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Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 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 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 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the Grammatical person, third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard III (play)
''The Tragedy of Richard the Third'', often shortened to ''Richard III'', is a play by William Shakespeare, which depicts the Niccolò_Machiavelli, Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England. It was probably written . It is labelled a Shakespearean history, history in the First Folio, and is usually considered one, but it is sometimes called a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy, as in the quarto edition. ''Richard III'' concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy which also contains ''Henry VI, Part 1'', ''Henry VI, Part 2'', and ''Henry VI, Part 3''. It is the second longest play in the Shakespeare's plays, Shakespearean canon and is the longest of the First Folio, whose version of ''Hamlet'', otherwise the longest, is shorter than its quarto counterpart. The play is often abridged for brevity, and peripheral characters removed. In such cases, extra lines are often invented or added from elsewhere to establish the nature of the characters' rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamlet (1948 Film)
''Hamlet '' is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. ''Hamlet'' was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed (the 1936 ''As You Like It'' had starred Olivier, but had been directed by Paul Czinner). ''Hamlet'' was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English. Olivier's ''Hamlet'' is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. However, it proved controversial among Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting one-and-a-half-hours' worth of content. Milton Shulman wrote in ''The Evening Standard'': "To some it will be one of the greatest films ever made, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry V (1944 Film)
''Henry V'' is a 1944 British Technicolor Epic films, epic film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V (play), play of the same title. The on-screen title is ''The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with his battell fought at Agincourt in France'' (derived from the title of the 1600 Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare), quarto edition of the play, though changing the spelling from "Agin Court"). It stars Laurence Olivier, who also served as a director. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas Bower, and Alan Dent. The score was composed by William Walton. The film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Britain. Consequently, it was partly funded by the British government. The film was originally "dedicated to the 'Commandos and Airborne Troops of Great Britain the spirit of whose ancestors it has been humbly attempted to recapture. The film won Olivier an Academy Honorary Award for "his Outstanding achievement as actor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebecca (1940 Film)
''Rebecca'' is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock's first American project, and his first film under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, and adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, were based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The film stars Laurence Olivier as the brooding, aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the young, never-named woman who becomes his second wife, with Judith Anderson, George Sanders and Gladys Cooper in supporting roles. The film is a gothic tale shot in black-and-white. Maxim de Winter's first wife Rebecca, who died before the events of the film, is never seen. Her reputation and recollections of her, however, are a constant presence in the lives of Maxim, his new wife and the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. ''Rebecca'' was theatrically released on April 12, 1940, to criti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wuthering Heights (1939 Film)
''Wuthering Heights'' is a 1939 American romantic period drama film directed by William Wyler, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, and based on the 1847 novel ''Wuthering Heights'' by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited). The supporting cast features Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The outdoor scenes were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, with scenes shot in Wildwood Regional Park and at the current site of California Lutheran University. The film won the 1939 New York Film Critics Award for Best Film. It earned nominations for eight Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The 1940 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, black-and-white category, was awarded to Gregg Toland for his work. Nominated fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Merchant Of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock, with seemingly inevitable fatal consequences. Although classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for the character Shylock and his famous demand for a " pound of flesh". The play contains two famous speeches, that of Shylock, " Hath not a Jew eyes?" on the subject of humanity, and that of Portia on " the quality of mercy". Debate exists on whether the play is anti-Semitic, with Shylock's insistence on his legal right to the pound of flesh being in opposition to his seemingly universal plea for the rights of all people suffering discrimination. Characters * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shylock
Shylock () is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Merchant of Venice'' ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story. Shylock's characterisation is composed of stereotypes, for instance greediness and vengefulness, although there were no legally practising Jews who lived in England during Shakespeare's time. Jews were expelled from the country in 1290 by Edward I in the Edict of Expulsion; this was not reversed until the mid-17th century (the Cromwell Era). Name Shylock is not a Jewish name. However, some scholars believe it probably derives from the biblical name Shalah, which is (''Šélaḥ'') in Hebrew. Shalah is the grandson of Shem and the father of Eber, biblical progenitor of Hebrew peoples. All the names of Jewish characters in the play derive from minor figures listed in genealogies in the Book of Genesis. It is possible that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Othello (1965 British Film)
''Othello'' is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre Company's staging of Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (1964-1966) staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film stars Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, and Frank Finlay, who all received Oscar nominations, and provided film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon. Cast * Laurence Olivier as Othello *Maggie Smith as Desdemona * Joyce Redman as Emilia * Frank Finlay as Iago * Derek Jacobi as Cassio * Robert Lang as Roderigo *Kenneth Mackintosh as Lodovico * Anthony Nicholls as Brabantio * Sheila Reid as Bianca * Edward Hardwicke as Montano *Michael Gambon as Senator/Soldier/Cypriot Background The film retains most of Shakespeare's original play, and does not change the order of scenes, as do Olivier's ''Hamlet'' and ''Richard III''. The only major omission is the Fool's scene, although other minor lines are cut here and there, though the stage version contained more of the play than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal National Theatre
The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, adjacent to (but not part of) the Southbank Centre. The theatre was founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963 and List of Royal National Theatre Company actors, many well-known actors have since performed with it. The company was based at The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo Road, London, Waterloo until 1976. The current building is located next to the Thames in the The South Bank, South Bank area of central London. In addition to performances at the National Theatre building, it tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. The theatre has transferred numerous productions to Broadway and toured some as far as China, Australia and New Zealand. However, touring productions to European cities were suspended in February 2021 over concerns ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Entertainer (1960 Film)
''The Entertainer'' is a 1960 British kitchen sink drama film directed by Tony Richardson, produced by Harry Saltzman and adapted by John Osborne and Nigel Kneale from Osborne's stage play of the same name. The film stars Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice, a failing third-rate music-hall stage performer who tries to keep his career going even as the music-hall tradition fades into history and his personal life falls apart. Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Plot In 1956, Jean Rice, a young London art teacher, travels to a seaside resort to visit her family. She is emotionally confused, having had a row with her fiancé Graham, who wants her to emigrate with him to Africa. She also is deeply concerned about the Suez Crisis, having seen Mick, her soldier brother, go to the war. She has attended a peace rally in Trafalgar Square that was directed against prime minister Anthony Eden. She finds that the resort has declined from its pre-war heyday and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Entertainer (play)
''The Entertainer'' is a three-act play by John Osborne, first produced in 1957. His first play, '' Look Back in Anger'', had attracted mixed notices but a great deal of publicity. Having depicted an " angry young man" in the earlier play, Osborne wrote at Laurence Olivier's request about an angry middle-aged man in ''The Entertainer''. Its main character is Archie Rice, a failing music-hall performer. Years later, Tony Richardson, who directed ''The Entertainer'''s premiere season, described Archie as "the embodiment of a national mood ... Archie was the future, the decline, the sourness, the ashes of old glory, where Britain was heading". The first performance was given on 10 April 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. This theatre was well known for its commitment to new and non-traditional drama, and the inclusion of a West End star such as Olivier in the cast caused much interest. Synopsis The play is in three acts, sub-divided into thirteen scenes. Some are set i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
