1. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Steyning, West Sussex, England.

2. Laurence Olivier’s road to stardom Cliff Notes style….As a teenager, Olivier studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama.  He then joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and gained notoriety for his stage work.  After appearing in a couple of minor movies he got a contract with RKO and headed to Hollywood.  When his RKO movies and Perfect Understanding with Gloria Swanson were box office disasters he headed back to the British stage.  In 1938 Hollywood came calling again. This time things went much better for Olivier as 1939’s Wuthering Heights and 1940’s Rebecca were box office and critical successes and earned Olivier his first two Oscar® nominations.  Olivier would remain a star until his passing in 1989.

3.  Laurence Olivier was nominated for 10 acting Oscars® and 1 directing Oscar®.  He won the Best Actor Oscar® for 1948’s Hamlet.  He also received two Honorary Oscars® in 1947 and 1979.

4.  Laurence Olivier is one of five actors or actresses to get 10 or more acting Oscar® nominations.  Olivier and Bette Davis got 10 nominations.  Jack Nicholson and Katharine Hepburn got 12 nominations and Meryl Streep has 126 nominations….ok she only has 19 but it seems like she gets one every year.

5.  Laurence Olivier also received 5 Golden Globe® nominations….winning twice, 9 Emmy® nominations…winning 5 times, 10 BAFTA nominations…winning twice and won two Razzie® awards….though he probably did not want those Razzies®.

6. Laurence Olivier was married three times in her life.  His first marriage to Jill Esmond lasted from 1930 to 1940…they had one child.  His second and most famous marriage was to Vivien Leigh…it lasted from 1940 to 1961.  His final marriage was to Joan Plowright from 1961 to his death in 1989…they had three children.  While researching this page I came across an excellent website that looks at Olivier and Vivien Leigh…. I highly recommend that you check this site out.

7. Roles Laurence Olivier turned down or was seriously considered for:  Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O’Toole role), Lolita (James Mason role), The Godfather (Marlon Brando role), Cleopatra (Rex Harrison role)  Being There (Melvyn Douglas role) and I Confess (Montgomery Clift role).

8.  Laurence Olivier was knighted in 1947, made life peer in 1970, awarded the Order of Merit in 1981.

9.  Some thoughts on Olivier.  Charlton Heston on Sir Larry….”I consider him, in common with my colleagues, the finest actor alive.”  Spencer Tracy on Larry….”he is the greatest of them all”.

10.  Some tidbits from Laurence Olivier’s memorial service.  Olivier’s trophies were carried in a procession: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. carried the insignia of Olivier’s Order of Merit, Michael Caine bore his Oscar® for lifetime achievement, Maggie Smith a silver model of the Chichester theatre, Paul Scofield a silver model of the National, Derek Jacobi the crown worn in Richard III (1955), Peter O’Toole the script used in Hamlet (1948), Ian McKellen the laurel wreath worn in the stage production of “Coriolanus”, Dorothy Tutin the crown worn for King Lear (1983), and Frank Finlay the sword presented to Olivier by John Gielgud, once worn by the 18-century actor Edmund Kean.

Check out Laurence Olivier’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page.  If you want a deeper look at Olivier’s number one movie then this Rebecca movie page by Steve Lensman is an outstanding source of information.

And finally…sadly we could not find box office information on these 4 Olivier movies.  1931’s The Yellow Ticket which has critic/audience rating of 63.75%, 1931’s Potipher’s Wife with a critic/audience rating of 61.75%, 1933’s No Funny Business with a critic/audience rating of 55.25% and 1935’s I Stand Condemned with a critic/audience rating of 37.00%.

AFI’s Top 25 Screen Legend Actors….with links to my movie pages on the Screen Legend