holiday in Queensland (3190855694).jpg|alt=woman and man seated on aeroplane steps|thumb|Olivier with Leigh in Australia, 1948]]
By the end of the Australian tour, both Leigh and Olivier were exhausted and ill, and he told a journalist, "You may not know it, but you are talking to a couple of walking corpses." Later he would comment that he "lost Vivien" in Australia,{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=295}} a reference to Leigh's affair with the Australian actor [[Peter Finch]], whom the couple met during the tour. Shortly afterwards Finch moved to London, where Olivier auditioned him and put him under a long-term contract with [[Laurence Olivier Productions]]. Finch and Leigh's affair continued on and off for several years.<ref name="S. Times: Finch"/>{{sfn|Munn|2007|pp=149–150 and 152}}

Although it was common knowledge that the Old Vic triumvirate had been dismissed,<ref name="guardian-sack"/> they refused to be drawn on the matter in public, and Olivier even arranged to play a final London season with the company in 1949, as Richard&nbsp;III, Sir Peter Teazle, and Chorus in his own production of [[Anouilh]]'s ''[[Antigone (Anouilh)|Antigone]]'' with Leigh in the title role.{{sfn|Billington|2004}} After that, he was free to embark on a new career as an actor-manager. In partnership with [[Binkie Beaumont]] he staged the English premiere of [[Tennessee Williams]]'s ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'', with Leigh in the central role of Blanche DuBois. The play was condemned by most critics, but the production was a considerable commercial success, and led to Leigh's casting as Blanche in the [[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|1951 film version]].{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=256–257}} Gielgud, who was a devoted friend of Leigh's, doubted whether Olivier was wise to let her play the demanding role of the mentally unstable heroine: "[Blanche] was so very like her, in a way. It must have been a most dreadful strain to do it night after night. She would be shaking and white and quite distraught at the end of it."{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=88}}

{{Quote box |bgcolor=#CEF6EC|salign=right| quote = I think I'm a fairly good manager now.&nbsp;... I ran the St. James's theatre for eight years. I didn't run that at all well.&nbsp;... I made mistake after mistake, but I dare say those mistakes taught me something.|source=Olivier talking to [[Kenneth Tynan]] in 1966<ref name="tynan-interview"/>|align=left| width=33%}}
The production company set up by Olivier took a lease on the [[St James's Theatre]]. In January 1950 he produced, directed and starred in [[Christopher Fry]]'s verse play ''[[Venus Observed]]''. The production was popular, despite poor reviews, but the expensive production did little to help the finances of Laurence Olivier Productions. After a series of box-office failures,{{efn|Holden, noting that one of the failures was written and directed by Guthrie, comments that Olivier's willingness to stage it was an example of his magnanimous side.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=262}}}} the company balanced its books in 1951 with productions of [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]]'s ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' and Shakespeare's ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'' which the Oliviers played in London and then took to Broadway. Olivier was thought by some critics to be under par in both his roles, and some suspected him of playing deliberately below his usual strength so that Leigh might appear his equal.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=266}} Olivier dismissed the suggestion, regarding it as an insult to his integrity as an actor. In the view of the critic and biographer [[W.&nbsp;A. Darlington]], he was simply miscast both as Caesar and Antony, finding the former boring and the latter weak. Darlington comments, "Olivier, in his middle forties when he should have been displaying his powers at their very peak, seemed to have lost interest in his own acting".{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=77}} Over the next four years Olivier spent much of his time working as a producer, presenting plays rather than directing or acting in them.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=77}} His presentations at the St James's included seasons by [[Ruggero Ruggeri]]'s company giving two [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello]] plays in Italian, followed by a visit from the Comédie-Française playing works by [[Molière]], [[Racine]], [[Marivaux]] and [[Musset]] in French.<ref name="comedie"/> Darlington considers a 1951 production of ''Othello'' starring [[Orson Welles]] as the pick of Olivier's productions at the theatre.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=77}}

===1951–1954: Independent work===
While Leigh made ''Streetcar'' in 1951, Olivier joined her in Hollywood to film ''[[Carrie (1952 film)|Carrie]]'', based on the controversial novel ''[[Sister Carrie]]''; although the film was plagued by troubles, Olivier received warm reviews and a [[BAFTA]] nomination.<ref name="TCM: Carrie"/> Olivier began to notice a change in Leigh's behaviour, and he later recounted that "I would find Vivien sitting on the corner of the bed, wringing her hands and sobbing, in a state of grave distress; I would naturally try desperately to give her some comfort, but for some time she would be inconsolable."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=184}} After a holiday with Coward in Jamaica, she seemed to have recovered, but Olivier later recorded, "I am sure that&nbsp;... [the doctors] must have taken some pains to tell me what was wrong with my wife; that her disease was called manic depression and what that meant—a possibly permanent cyclical to-and-fro between the depths of depression and wild, uncontrollable mania.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=246}} He also recounted the years of problems he had experienced because of Leigh's illness, writing, "throughout her possession by that uncannily evil monster, manic depression, with its deadly ever-tightening spirals, she retained her own individual canniness—an ability to disguise her true mental condition from almost all except me, for whom she could hardly be expected to take the trouble."{{sfn|Olivier|1994|p=185}}

In January 1953 Leigh travelled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to film ''[[Elephant Walk]]'' with Peter Finch. Shortly after filming started she suffered a breakdown, and returned to Britain where, between periods of incoherence, she told Olivier that she was in love with Finch, and had been having an affair with him;{{sfn|Capua|2003|pp=128–129}} she gradually recovered over a period of several months. As a result of the breakdown, many of the Oliviers' friends learned of her problems. Niven said she had been "quite, quite mad",{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=254–263}} and in his diary, Coward expressed the view that "things had been bad and getting worse since 1948 or thereabouts."{{sfn|Coward|1983|p=211}}

For the [[Coronation of Elizabeth II|Coronation]] season of 1953, Olivier and Leigh starred in the West End in [[Terence Rattigan]]'s [[Ruritania]]n comedy, ''[[The Sleeping Prince (play)|The Sleeping Prince]]''. It ran for eight months{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=79}} but was widely regarded as a minor contribution to the season, in which other productions included Gielgud in ''[[Venice Preserv'd]]'', Coward in ''[[The Apple Cart]]'' and Ashcroft and Redgrave in ''Antony and Cleopatra''.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=279–280}}<ref name="times-coronation-season"/>

Olivier directed his third Shakespeare film in September 1954, ''Richard III'' (1955), which he co-produced with Korda. The presence of four theatrical knights in the one film—Olivier was joined by [[Cedric Hardwicke]], Gielgud and Richardson—led an American reviewer to dub it "An-All-Sir-Cast".<ref name="crowdus"/> The critic for ''The Manchester Guardian'' described the film as a "bold and successful achievement",<ref name="Guard: Richard"/>{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=265–266}} but it was not a box-office success, which accounted for Olivier's subsequent failure to raise the funds for a [[Macbeth (unfinished film)|planned film]] of ''Macbeth''.<ref name="crowdus"/> He won a BAFTA award for the role and was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award, which [[Yul Brynner]] won.<ref name="Oscar: Richard"/><ref name=BAFTA/>

===1955–1956: Last productions with Leigh===
In 1955 Olivier and Leigh were invited to play leading roles in three plays at the [[Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]], Stratford. They began with ''Twelfth Night'', directed by Gielgud, with Olivier as Malvolio and Leigh as Viola. Rehearsals were difficult, with Olivier determined to play his conception of the role despite the director's view that it was vulgar.{{sfn|Croall|2000|p=391}} Gielgud later commented:

{{Blockquote|Somehow the production did not work. Olivier was set on playing [[Malvolio]] in his own particular rather extravagant way. He was extremely moving at the end, but he played the earlier scenes like a Jewish hairdresser, with a lisp and an extraordinary accent, and he insisted on falling backwards off a bench in the garden scene, though I begged him not to do it.{{space}}... But then Malvolio is a very difficult part.{{sfn|Gielgud|1979|p=178}}}}

The next production was ''Macbeth''. Reviewers were lukewarm about the direction by [[Glen Byam Shaw]] and the designs by [[Roger Furse]], but Olivier's performance in the title role attracted superlatives.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=294–295}} To [[J. C. Trewin]], Olivier's was "the finest [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]] of our day"; to Darlington it was "the best Macbeth of our time".<ref name="trewin-macbeth"/>{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=82}} Leigh's [[Lady Macbeth]] received mixed but generally polite notices,<ref name="trewin-macbeth"/><ref name="times-1955-macbeth"/><ref name="tynan-macbeth"/> although to the end of his life Olivier believed it to have been the best Lady Macbeth he ever saw.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=298}}

