Birthday:
Birthday:

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no theatrical connections, but Olivier's father, a clergyman, decided that his son should become an actor. After attending a drama school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives, and he appeared in his first film. In 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, building it into a highly respected company. There his most celebrated roles included Shakespeare's Richard III and Sophocles's Oedipus. In the 1950s Olivier was an independent actor-manager, but his stage career was in the doldrums until he joined the avant garde English Stage Company in 1957 to play the title role in The Entertainer, a part he later played on film. From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain's National Theatre, running a resident company that fostered many future stars. His own parts there included the title role in Othello (1965) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970). Among Olivier's films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). His later films included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence (1960), Long Day's Journey into Night (1973), Love Among the Ruins (1975), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976), Brideshead Revisited (1981) and King Lear (1983). Olivier's honours included a knighthood (1947), a life peerage (1970) and the Order of Merit (1981). For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, and Joan Plowright from 1961 until his death.
Birthday: May 22, 1907
Death: July 11, 1989

November 24, 1944

December 10, 1948

June 13, 1957

December 13, 1955

January 01, 1976

December 06, 1976

April 01, 1970

December 19, 1976

January 15, 1978

August 24, 1953

January 01, 1978

November 20, 1963

December 31, 1977

March 23, 1940

October 13, 1960

December 10, 1972

October 08, 1976

April 07, 1939

January 19, 1985

June 12, 1981

October 03, 1965

May 04, 1984

August 01, 2000

September 17, 2004

June 15, 1977

March 10, 1969

April 27, 1979

March 05, 1937

November 24, 1941

September 15, 1969

July 20, 1979

August 01, 1969

November 11, 1983

June 09, 1966

January 06, 1989

October 24, 1976

July 17, 1952

December 17, 1980

April 03, 1941

July 26, 1940

February 21, 1939

January 15, 1938

September 02, 1936

December 15, 1965

October 05, 1978

November 29, 1971

April 19, 1984

January 07, 1940

November 14, 1968

April 03, 1983

October 18, 1985

July 25, 1960

January 01, 1952

June 02, 2023

February 25, 1983

August 16, 1962

August 20, 1959

February 02, 1978

October 30, 1931

January 01, 1953

April 12, 1976

May 31, 1963

May 04, 1981

December 01, 1969

July 27, 2018

January 24, 1941

October 10, 1976

December 01, 1931

December 23, 1934

May 27, 1932

October 03, 1931

January 03, 1969

January 15, 1933

November 01, 2011

March 26, 2021

November 18, 1943

October 15, 2005

October 07, 1973

September 13, 2001

March 10, 1973

January 01, 1942

November 22, 1972

April 01, 1984

January 01, 1974

March 08, 1988

May 28, 1944

March 30, 1933

March 10, 1985

December 19, 1983

April 02, 1968

June 02, 1953

June 22, 2024

January 23, 1999

January 10, 1944

July 13, 1930

August 01, 1930

March 28, 1931

July 31, 1940

May 29, 1940

October 01, 1988

December 14, 2015

January 01, 1981

December 31, 1966

October 06, 1976

March 29, 2000

October 28, 1991

May 01, 1986

January 01, 1965

August 23, 1983

October 22, 1990

January 03, 2021

May 05, 2010

May 02, 2018

October 30, 1959

January 01, 1971

October 24, 1982

December 14, 2024

October 13, 1940

November 06, 1950

May 15, 2012

November 30, 1966

October 05, 1993

December 05, 1976

October 31, 1973

October 24, 1986

September 14, 1966

March 27, 1977

March 19, 1953

January 05, 2013

October 03, 1983

February 01, 1969

February 02, 1986

June 20, 1948

May 06, 1984

September 11, 1967

December 11, 1961

October 13, 1967

June 06, 1968

January 28, 1971

May 04, 2015

January 20, 1944

October 12, 1981