Overview

Laurence Olivier is not merely the greatest actor of the twentieth century, but perhaps of all time. Add to this his achievements as a director of both plays and films, his central role in the founding of the National Theatre and the off-stage dramas of his private life, and he makes a rich subject for a biography.On-stage and off, Olivier played many parts and lived many lives. During his long and distinguished sixty-year career he made numerous Hollywood movies, appeared in several highly successful TV series, worked closely with actors such as John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Marilyn Monroe and Dustin Hoffman, led the British theatre in a Golden Age and packed theatres in New York. Knighted in 1947, he received many awards including Oscars for Henry V and Hamlet, an Emmy for his role in Brideshead Revisited , a Golden Globe for Marathon Man , and a BAFTA for Oh! What a Lovely War .But what of the real character behind the make-up? Since his death in 1989, new revelations have come to light concerning the vicar's son who filled the Old Vic at thirty, married three times (his second wife was the wayward Vivien Leigh) and shared West End billing in his eighties with a succession of pop stars. In this perceptive, witty and penetrating portrait, Anthony Holden investigates the truth behind rumours of Olivier's alleged homosexual affairs with the likes of Marlon Brando and Danny Kaye, for a long time deliberately covered up by Olivier's family. He brings together the many strands of Olivier's life and sheds light on this remarkable man.

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9781904435891

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