[[File:Vivien Leigh in Laurence Olivier na brzovlaku v Mariboru 1957.jpg|alt=woman and man seated and looking towards camera|thumb|Leigh and Olivier in 1957]]
In their third production of the 1955 Stratford season, Olivier played the title role in ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'', with Leigh as Lavinia. Her notices in the part were damning,{{efn|Tynan wrote in ''The Observer'', "As Lavinia, Vivien Leigh receives the news that she is about to be ravished on her husband's corpse with little more than the mild annoyance of one who would have preferred foam rubber".<ref name="tynan-titus"/>}} but the production by [[Peter Brook]] and Olivier's performance as Titus received the greatest ovation in Stratford history from the first-night audience, and the critics hailed the production as a landmark in post-war British theatre.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=296–297}} Olivier and Brook revived the production for a continental tour in June 1957; its final performance, which closed the old [[Stoll Theatre]] in London, was the last time Leigh and Olivier acted together.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=82}}

Leigh became pregnant in 1956 and withdrew from the production of Coward's comedy ''[[South Sea Bubble (play)|South Sea Bubble]]''.{{sfn|Coward|1983|p=327}} The day after her final performance in the play she miscarried and entered a period of depression that lasted for months.{{sfnm|1a1=Coward|1y=1983|1pp=330, 358|2a1=Coleman|2y=2006|2pp=284–285}} In the same year Olivier directed and co-starred with [[Marilyn Monroe]] in a film version of ''The Sleeping Prince'', retitled ''[[The Prince and the Showgirl]]''. Although the filming was challenging because of Monroe's behaviour, the film was appreciated by the critics.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=287}}

===1957–1963: Royal Court and Chichester===
During the production of ''The Prince and the Showgirl'', Olivier, Monroe and her husband, the American playwright [[Arthur Miller]], went to see the English Stage Company's production of [[John Osborne]]'s ''[[Look Back in Anger]]'' at the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]]. Olivier had seen the play earlier in the run and disliked it, but Miller was convinced that Osborne had talent, and Olivier reconsidered. He was ready for a change of direction; in 1981 he wrote:

{{blockquote|I had reached a stage in my life that I was getting profoundly sick of—not just tired—sick. Consequently the public were, likely enough, beginning to agree with me. My rhythm of work had become a bit deadly: a classical or semi-classical film; a play or two at Stratford, or a nine-month run in the West End, etc etc. I was going mad, desperately searching for something suddenly fresh and thrillingly exciting. What I felt to be my image was boring me to death.{{sfn|Findlater|1981|p=40}}}}

[[File:Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright 1960.jpg|thumb|alt=middle-aged man with young woman on stage|Olivier, with [[Joan Plowright]] in ''[[The Entertainer (play)|The Entertainer]]'' on Broadway in 1958]]
Osborne was already at work on a new play, ''[[The Entertainer (play)|The Entertainer]]'', an allegory of Britain's post-colonial decline, centred on a seedy variety comedian, Archie Rice. Having read the first act—all that was completed by then—Olivier asked to be cast in the part. He had for years maintained that he might easily have been a third-rate comedian called "Larry Oliver", and would sometimes play the character at parties. Behind Archie's brazen façade there is a deep desolation, and Olivier caught both aspects, switching, in the words of the biographer [[Anthony Holden]], "from a gleefully tacky comic routine to moments of the most wrenching pathos".{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=314–316}} [[Tony Richardson]]'s production for the English Stage Company transferred from the Royal Court to the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]] in September 1957; after that it toured and returned to the Palace.<ref name="times-entertainer"/> The role of Archie's daughter Jean was taken by three actresses during the various runs. The second of them was [[Joan Plowright]], with whom Olivier began a relationship that endured for the rest of his life.{{efn|The other two Jeans were [[Dorothy Tutin]] at the Royal Court, and [[Geraldine McEwan]] for part of the run at the Palace.<ref name="times-entertainer"/> Plowright rejoined the cast when the production opened in New York in February 1958.<ref name="nyt-entertainer"/>}} Olivier said that playing Archie "made me feel like a modern actor again".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=318}} In finding an ''avant-garde'' play that suited him, he was, as Osborne remarked, far ahead of Gielgud and Ralph Richardson, who did not successfully follow his lead for more than a decade.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=99}}{{efn|In 1955 Richardson, advised by Gielgud, had turned down the role of Estragon in [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]]'s premiere of the English-language version of [[Samuel Beckett]]'s ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' and later reproached himself for missing the chance to be in "the greatest play of my generation".{{sfn|Miller|1995|pp=162–163}}}} Their first substantial successes in works by any of Osborne's generation were [[Alan Bennett]]'s ''[[Forty Years On (play)|Forty Years On]]'' (Gielgud in 1968) and [[David Storey]]'s ''[[Home (Storey play)|Home]]'' (Richardson and Gielgud in 1970).{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=1995|1pp=228–229|2a1=Croall|2y=2000|2p=456}}

Olivier received another BAFTA nomination for his supporting role in 1959's ''[[The Devil's Disciple (1959 film)|The Devil's Disciple]]''.<ref name=BAFTA/> The same year, after a gap of two decades, Olivier returned to the role of Coriolanus, in a Stratford production directed by the 28-year-old [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]]. Olivier's performance received strong praise from the critics for its fierce athleticism combined with an emotional vulnerability.{{sfn|Billington|2004}} In 1960 he made his second appearance for the Royal Court company in [[Eugène Ionesco|Ionesco]]'s [[Theatre of the Absurd|absurdist]] play ''[[Rhinoceros (play)|Rhinoceros]]''. The production was chiefly remarkable for the star's quarrels with the director, Orson Welles, who according to the biographer [[Francis Beckett]] suffered the "appalling treatment" that Olivier had inflicted on Gielgud at Stratford five years earlier. Olivier again ignored his director and undermined his authority.{{sfn|Beckett|2005|p=106}} In 1960 and 1961 Olivier appeared in Anouilh's ''[[Becket]]'' on Broadway, first in the title role, with [[Anthony Quinn]] as the king, and later exchanging roles with his co-star.{{sfn|Billington|2004}}

[[File:Spartacus - 1960 - poster.png|thumb|alt=colourful Hollywood film poster|Poster for [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', one of two films in which Olivier appeared in 1960]]
Two films featuring Olivier were released in 1960. The first—filmed in 1959—was ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', in which he portrayed the Roman general, [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]].{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=318}} His second was ''[[The Entertainer (film)|The Entertainer]]'', shot while he was appearing in ''Coriolanus''; the film was well received by the critics, but not as warmly as the stage show had been.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=23}} The reviewer for ''The Guardian'' thought the performances were good, and wrote that Olivier "on the screen as on the stage, achieves the tour de force of bringing Archie Rice&nbsp;... to life".<ref name="Guard: Entertainer"/> For his performance, Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.<ref name="Oscar: Entertainer"/> He also made an adaptation of ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (TV movie)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' in 1960, winning an [[Primetime Emmy Award|Emmy Award]].{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}}

The Oliviers' marriage was disintegrating during the late 1950s. While directing [[Charlton Heston]] in the 1960 play ''The Tumbler'', Olivier divulged that "Vivien is several thousand miles away, trembling on the edge of a cliff, even when she's sitting quietly in her own drawing room", at a time when she was threatening suicide.{{sfn|Munn|2007|pp=197–200}} In May 1960 divorce proceedings started; Leigh reported the fact to the press and informed reporters of Olivier's relationship with Plowright.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=326}} The [[decree nisi|decree ''nisi'']] was issued in December 1960, which enabled him to marry Plowright in March 1961.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=330 and 334}} A son, Richard, was born in December 1961; two daughters followed, Tamsin Agnes Margaret—born in January 1963—and actress Julie-Kate, born in July 1966.{{sfn|Munn|2007|pp=205, 209 and 218}}

In 1961 Olivier accepted the directorship of a new theatrical venture, the [[Chichester Festival]]. For the opening season in 1962 he directed two neglected 17th-century English plays, [[John Fletcher (playwright)|John Fletcher]]'s 1638 comedy ''The Chances'' and [[John Ford (dramatist)|John Ford]]'s 1633 tragedy ''[[The Broken Heart]]'',<ref name="times-chichester-1"/> followed by ''Uncle Vanya''. The company he recruited was forty strong and included Thorndike, Casson, Redgrave, [[Athene Seyler]], [[John Neville (actor)|John Neville]] and Plowright.<ref name="times-chichester-1"/> The first two plays were politely received; the Chekhov production attracted rapturous notices. ''The Times'' commented, "It is doubtful if the [[Moscow Arts Theatre]] itself could improve on this production."<ref name="times-chichester-2"/> The second Chichester season the following year consisted of a revival of ''Uncle Vanya'' and two new productions—Shaw's ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]'' and [[John Arden]]'s ''The Workhouse Donkey''.<ref name="times-chichester-3"/> In 1963 Olivier received another BAFTA nomination for his leading role as a schoolteacher accused of sexually molesting a student in the film ''[[Term of Trial]]''.<ref name=BAFTA/>

