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Laurence Olivier was born in Surrey, England in 1907. He was the son of a very strict priest of the Church of England, and he spent much time with his mother, but she passed away when Laurence was only 12. He discovered acting as a child, and played Shakespearean roles as a teen. In 1926, he joined The Birmingham Repertory Company, and the following year played the leads in Hamlet and Macbeth. In 1930 he married an actress, Jill Esmond, and while they were married 10 years and had a son, they were never happily married (Olivier wrote in his autobiography that he was impotent on their wedding night, which he attributed to his strict religious upbringing). He starred in Private Lives on the stage in 1930, and that made him a star. He appeared in five movies in 1930 and 1931 alone, but none were very notable, and he focused more on the stage, having success in 1935 where he alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with John Gielgud (but he was jealous that Gielgud received better reviews than he did, and he did not act with him again!). In 1937 he starred in Fire Over England with Vivien Leigh, and after the film was finished, they started having an affair, even though both were married. In 1939 she starred in Gone With the Wind and he in Wuthering Heights, and after those two great triumphs, they both divorced their spouses and were married. Wuthering Heights (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film) was Olivier's greatest film role. Prior to this movie, he had one major failing as a movie actor, which was that he acted as if he was on the stage, which detracted from his appearances because he appears to be over-acting when delivering his lines. He approached the role of Heathcliff in the same way, and producer Sam Goldwyn threatened to fire him after filming began, but legendary director William Wyler was able to convince him to tone down his performance, and it surely ranks as one of the finest ever captured on film (there is a moment when he returns a rich man, and he says to Catherine that he has forgotten to congratulate her on her marriage, and he adds, "I have often thought of it", and I have never heard a line better delivered!). He and Leigh appeared in several movies together, but over time it became apparent she suffered from bi-polar disorder, which put a great strain on their relationship. Olivier spent some time as a pilot in the Reserves during WWII, and in 1944, he and Ralph Richardson formed a new Old Vic Theatre Company, where he had many triumphs on the stage, in both Shakespeare and more modern plays. In 1945 Olivier directed and starred in a film version of Henry V (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film, and he won an honorary Oscar for outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director for the film), and in 1948 he directed and starred in a film version of Hamlet, and he won the Best Actor Oscar, and the movie was nominated for Best Picture. That same year he and Leigh went on a 6 month trip performing in Australia and New Zealand, and it was at that time their marriage began to completely break down, although they remained together (both personally and professionally) for quite some time. They divorced in 1961, and Olivier married actress Joan Plowright, with whom he soon had three children. In 1955, Olivier filmed the last of his three great Shakespearean films, Richard III (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), and over the rest of his life he alternated between the stage and many memorable appearances in movies, including The Prince and the Showgirl (opposite Marilyn Monroe), Spartacus, Othello, and many more. As he aged he successfully transitioned to older character roles, and one of his very finest was as the Nazi dentist Szell in Marathon Man (nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this film). There is a funny story about that movie (although it may well be apocryphal). Olivier had always detested "method" acting, and before the scene where he appears with Dustin Hoffman where Hoffman's character had been up for a very long time, Hoffman showed up for filming, and looked dreadful. Olvier asked him if he had been in an accident, and Hoffman (a "method" actor) replied that he had stayed up for two days so he could be authentic, and Olivier is supposed to have responded, "Have you ever tried acting, dear boy?"! Was Laurence Olivier the best movie actor of all time? I don't think so, primarily because of his "over-acting" tendencies in his early years (caused by his extensive stage experience). But he surely was one of the handful of finest film actors ever, and his body of work is truly remarkable! Some of his other movies include: Rebecca (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), The Entertainer (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), The Boys from Brazil (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), Othello (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), and Sleuth (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film) AND Helen Hayes was an actress from the 1910s to the 1980s. Some of her movies include: A Farewell to Arms, Herbie Rides Again, and Arrowsmith. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Airport in 1970, which was 39 years after she won her Best Actress Oscar in 1931 for The Sin of Madelon Claudet. She was married to legendary screenwriter Charles MacArthur, and the mother of actor James MacArthur.

Important Added Info: Note that this Canadian news photo has been personally autographed (signed) by BOTH Laurence Olivier AND Helen Hayes!

Note that this signed item is from the estate of Gino Empry, who was a legendary Toronto publicist and agent from the early 1960s through the early 2000s (he passed away in 2006). He had publicity photos of celebrities he worked with that were personalized to him and signed attached to his walls, and many of those were consigned to us, and while we have no certificate of authenticity, we are 100% certain they are authentic (although many have some damage that was caused by their being attached to a wall or being roughly removed).

As is true of all the signed items we are currently auctioning, we give every buyer 30 days in which to review what they purchased and they can return any item as long as it is within 30 days of the end of the auction. On non-signed items, we give a "lifetime guarantee" on everything we auction, but on signed items, we give the above modified guarantee of 30 days after the auction closes.

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