===National Theatre===
====1963–1968====
At around the time the Chichester Festival opened, plans for the creation of the National Theatre were coming to fruition. The British government agreed to release funds for a new building on the [[South Bank]] of the Thames.{{sfn|Billington| 2004}} [[Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos|Lord Chandos]] was appointed chairman of the National Theatre Board in 1962, and in August Olivier accepted its invitation to be the company's first director. As his assistants, he recruited the directors [[John Dexter]] and [[William Gaskill]], with [[Kenneth Tynan]] as literary adviser or "[[dramaturge]]".{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=356 and 368}} Pending the construction of the new theatre, the company was based at the Old Vic. With the agreement of both organisations, Olivier remained in overall charge of the Chichester Festival during the first three seasons of the National; he used the festivals of 1964 and 1965 to give preliminary runs to plays he hoped to stage at the Old Vic.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=90}}

The opening production of the National Theatre was ''Hamlet'' in October 1963, starring [[Peter O'Toole]] and directed by Olivier. O'Toole was a guest star, one of occasional exceptions to Olivier's policy of casting productions from a regular company. Among those who made a mark during Olivier's directorship were [[Michael Gambon]], [[Maggie Smith]], [[Alan Bates]], Derek Jacobi and [[Anthony Hopkins]]. It was widely remarked that Olivier seemed reluctant to recruit his peers to perform with his company.<ref name="times-obit"/> Evans, Gielgud and [[Paul Scofield]] guested only briefly, and Ashcroft and Richardson never appeared at the National during Olivier's time.{{efn|Billington describes Olivier's attitude to Richardson and others as "most ungenerous".{{sfn|Billington|2004}}}} [[Robert Stephens]], a member of the company, observed, "Olivier's one great fault was a paranoid jealousy of anyone who he thought was a rival".<ref name="lewis-sunday-times"/>

In his decade in charge of the National, Olivier acted in thirteen plays and directed eight.<ref name="nt-olivier"/> Several of the roles he played were minor characters, including a crazed butler in [[Feydeau]]'s ''[[A Flea in Her Ear]]'' and a pompous solicitor in [[Somerset Maugham|Maugham]]'s ''Home and Beauty''; the vulgar soldier Captain Brazen in [[George Farquhar|Farquhar]]'s 1706 comedy ''[[The Recruiting Officer]]'' was a larger role but not the leading one.<ref name="recruiting-officer"/>

Apart from his Astrov in the ''Uncle Vanya'', familiar from Chichester, his first leading role for the National was Othello, directed by Dexter in 1964. The production was a box-office success and was revived regularly over the next five seasons.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=403}} His performance divided opinion. Most of the reviewers and theatrical colleagues praised it highly; [[Franco Zeffirelli]] called it "an anthology of everything that has been discovered about acting in the past three centuries."{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=379 and 382}} Dissenting voices included ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', which called it "the kind of bad acting of which only a great actor is capable&nbsp;... near the frontiers of self-parody";{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=379}} the director [[Jonathan Miller]] thought it "a condescending view of an Afro Caribbean person".<ref name=walker/> The burden of playing this demanding part at the same time as managing the new company and planning for the move to the new theatre took its toll on Olivier. To add to his load, he felt obliged to take over as Solness in ''[[The Master Builder]]'' when the ailing Redgrave withdrew from the role in November 1964.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=385}}{{efn|Because of this additional commitment, Olivier had to drop his plan to direct Coward's ''[[Hay Fever (play)|Hay Fever]]''.{{sfn|Coward|1983|p=566}} The author took over the production with a cast, headed by Edith Evans, that Coward said could successfully have played the Albanian telephone directory.{{sfn|Morley|1974|p=369}}}} For the first time Olivier began to suffer from [[stage fright]], which plagued him for several years.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|pp=107–108}} The National Theatre production of ''Othello'' was released [[Othello (1965 British film)|as a film]] in 1965, which earned four Academy Award nominations, including another for Best Actor for Olivier.<ref name="Oscar: Othello"/>

During the following year Olivier concentrated on management, directing one production (''[[The Crucible]]''), taking the comic role of the foppish Tattle in [[William Congreve|Congreve]]'s ''[[Love for Love]]'', and making one film, ''[[Bunny Lake is Missing]]'', in which he and Coward were on the same bill for the first time since ''Private Lives''.{{sfn|Day|2005|p=159}} In 1966, his one play as director was ''[[Juno and the Paycock]]''. ''The Times'' commented that the production "restores one's faith in the work as a masterpiece".<ref name="paycock"/> In the same year Olivier portrayed the [[Mahdi]], opposite Heston as [[Charles George Gordon|General Gordon]], in the film ''[[Khartoum (film)|Khartoum]]''.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=44}}

In 1967 Olivier was caught in the middle of a confrontation between Chandos and Tynan over the latter's proposal to stage [[Rolf Hochhuth]]'s ''[[Rolf Hochhuth#Soldiers|Soldiers]]''. As the play speculatively depicted Churchill as complicit in the assassination of the Polish prime minister [[Władysław Sikorski]], Chandos regarded it as indefensible. At his urging the board unanimously vetoed the production. Tynan considered resigning over this interference with the management's artistic freedom, but Olivier himself stayed firmly in place, and Tynan also remained.{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=396–397}} At about this time Olivier began a long struggle against a succession of illnesses. He was treated for [[prostate cancer]] and, during rehearsals for his production of Chekhov's ''[[Three Sisters (play)|Three Sisters]]'' he was hospitalised with pneumonia.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=382–383}} He recovered enough to take the heavy role of Edgar in [[Strindberg]]'s ''[[The Dance of Death (Strindberg)|The Dance of Death]]'', the finest of all his performances other than in Shakespeare, in Gielgud's view.{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=108}}

====1968–1974====
Olivier had intended to step down from the directorship of the National Theatre at the end of his first five-year contract, having, he hoped, led the company into its new building. By 1968 because of bureaucratic delays construction work had not even begun, and he agreed to serve for a second five-year term.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=405}} His next major role, and his last appearance in a Shakespeare play, was as [[Shylock]] in ''The Merchant of Venice'', his first appearance in the work.{{efn|With the exception of a walk-on role in a matinée performance of scenes from the play in 1926, with Thorndike as Portia.<ref name="merchant-1926"/>}} He had intended Guinness or Scofield to play Shylock, but stepped in when neither was available.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=397}} The production by Jonathan Miller, and Olivier's performance, attracted a wide range of responses. Two different critics reviewed it for ''The Guardian'': one wrote "this is not a role which stretches him, or for which he will be particularly remembered"; the other commented that the performance "ranks as one of his greatest achievements, involving his whole range".<ref name="guardian-merchant1"/><ref name="guardian-merchant2"/>

In 1969 Olivier appeared in two war films, portraying military leaders. He played Field Marshal [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|French]] in the First World War film ''[[Oh! What a Lovely War]]'', for which he won another BAFTA award,<ref name=BAFTA/> followed by Air Chief Marshal [[Hugh Dowding]] in ''[[Battle of Britain (film)|Battle of Britain]]''.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=222}} In June 1970 he became the first actor to be created a peer for services to the theatre.<ref name="Guard: Peerage 1"/><ref name="Guard: Peerage 2"/> Although he initially declined the honour, [[Harold Wilson]], the incumbent prime minister, wrote to him, then invited him and Plowright to dinner, and persuaded him to accept.{{sfn|Olivier|1994|pp=303–304}}

[[File:Laurence Olivier Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|alt=elegantly ageing man in cravat|right|Laurence Olivier in 1972, during the production of ''[[Sleuth (1972 film)|Sleuth]]'']]
After this Olivier played three more stage roles: James Tyrone in [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' (1971–72), Antonio in [[Eduardo de Filippo]]'s ''Saturday, Sunday, Monday'' and John Tagg in [[Trevor Griffiths]]'s ''The Party'' (both 1973–74). Among the roles he hoped to play, but could not because of ill-health, was Nathan Detroit in the musical ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=220}} In 1972 he took leave of absence from the National to star opposite [[Michael Caine]] in [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]]'s film of [[Anthony Shaffer (writer)|Anthony Shaffer]]'s ''[[Sleuth (1972 film)|Sleuth]]'', which ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' considered to be "Olivier at his twinkling, eye-rolling best";<ref name="ILN: Sleuth"/> both he and Caine were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, losing to [[Marlon Brando]] in ''[[The Godfather]]''.<ref name="Oscar: Sleuth"/>

The last two stage plays Olivier directed were [[Jean Giradoux]]'s ''[[Amphitryon 38|Amphitryon]]'' (1971) and Priestley's ''[[Eden End]]'' (1974).{{sfn|Holden|1988|pp=465–466}} By the time of ''Eden End'', he was no longer director of the National Theatre; Peter Hall took over on 1 November 1973.{{sfn|Hall| 1984|p=50}} The succession was tactlessly handled by the board, and Olivier felt that he had been eased out—although he had declared his intention to go—and that he had not been properly consulted about the choice of successor.{{sfn|Hall|1984|pp=8–9}} The largest of the three theatres within the National's new building was named in his honour, but his only appearance on the stage of the Olivier Theatre was at its official opening by the Queen in October 1976, when he made a speech of welcome, which Hall privately described as the most successful part of the evening.{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=266}}

===1975–1989: Later years and death===
Olivier spent the last 15 years of his life securing his finances and dealing with deteriorating health,{{sfn|Billington|2004}} which included thrombosis and [[dermatomyositis]], a degenerative muscle disorder.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=419–420}}<ref name="EB: LO"/> Professionally, and to provide financial security, he made a series of advertisements for [[Polaroid Corporation|Polaroid]] cameras in 1972, although he stipulated that they must never be shown in Britain; he also took a number of cameo film roles, which were in "often undistinguished films", according to Billington.{{sfnm|1a1=Billington|1y=2004|2a1=Coleman|2y=2006|2p=413}} Olivier's move from leading parts to supporting and cameo roles came about because his poor health meant he could not get the necessary long insurance for larger parts, with only short engagements in films available.<ref name="Guard: Insurance"/>

Olivier's dermatomyositis meant he spent the last three months of 1974 in hospital, and he spent early 1975 slowly recovering and regaining his strength. When strong enough, he was contacted by the director [[John Schlesinger]], who offered him the role of a Nazi torturer in the 1976 film ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]''. Olivier shaved his pate and wore oversized glasses to enlarge the look of his eyes, in a role that the critic [[David Robinson (film critic)|David Robinson]], writing for ''The Times'', thought was "strongly played", adding that Olivier was "always at his best in roles that call for him to be seedy or nasty or both".<ref name="Times: Marathon"/> Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and won the Golden Globe of the same category.<ref name="Oscar: Marathon"/><ref name="globes: Marathon"/>

In the mid-1970s Olivier became increasingly involved in television work, a medium of which he was initially dismissive.{{sfn|Billington|2004}} In 1973 he provided the narration for a 26-episode documentary, ''[[The World at War]]'', which chronicled the events of the Second World War, and won a second Emmy Award for ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night (1973 film)|Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' (1973). In 1975 he won another Emmy for ''[[Love Among the Ruins (film)|Love Among the Ruins]]''.{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}} The following year he appeared in adaptations of Tennessee Williams's ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]'' and [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[The Collection (play)|The Collection]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1p=592|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2pp=245–246}} Olivier portrayed the [[Pharisee]] [[Nicodemus]] in Franco Zeffirelli's 1977 miniseries ''[[Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries)|Jesus of Nazareth]]''. In 1978 he appeared in the film ''[[The Boys from Brazil (film)|The Boys from Brazil]]'', playing the role of Ezra Lieberman, an ageing [[Nazi hunter]]; he received his eleventh Academy Award nomination. Although he did not win the Oscar, he was presented with an Honorary Award for his lifetime achievement.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=445 and 461}}

Olivier continued working in film into the 1980s, with roles in ''[[The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer]]'' (1980), ''[[Inchon (film)|Inchon]]'' (1981), ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]'' (1984) and ''[[Wild Geese II]]'' (1985).{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=282}} He continued to work in television; in 1981 he appeared as Lord Marchmain in ''[[Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)|Brideshead Revisited]]'', winning another Emmy, and the following year he received his tenth and last BAFTA nomination in the television adaptation of [[John Mortimer]]'s stage play ''[[A Voyage Round My Father]]''.<ref name=BAFTA/> In 1983 he played his last Shakespearean role as Lear in ''[[King Lear (1983 TV programme)|King Lear]]'', for Granada Television, earning his fifth Emmy.{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}} He thought the role of Lear much less demanding than other tragic Shakespearean heroes: "No, Lear is easy. He's like all of us, really: he's just a stupid old fart."{{sfn|Olivier|1986|p=93}} When the production was first shown on American television, the critic Steve Vineberg wrote:

{{Blockquote|Olivier seems to have thrown away technique this time—his is a breathtakingly pure Lear. In his final speech, over Cordelia's lifeless body, he brings us so close to Lear's sorrow that we can hardly bear to watch, because we have seen the last Shakespearean hero Laurence Olivier will ever play. But what a finale! In this most sublime of plays, our greatest actor has given an indelible performance. Perhaps it would be most appropriate to express simple gratitude.<ref name="vineberg"/>}}

The same year he also appeared in a cameo alongside Gielgud and Richardson in ''[[Wagner (film)|Wagner]]'', with Burton in the title role;{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|p=175}} his final screen appearance was as an elderly wheelchair-using soldier in [[Derek Jarman]]'s 1989 film ''[[War Requiem (film)|War Requiem]]''.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=495}}

After being ill for the last 22 years of his life, Olivier died of renal failure on 11 July 1989 aged 82 at his home in the village of [[Ashurst, West Sussex|Ashurst]], near [[Steyning]], West Sussex. His cremation was held three days later;{{sfnm|1a1=Billington|1y=2004|2a1=Coleman|2y=2006|2p=497}} a memorial service was held in [[Westminster Abbey]] in October that year, where his ashes were later buried in [[Poets' Corner]].<ref name="EB: LO"/>{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=268}}

==Awards and honours==
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Laurence Olivier}}
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| image1    = Laurence Olivier, South Bank SE1 - geograph.org.uk - 1268529.jpg
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| caption2  = Olivier's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
}}

Olivier was appointed [[Knight Bachelor]] in the [[1947 Birthday Honours]] for services to the stage and to films.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37977 |date=6 June 1947 |page=2572 |supp=y}}</ref> A [[life peerage]] as Baron Olivier, of [[Brighton]] in the County of [[Sussex]], followed in the [[1970 Birthday Honours]] for services to the theatre.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45319 |date=9 March 1971 |page=2001}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45117 |date=5 June 1970 |page=6365 |supp=y}}</ref> (He had declined a similar offer in 1967.)<ref>Letter of offer from prime minister Harold Wilson, 8 May 1967; Olivier's letter of refusal, 14 May 1967; in Daniel Rosenthal, ed., ''Dramatic Exchanges: The Lives and Letters of the National Theatre'', 2018, pp. 57–58</ref> Olivier was later appointed to the [[Order of Merit]] in 1981.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48524 |date=13 February 1981 |page=2145}}</ref> He also received honours from foreign governments. In 1949, he was made Commander of the Danish [[Order of the Dannebrog]]; France appointed him {{lang|fr|Officier}}, [[Legion of Honour]], in 1953; the Italian government created him {{lang|it|Grande Ufficiale}}, [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]], in 1953; and in 1971 he was granted the Order of Yugoslav Flag with Golden Wreath.<ref name="who"/>

From academic and other institutions, Olivier received honorary doctorates from [[Tufts University]] in [[Massachusetts]] (1946), [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] (1957) and [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]] (1964). He was also awarded the Danish [[Sonning Prize]] in 1966, the Gold Medallion of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities]] in 1968; and the [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] of the [[Royal Society of Arts]] in 1976.<ref name="who"/>{{sfn|Coleman|2006|loc=photo 39, facing p. 416}}{{efn|Olivier was also offered an honorary degree from [[Yale University]], but was unable to receive it.{{sfn|Coleman|2006|loc=photo 39, facing p. 416}}}}

For his work in films, Olivier received four [[Academy Awards]]: an honorary award for ''Henry V'' (1947), a Best Actor award and one as producer for ''Hamlet'' (1948), and a second honorary award in 1979 to recognise his lifetime of contribution to the art of film. He was nominated for nine other acting Oscars and one each for production and direction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1949 |work= AMPAS Academy Award Database |title= Academy Award Database 1949 results |access-date= 29 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.oscars.org/search/site/olivier |title= Olivier |publisher= Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date= 10 January 2015 |archive-date= 24 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141053/http://www.oscars.org/search/site/olivier |url-status= dead }}</ref> He also won two [[British Academy Film Awards]] out of ten nominations,{{efn|For ''Richard III'' (1955) and ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' (1969).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=laurence+olivier&=Search |title=BAFTA Awards Search |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |access-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117235003/http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=laurence%20olivier |archive-date=17 January 2015}}</ref>}} five Emmy Awards out of nine nominations,{{efn|For his appearances in screen versions of ''The Moon and Sixpence'' (1960), ''Long Day's Journey into Night'' (1973), ''Love Among the Ruins'', ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1982) and ''King Lear'' (1984){{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}}}} and three [[Golden Globe Award]]s out of six nominations.{{efn|As Best Actor for ''Hamlet'', Best Supporting Actor for ''Marathon Man'' and the [[Cecil B. DeMille Award]] for lifetime achievement.{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}}}} He was nominated once for a [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play|Tony Award]] (for best actor, as Archie Rice) but did not win.{{sfn|Tanitch|1985|pp=188–189}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search| title=Laurence Olivier| publisher=Tony Awards| access-date=13 January 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831204617/http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search| archive-date=31 August 2016| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In February 1960, for his contribution to the film industry, Olivier was inducted into the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], with a star at 6319 [[Hollywood Boulevard]];<ref name="Walk of fame"/> he is included in the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]].<ref name="Hall o F"/> In 1977, Olivier was awarded a [[British Film Institute Fellowship]].{{sfn|Shail|2007|p=158}}

In addition to the naming of the National Theatre's largest auditorium in Olivier's honour, he is commemorated in the [[Laurence Olivier Awards]], bestowed annually since 1984 by the [[Society of London Theatre]].<ref name="who"/> In 1991, Gielgud unveiled a memorial stone commemorating Olivier in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.{{sfn|Gielgud|2004|p=483}} In 2007, the centenary of Olivier's birth, a life-sized statue of him was unveiled on the [[South Bank]], outside the National Theatre;<ref name="D Tel: Statue"/> the same year the BFI held a retrospective season of his film work.<ref name="TO: BFI season"/>

==Technique and reputation==
Olivier's acting technique was minutely crafted, and he was known for changing his appearance considerably from role to role. By his own admission, he was addicted to extravagant make-up,{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=3}} and unlike Richardson and Gielgud, he excelled at different voices and accents.{{sfnm|1a1=O'Connor|1y=1982|1p=60|2a1=Croall|2y=2013|2p=128}}{{efn|The American film director [[William Wyler]] said that Olivier's performance in the film ''Carrie'' was "the truest and best portrayal on film of an American by an Englishman".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=216}}}} His own description of his technique was "working from the outside in";{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=2}} he said, "I can never act as myself, I have to have a pillow up my jumper, a false nose or a moustache or wig{{space}}... I cannot come on looking like me and be someone else."{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=3}} Rattigan described how at rehearsals Olivier "built his performance slowly and with immense application from a mass of tiny details".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=281}} This attention to detail had its critics: Agate remarked, "When I look at a watch it is to see the time and not to admire the mechanism. I want an actor to tell me Lear's time of day and Olivier doesn't. He bids me watch the wheels go round."{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=90}}

[[File:Laurence Olivier (borders removed).jpg|thumb|alt=head and shoulders semi-profile shot of man in this thirties|Olivier in 1939]]
Tynan remarked to Olivier, "you aren't really a contemplative or philosophical actor";<ref name="tynan-interview"/> Olivier was known for the strenuous physicality of his performances in some roles. He told Tynan this was because he was influenced as a young man by [[Douglas Fairbanks]], [[Ramon Navarro]] and John Barrymore in films, and Barrymore on stage as Hamlet: "tremendously athletic. I admired that greatly, all of us did.&nbsp;... One thought of oneself, idiotically, skinny as I was, as a sort of Tarzan."<ref name="tynan-interview"/>{{efn|Billington cites one of the best known instances of Olivier's physicality: "a sense of daring [which] showed itself, physically, in such feats as his famous headlong deathfall off a 12-foot-high platform in ''Coriolanus'' (Olivier was 52 at the time)."<ref name="guardian-25-anniv"/>}} According to Morley, Gielgud was widely considered "the best actor in the world from the neck up and Olivier from the neck down."{{sfn|Morley|2001|p=123}} Olivier described the contrast thus: "I've always thought that we were the reverses of the same coin{{space}}... the top half John, all spirituality, all beauty, all abstract things; and myself as all earth, blood, humanity."<ref name="tynan-interview"/>

Olivier, a [[Classical acting|classically trained]] actor, was known to have been distrustful of [[method acting]]. In his memoir, ''[[On Acting]]'', he exhorts actors to "have [[Stanislavski]] with you in your study or in your limousine... but don't bring him onto the film set."<ref>{{cite journal|title="On Acting" (Book Review)|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A9538949/AONE?u=anon~3a3dd173&sid=googleScholar&xid=4ce39050|last=Cunningham|first=William|journal=National Forum|volume=70|issue=3|pages=44–46|date=1990|accessdate=17 February 2023}}</ref> During production of ''[[The Prince and the Showgirl]]'', he quarrelled with [[Marilyn Monroe]], who was trained under [[Lee Strasberg]]'s method, over her acting process.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/11/24/142743162/prince-and-the-show-girl|title=Nightmares On The Set: 'Prince and The Show Girl'|last=Blair|first=Elizabeth|website=NPR|date=24 November 2011|accessdate=17 February 2023}}</ref> Similarly, an anecdote casts him as offering [[Dustin Hoffman]], enduring physical travails while playing in ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]'', a curt suggestion: "why don't you just try acting?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/method-to-the-madness-3-actors-that-took-method-acting-to-the-next-level/|title=Method To The Madness: 3 Actors That Took Method Acting To The Next Level|website=New York Film Academy|date=11 November 2015|accessdate=16 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/31/method-acting-dustin-hoffman-meryl-streep|title=Method acting can go too far – just ask Dustin Hoffman – Michael Simkins|first=Michael|last=Simkins|date=31 March 2016|website=The Guardian|access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> Hoffman disputes the details of this account, which he claims was distorted by a journalist: he had been up all night at the [[Studio 54]] nightclub for personal rather than professional reasons and Olivier, who understood this, was joking.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dillon |first=George |title=Dustin Hoffman discusses the Laurence Olivier story |url=https://georgedillon.com/workshops/video-links/dustin-hoffman-discusses-the-laurence-olivier-story/ |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode|title=Dustin Hoffman|series=Inside the Actors Studio|date=18 June 2006|season=12|number=12}}</ref>

Together with Richardson and Gielgud, Olivier was internationally recognised as one of the "great trinity of theatrical knights"<ref name="strachan"/> who dominated the British stage during the middle and later decades of the 20th century.<ref name="heilpern"/> In an obituary tribute in ''The Times'', Bernard Levin wrote, "What we have lost with Laurence Olivier is ''glory''. He reflected it in his greatest roles; indeed he walked clad in it—you could practically see it glowing around him like a nimbus.{{space}}... no one will ever play the roles he played as he played them; no one will replace the splendour that he gave his native land with his genius."<ref name="levin-obit-times"/> Billington commented:

{{Blockquote|[Olivier] elevated the art of acting in the twentieth century&nbsp;... principally by the overwhelming force of his example. Like Garrick, Kean, and Irving before him, he lent glamour and excitement to acting so that, in any theatre in the world, an Olivier night raised the level of expectation and sent spectators out into the darkness a little more aware of themselves and having experienced a transcendent touch of ecstasy. That, in the end, was the true measure of his greatness.{{sfn|Billington|2004}}}}

After Olivier's death, Gielgud reflected, "He followed in the theatrical tradition of Kean and Irving. He respected tradition in the theatre, but he also took great delight in breaking tradition, which is what made him so unique. He was gifted, brilliant, and one of the great controversial figures of our time in theatre, which is a virtue and not a vice at all."{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=269}}

Olivier said in 1963 that he believed he was born to be an actor,{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=7}} but his colleague [[Peter Ustinov]] disagreed; he commented that although Olivier's great contemporaries were clearly predestined for the stage, "Larry could have been a notable ambassador, a considerable minister, a redoubtable cleric. At his worst, he would have acted the parts more ably than they are usually lived."{{sfn|Ustinov|1978|p=279}} The director David Ayliff agreed that acting did not come instinctively to Olivier as it did to his great rivals. He observed, "Ralph was a natural actor, he couldn't stop being a perfect actor; Olivier did it through sheer hard work and determination."<ref name="Ayliff interview"/> The American actor [[William Redfield (actor)|William Redfield]] had a similar view:

{{Blockquote|Ironically enough, Laurence Olivier is less gifted than Marlon Brando. He is even less gifted than Richard Burton, Paul Scofield, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. But he is still the definitive actor of the twentieth century. Why? Because he wanted to be. His achievements are due to dedication, scholarship, practice, determination and courage. He is the bravest actor of our time.{{sfn|Darlington|1968|p=91}}|}}

In comparing Olivier and the other leading actors of his generation, Ustinov wrote, "It is of course vain to talk of who is and who is not the greatest actor. There is simply no such thing as a greatest actor, or painter or composer".{{sfn|Ustinov|1978|p=200}} Nonetheless, some colleagues, particularly film actors such as [[Spencer Tracy]], [[Humphrey Bogart]] and [[Lauren Bacall]], came to regard Olivier as the finest of his peers.{{sfn|Bacall|2006|pages=214–215}} Peter Hall, though acknowledging Olivier as the head of the theatrical profession,{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=xi}} thought Richardson the greater actor.<ref name="walker"/> Olivier's claim to theatrical greatness lay not only in his acting, but as, in Hall's words, "the supreme man of the theatre of our time",{{sfn|Hall|1984|p=ix}} pioneering Britain's National Theatre.<ref name="times-obit"/> As Bragg identified, "no one doubts that the National is perhaps his most enduring monument".{{sfn|Bragg|1989|p=103}}

==See also==
*[[Laurence Olivier Awards]]
*[[List of British Academy Award nominees and winners]]
*[[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]
*[[List of actors with three or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories]]
*[[List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories]]

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===References===
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="TO: BFI season">
{{cite news|last=Hammond|first=Wally|title=Film – Larry's game|work=Time Out|date=1 August 2007|page=57}}</ref>

<ref name=BAFTA>
{{cite web|title=BAFTA Awards Search: Laurence Olivier |url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=laurence+olivier&=Search |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |access-date=17 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117235003/http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=laurence%20olivier |archive-date=17 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="TCM: Carrie">
{{cite web|last=Frank |first=Miller |title=Carrie (1952) |url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/245769%7C0/Carrie.html |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |access-date=17 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305225443/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/245769%7C0/Carrie.html |archive-date= 5 March 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="D Tel: Hamlet">
{{cite news|last=Campbell |first=Campbell |title=Shakespeare: Laurence Olivier as Hamlet: original 1948 Telegraph review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/10782898/Shakespeare-Laurence-Olivier-as-Hamlet-original-1948-Telegraph-review.html |access-date=16 January 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 May 1948 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809143138/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/10782898/Shakespeare-Laurence-Olivier-as-Hamlet-original-1948-Telegraph-review.html |archive-date= 9 August 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="D Tel: Walton">
{{cite news|last=Hunt |first=Brian |title=The last great movie composer |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/3574714/The-last-great-movie-composer.html |date=16 March 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111113454/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/3574714/The-last-great-movie-composer.html |archive-date=11 November 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Ayliff interview">
{{cite web|title=David Ayliff – interview transcript |url=http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/024T-C1142X000149-0100A0.pdf |website=Theatre Archive Project |publisher=British Library |access-date=3 February 2015 |date=18 December 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218230601/http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/024T-C1142X000149-0100A0.pdf |archive-date=18 February 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Spect: Plowright">{{cite news|last=Christiansen|first=Rupert|title=Tending the sacred flame|work=The Spectator|date=13 October 2001|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/search?term=%22tending+the+sacred+flame%22&first-month=Jul&first-year=1828&last-month=Dec&last-year=2008|pages=49–50|access-date=14 January 2015|archive-date=14 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914204026/http://archive.spectator.co.uk/search?term=%22tending+the+sacred+flame%22&first-month=Jul&first-year=1828&last-month=Dec&last-year=2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Walk of fame">
{{cite web|title=Laurence Olivier |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/laurence-olivier |publisher=[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] |access-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101342/http://www.walkoffame.com/laurence-olivier |archive-date= 2 April 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Hall o F">
{{cite web|title=Members |url=http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#O |publisher=[[American Theater Hall of Fame]] |access-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118013544/http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html |archive-date=18 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="D Tel: Statue">
{{cite news|last=Reynolds|first=Nigel|title=South Bank statue marks Olivier centenary|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 September 2007|page=11}}</ref>

<ref name=walker>
{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6679633.stm |title=The great pretender |last=Walker |first=Andrew |date=22 May 2007 |publisher=BBC Magazine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327223517/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6679633.stm |archive-date=27 March 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="who">
{{cite web| url= http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U167741 | title=Olivier, Baron | website= Who Was Who |url-access=subscription | access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Insurance">
{{cite news|last=Ezard|first=John|title=Olivier's 'fury' over films in final years|work=The Guardian|date=13 July 1989|page=2}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Marathon">
{{cite web|title=The 49th Academy Awards: 1977 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=12 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111214401/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977 |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="globes: Marathon">
{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/film/marathon-man |title=Marathon Man |publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]] |access-date=12 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401002602/http://www.goldenglobes.com/film/marathon-man |archive-date= 1 April 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Times: Marathon">
{{cite news|last=Robinson|first=David|author-link=David Robinson (film critic)|title=Schlesinger's long-running dream|work=The Times|date=17 December 1976|page=15}}</ref>

<ref name="EB: LO">
{{cite web|title=Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier of Brighton|url=http://global.britannica.com/biography/Laurence-Olivier-Baron-Olivier-of-Brighton|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=12 January 2015|date=7 January 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Peerage 1">
{{cite news|title=Major Birthday award|work=The Guardian|date=15 June 1970|page=16}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Peerage 2">
{{cite news|title=Knights of export|work=The Observer|date=14 June 1970|page=2}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Othello">
{{cite web|title=The 38th Academy Awards: 1966 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111233714/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966 |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Entertainer">
{{cite web|title=The 33rd Academy Awards: 1961 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015234831/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961 |archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Entertainer">
{{cite news|title=Archie Rice alone|work=The Guardian|date=30 July 1960|page=3}}</ref>

<ref name="ILN: Sleuth">
{{cite news|title=Cinema|work=Illustrated London News|date=27 October 1973|page=5}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Sleuth">
{{cite web|title=The 45th Academy Awards: 1973 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717051744/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/45th-winners.html |archive-date=17 July 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Richard">
{{cite news|title=Sir Laurence Olivier's Film of ''Richard III'': A Bold and Successful Achievement|work=The Manchester Guardian|date=14 December 1955|page=5}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Richard">
{{cite web|title=The 29th Academy Awards: 1957 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507092819/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |archive-date= 7 May 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="BFI: Hamlet">
{{cite web|last=Brooke |first=Michael |title=Hamlet (1948) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/440240/ |website=[[Screenonline]] |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225170458/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/440240/ |archive-date=25 February 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Hamlet">
{{cite web|title=The 21st Academy Awards: 1949 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1949 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093808/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/21st-winners.html |archive-date= 6 July 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Obs: Hamlet">
{{cite news|last=Lejeune|first=Catherine|author-link=C. A. Lejeune|title=Hamlet The Dane|work=The Observer|date=9 May 1948|page=2}}</ref>

<ref name="S. Times: Finch">
{{cite news|last=Brooks|first=Richard|title=Olivier worn out by love and lust of Vivien Leigh|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/10BE603B78E0C2B0?p=UKNB|work=The Sunday Times|date=7 August 2005|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Henry">
{{cite web|title=The 19th Academy Awards: 1947 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1947 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=8 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093757/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/19th-winners.html |archive-date= 6 July 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Henry">
{{cite news|title=''Henry V'': Mr. Olivier's New Film|work=The Manchester Guardian|date=23 November 1944|page=3}}</ref>

<ref name="Times: Henry">
{{cite news|title=''Henry V''|work=The Times|date=23 November 1944|page=6}}</ref>

<ref name="BFI: Hamilton">
{{cite web|last=Moat |first=Janet |title=That Hamilton Woman (1941) |website=[[Screenonline]] |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/438903/ |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202164526/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/438903/ |archive-date= 2 February 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Oscar: Wuthering">
{{cite web|title=The 12th Academy Awards: 1940 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1940 |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=8 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093722/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/12th-winners.html |archive-date= 6 July 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="NYT: Q Planes">
{{cite news|last=Nugent |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Nugent |title=The Screen in Review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5DF1530E53ABC4E52DFB0668382629EDE |work=The New York Times |date=16 June 1939 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723025018/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5DF1530E53ABC4E52DFB0668382629EDE |archive-date=23 July 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="RPI convert">
{{cite web|last=Clark |first=Gregory |author-link=Gregory Clark (economist) |title=The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series) |url=http://measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/ |publisher=MeasuringWorth |access-date=3 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219050808/http://measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/ |archive-date=19 December 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="CPI convert">
{{cite web |title=Consumer Price Index, 1913– |url=https://www.minneapolisfed.org/community/teaching-aids/cpi-calculator-information/consumer-price-index-and-inflation-rates-1913 |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis |access-date=5 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604030208/https://www.minneapolisfed.org/community/teaching-aids/cpi-calculator-information/consumer-price-index-and-inflation-rates-1913 |archive-date=4 June 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Beau Geste">
{{cite news|title=The London Stage: ''Beau Geste'' at His Majesty's|work=The Manchester Guardian|date=1 February 1929|page=14}}</ref>

<ref name="jg-plans">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Mr Gielgud's Plans |newspaper= The Times |date= 10 March 1936|page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="ivor hamlet">
{{cite news |last= Brown |first= Ivor |date= 29 May 1930|title= Mr John Gielgud's Hamlet |newspaper= The Manchester Guardian |page=6 }}</ref>

<ref name="ivor hamlet2">
{{cite news |last= Brown |first= Ivor |date= 10 January 1937|title= Hamlet in Full |newspaper= The Observer |page=15 }}</ref>

<ref name="comedie">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Visit of Comédie Française |newspaper= The Times |date=13 April 1953 |page=10 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-hamlet">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Old Vic |newspaper= The Times |date= 8 January 1937|page=10 }}</ref>

<ref name="romeo-new-york-times">
{{cite news
 |last=Atkinson
 |first=Brooks
 |date=10 May 1940
 |title=The Play in Review
 |newspaper=The New York Times
 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/10/archives/the-play-in-review-laurence-olivier-and-vivien-leigh-act-the-title.html
 |url-access=subscription
 |url-status=live
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306020918/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B07E3DE1431E23ABC4852DFB366838B659EDE
 |archive-date= 6 March 2016
 |df=
}}</ref>

<ref name="times vanya">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= New Theatre |newspaper= The Times |date= 17 January 1945|page= 6}}</ref>

<ref name="levin tears">
{{cite news |last= Levin |first= Bernard |date= 16 February 1971|title= Tears and gin with the Old Vic |newspaper= The Times |page= 12}}</ref>

<ref name="times-rr-obit">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Obituary: Sir Ralph Richardson |newspaper= The Times |date= 11 October 1983|page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="guardian-rr-obit">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Obituary: Sir Ralph Richardson |newspaper= The Guardian |date= 11 October 1983|page=11 }}</ref>

<ref name="guardian-sack">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Old Vic Changes: New Administrator Appointed |newspaper= The Manchester Guardian |date= 23 December 1948 |page=8 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-coronation-season">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Theatres |newspaper= The Times |date= 1 June 1953|page=2 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-henry-iv-ad">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Theatres |newspaper= The Times |date= 25 September 1945|page=8 }}</ref>

<ref name="trewin-macbeth">
{{cite news |last= Trewin |first= J. C. |date= 25 June 1955|title= The World of the Theatre |newspaper= Illustrated London News |page=1160 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-1955-macbeth">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Stratford|newspaper= The Times |date= 8 June 1955|page=8}}</ref>

<ref name="tynan-macbeth">
{{cite news |last= Tynan |first= Kenneth |date= 12 June 1955|title= Fate and Furies |newspaper= The Observer |page=6 }}</ref>

<ref name="guardian-25-anniv">
{{cite news|last=Billington |first=Michael |date=11 July 2014 |title=Laurence Olivier: still the actor's actor 25 years after his death |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jul/11/laurence-olivier-25-years-anniversary-death |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422213843/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jul/11/laurence-olivier-25-years-anniversary-death |archive-date=22 April 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="tynan-titus">
{{cite news |last= Tynan |first= Kenneth |date= 21 August 1955|title= Chamber of Horrors |newspaper= The Observer |page=11 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-entertainer">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Mr Ian Carmichael in New Play |newspaper= The Times |date= 25 November 1957|page=3 }}</ref>

<ref name="nyt-entertainer">
{{cite news|last=Atkinson |first=Brooks |date=13 February 1958 |title=Theatre: Olivier in 'The Entertainer'; John Osborne Play Opens at Royale |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/02/13/archives/theatre-olivier-in-the-entertainer-john-osborne-play-opens-at.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305145718/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9403E2DF1339EF3BBC4B52DFB4668383649EDE |archive-date= 5 March 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="BFI: Henry">
{{cite web|last=Brooke |first=Michael |title=Henry V (1944) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/439237/ |website=[[Screenonline]] |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710105435/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/439237/ |archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="BFI: AYLI">
{{cite web|last=Brooke |first=Michael |title=Laurence Olivier and Shakespeare |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445050/ |website=[[Screenonline]] |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=6 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118055824/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445050/ |archive-date=18 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="times-chichester-1">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= First Plays for Chichester Theatre |newspaper= The Times |date=15 January 1962|page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-chichester-2">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Chekhov That Moscow Cannot Better |newspaper= The Times |date= 17 July 1962|page=13 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-chichester-3">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Chichester Festival|newspaper= The Times |date= 8 February 1963|page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="times-obit">
{{cite news| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Obituary: Lord Olivier |newspaper= The Times |date= 12 July 1989|page=16 }}</ref>

<ref name="Lejeune: Wuthering">
{{cite news|last=Lejeune|first=C.A.|author-link=C. A. Lejeune|title=Films of the Week|work=The Observer|date=30 April 1939|page=12}}</ref>

<ref name="Times: Wuthering">
{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=The Gaumont, Haymarket|work=The Times|date=26 April 1939|page=14}}</ref>

<ref name=Hamletscenen>
{{cite web|title=Hamletscenen at Kronborg Castle|url=http://www.hamletscenen.dk/uk/welcome/hamletscenen-2016/|access-date=8 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726021551/http://www.hamletscenen.dk/uk/welcome/hamletscenen-2016/|archive-date=26 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

<ref name="nt-olivier">{{cite web | url=http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover-more/artists/laurence-olivier-nt-50th | title=Laurence Olivier| publisher = Royal National Theatre | access-date=9 January 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203103659/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover-more/artists/laurence-olivier-nt-50th | archive-date=3 February 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="recruiting-officer">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Classic Related To Modern World |newspaper= The Times |date=11 December 1963 |page= 17}}</ref>

<ref name="paycock">
{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= O'Casey: Victim of His Own Legend |newspaper= The Times |date=27 April 1966 |page=7 }}</ref>

<ref name="merchant-1926">
{{cite news | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title=The Merchant of Venice – Scenes in Modern Dress | newspaper=The Times | date=24 April 1926 | p=16}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian-merchant1">
{{cite news | last=Waterhouse | first=Robert | title=The Merchant of Venice at the National Theatre | newspaper=The Guardian | date=29 April 1970 | page=10}}</ref>

<ref name="guardian-merchant2">
{{cite news | last=Fiddick | first=Peter | title=The Merchant of Venice on television | newspaper=The Guardian | date=12 February 1974 | page=12}}</ref>

<ref name="lewis-sunday-times">
{{cite news | last=Lewis | first=Roger |title= In the shadow of a giant – Laurence Olivier | newspaper=The Sunday Times | pages=10–12 | url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0F929F358AEE4D4B?p=UKNB | date=12 November 1995 | access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="strachan">
{{cite news|last= Strachan |first= Alan |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/132A885355CDDD08?p=UKNB |title=Obituary: Sir John Gielgud | newspaper=The Independent|date=23 May 2000 | access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=heilpern>
{{cite news|last=Heilpern |first=John |url=http://observer.com/1998/01/in-praise-of-the-holy-trinity-olivier-gielgud-richardson |title=In Praise of the Holy Trinity: Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson |newspaper=The New York Observer |date=12 January 1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402230604/http://observer.com/1998/01/in-praise-of-the-holy-trinity-olivier-gielgud-richardson/ |archive-date= 2 April 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="vineberg">
{{cite journal|last=Vineberg|first=Steve|title=Olivier's Lear|journal=The Threepenny Review |issue=20|date=Winter 1985|page=25|jstor= 4383358}} {{subscription}}</ref>

<ref name="tynan-interview">
{{cite journal|last=Tynan|first=Kenneth|title= The Actor: Tynan Interviews Olivier |journal= The Tulane Drama Review |issue=11.2|date=Winter 1966|pages=71–101|jstor= 1125187}} {{subscription}}</ref>

<ref name="crowdus">
{{cite journal|last=Crowdus |first=Gary |title=Richard III by Laurence Olivier |journal=Cinéaste |jstor=41687396 |volume=21 |issue=3 |year=1995 |pages=53–54 }}</ref>

<ref name="levin-obit-times">
{{cite news |last=Levin|first=Bernard|title= Silent falls the blazing trumpet|newspaper= The Times |date=12 July 1989 |page= 14}}</ref>

}}

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* {{cite book | last= Bacall | first= Lauren | year= 2006| orig-year=2005 | title= By Myself and Then Some | location= London | publisher= Headline | isbn= 978-0-7553-1351-8 }}
* {{cite book | last=Barker | first=Felix | author-link=Felix Barker | title=Laurence Olivier: A Critical Study | publisher=Spellmount | location=Speldhurst | year=1984 | isbn=978-0-88254-926-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/laurenceolivierc0000bark }}
* {{cite book | last= Beckett | first= Francis | year= 2005| title=Olivier | location= London | publisher= Haus | isbn=978-1-904950-38-7 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Billington | first=Michael | title=Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier (1907–1989) | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38623 | work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] | publisher=Oxford University Press | access-date=28 December 2014 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/38623 | year=2004 }} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book | last=Bragg | first=Melvyn | year=1989 | orig-year=1984 | title=Laurence Olivier | location=London | publisher=Sceptre | isbn=978-0-14-003863-7 }}
* {{cite book|last=Capua|first=Michelangelo|title=Vivien Leigh: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMdRckjUDvAC|year=2003|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson|isbn=978-0-7864-8034-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Castle | first=Charles | year=1972 | title=Noël | location=London | publisher=W H Allen | isbn=978-0-491-00534-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Coleman | first=Terry | year=2006 | orig-year=2005 | title=Olivier: The Authorised Biography | url=https://archive.org/details/olivierauthorise0000cole | url-access=registration | publisher=Bloomsbury | location=London | isbn=978-0-7475-8080-5 }}
* {{cite book | last=Coward | first=Noël | editor1-last=Payn | editor1-first=Graham | editor2-last=Morley | editor2-first=Sheridan | editor2-link=Sheridan Morley | year=1983 |orig-year=1982 | title=The Noël Coward Diaries (1941–1969) | location=London | publisher=Methuen | isbn=978-0-297-78142-4 }}
* {{cite book | last=Croall | first=Jonathan | author-link=Jonathan Croall | year=2000 | title=Gielgud – A Theatrical Life, 1904–2000 | location=London | publisher=Methuen | isbn=978-0-413-74560-6 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last= Croall | editor-first= Jonathan | year=2013 | title= Gielgoodies&nbsp;– The Wit and Wisdom and Gaffes of John Gielgud | location=London | publisher= Oberon Books | isbn= 978-1-78319-007-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Darlington | first=W. A. | year=1968 | title=Laurence Olivier | publisher=Morgan Grampian | location=London | isbn=978-0-249-43970-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Day | first=Barry | year=2005 | title=Coward on Film: The Cinema of Noël Coward | location=Lanham | publisher=Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-5358-4 }}
* {{cite book | last=Denny | first=Barbara | year=1985 | title=Kings Bishop: The Lords Spiritual of London | location=London | publisher=Alderman Press | isbn=978-0-946619-16-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Findlater | first=Richard | year=1971 | title=The Player Kings | location=London | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson | isbn=978-0-297-00304-5 }}
* {{cite book | last=Findlater | first=Richard | year=1981| title=At the Royal Court: 25 years of the English Stage Company | location=Ambergate | publisher=Amber Lane Press | oclc=247511466 }}
* {{cite book|last=Garber|first=Marjorie|author-link=Marjorie Garber|title=Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlDILcjrzs8C|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-1-136-61284-8}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Gaye | editor-first=Freda | year=1967 | title=Who's Who in the Theatre | edition=fourteenth | location=London | publisher=Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons | oclc=5997224 }}
* {{cite book | last= Gielgud | first= John | year= 1979 | title= An Actor and His Time | location= London | publisher= Sidgwick and Jackson | isbn= 978-0-283-98573-7 }}
* {{cite book | last=Gielgud | first=John | year=2004 | editor1-last=Mangan | editor1-first=Richard | title=Gielgud's Letters | location=London | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson | isbn=978-0-297-82989-8 }}
* {{cite book|last=Gilbert |first= Susie|year=2009 |title=Opera for Everybody |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn= 978-0-571-22493-7 }}
* {{cite book | last=Hall | first=Peter | year=1984 | orig-year=1983 | title=Peter Hall's Diaries | location=London | publisher=Hamish Hamilton | isbn=978-0-241-11285-4 }}
* {{cite book | last=Hobson | first=Harold | year=1958 | title=Ralph Richardson | location=London | publisher=Rockliff | oclc=3797774 }}
* {{cite book | last=Holden | first=Anthony | year=1988 | title=Olivier | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson | location=London | isbn=978-0-297-79089-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Jackson | first=Russell | title=The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TPzAgAAQBAJ | year=2007 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | isbn=978-1-107-49530-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Jackson | first=Russell | year=2013 | title=Gielgud, Olivier, Ashcroft, Dench: Great Shakespeareans | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury | isbn=978-1-4725-1544-5 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Kennedy | first=Michael | title=Walton, Sir William Turner (1902–1983) | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31797 | work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] | publisher=Oxford University Press | access-date=13 January 2015 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31797 | year=2004 }} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book | last=Kiernan | first=Thomas | year=1981 | title=Olivier: The Life of Laurence Olivier | location=London | publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson | isbn=978-0-283-98671-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Korda | first=Michael | author-link=Michael Korda | year=1981 | title=Charmed Lives | location=New York | publisher=Random House | isbn=978-0-380-53017-5 | url=https://archive.org/stream/charmedlivesfami00kord#page/n3/mode/2up }}
* {{cite book | last=Lesley | first=Cole | year=1976 | title=The Life of Noël Coward | location=London | publisher=Jonathan Cape | isbn=978-0-224-01288-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Miller | first=John | year=1995 | title=Ralph Richardson – The Authorized Biography | location=London | publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson | isbn=0-283-06237-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Morley | first=Sheridan | year=1974 | orig-year=1969 | title=A Talent to Amuse | location=London | publisher=Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-003863-7 }}
* {{cite book | last=Morley | first=Sheridan | year=2001 | title=John G—The Authorised Biography of John Gielgud | location=London | publisher=Hodder and Stoughton | isbn=978-0-340-36803-9 }}
* {{cite book | last=Mortimer | first=John | year=1984 | orig-year=1983 | title=In Character | location=Harmondsworth | publisher=Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-006389-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/incharacter00john }}
* {{cite book | last=Munn | first=Michael | author-link=Michael Munn | title=Lord Larry: The Secret Life of Laurence Olivier: a Personal and Intimate Portrait | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-IrgcXteIMgC&pg=PP1 | year=2007 | publisher=Robson Books | location=London | isbn=978-1-86105-977-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Neill | first=Michael | chapter=Introduction | year=2006 | title=Othello, the Moor of Venice | series=The Oxford Shakespeare | location=Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-156847-3 }}
* {{cite book | last=O'Connor | first=Garry | year=1982 | title=Ralph Richardson – An Actor's Life | location=London | publisher=Hodder and Stoughton | isbn=978-0-340-27041-7 }}
* {{cite book | last=Olivier | first=Laurence | title=Confessions of an Actor | location=New York | publisher=Simon and Schuster | year=1994 | orig-year=1982 | isbn=978-0-14-006888-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/confessionsofactolivi00oliv }}
* {{cite book | last=Olivier | first=Laurence | year=1986 | title=On Acting | location=London | publisher=Weidenfeld | isbn=978-0-297-78864-5 }}
* {{cite book | last=Olivier | first=Tarquin | year=1992 | title=My Father Laurence Olivier | publisher=Headline | location=London | isbn=978-0-747-20611-8 }}
* {{cite book | last=Richards | first=Jeffrey | author-link=Jeffrey Richards | title=The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in 1930s Britain | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6E-caLC4HZEC&pg=PP1 | year=2010 | publisher=I.B. Tauris | location=London | isbn=978-1-84885-122-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Richards | first=Jeffrey | author-link=Jeffrey Richards | title=Visions of Yesterday | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MA6uAgAAQBAJ | year=2014 | publisher=Routledge | location=Abingdon, Oxon | isbn=978-1-317-92861-4 }}
* {{cite book | last=Shail | first=Robert | title=British Film Directors: A Critical Guide | url=https://archive.org/details/britishfilmdirec0000shai | url-access=registration | year=2007 | publisher=Southern Illinois University Press | location=Carbondale | isbn=978-0-8093-2833-8 }}
* {{cite book | last=Tanitch | first=Robert | author-link=Robert Tanitch | title=Olivier | year=1985 | publisher=Thames & Hudson | location=London | isbn=978-0-5000-1363-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Ustinov | first= Peter | year=1978 | orig-year=1977 | title= Dear Me | location=Harmondsworth | publisher=Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-004940-4 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|https://www.laurenceolivier.com/}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Emmys person|laurence-olivier}}
* {{Screenonline name|450224}}
* [https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/laurence-olivier-10-essential-films Laurence Olivier: 10 essential films] at the [[British Film Institute]]
* [http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-001981095 Laurence Olivier Archive]{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at the [[British Library]]
* {{TCMDb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{NPG name}}
* {{Playbill person}}

{{Laurence Olivier}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Laurence Olivier|Awards for Laurence Olivier]]
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Actor}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor}}
{{BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award}}
{{British Film Institute Fellowship}}
{{Cecil B. DeMille Award 1976–2000}}
{{David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesLeadActor 1950-1975}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesSupportingActor 1976-2000}}
{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor}}
{{Lincoln Center Gala Tribute}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActorMotionPictureDrama 1943-1960}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestSuppActorMotionPicture 1961-1980}}
{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor}}
{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actor}}
{{DramaCriticsBestActor}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}
{{OlivierAward SpecialAward}}
{{Sonning Prize laureates}}
}}
{{National Theatre directors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Laurence}}
[[Category:Laurence Olivier| ]]
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:Olivier family|Laurence]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century theatre managers]]
[[Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:Actor-managers]]
[[Category:Actors awarded British peerages]]
[[Category:Actors awarded knighthoods]]
[[Category:Actors from Dorking]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]
[[Category:English artistic directors]]
[[Category:BAFTA fellows]]
[[Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best British Actor BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey]]
[[Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners]]
[[Category:David di Donatello winners]]
[[Category:Directors of Golden Lion winners]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English Anglo-Catholics]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English film directors]]
[[Category:English male Shakespearean actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English theatre directors]]
[[Category:English people of French descent]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Male actors from Surrey]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Shakespearean directors]]