On the TV side, Olivier won Emmys for his performances in “The Moon and Sixpence” (1959), “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (1973), “Love Among the Ruins” (1975), “Brideshead Revisited” (1981), and “King Lear” (1983). He was given a second Honorary award for his career in 1979. Olivier would return to the Oscar race six more times: five in lead (“Richard III” in 1956, “The Entertainer” in 1960, “Othello” in 1965, “Sleuth” in 1972, and “The Boys from Brazil” in 1978), once in supporting (“Marathon Man” in 1976). He took home the Best Actor prize for his moody performance as the gloomy Prince of Denmark, and competed in Best Director. Olivier hit the Oscar jackpot with his second Shakespeare adaptation, “Hamlet” (1948), which became the first British film to win Best Picture. The Academy rewarded him with an Honorary Oscar for his achievement, and he contended once again in Best Actor.

Having firmly established himself as a formidable talent in front of the camera, he stepped behind it to great success with “Henry V” (1944, released in the US in 1946), the first of three films he would direct and star in based on the works of William Shakespeare. He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for William Wyler‘s “Wuthering Heights” (1939), competing the very next year for Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Rebecca” (1940). A series of acclaimed theatrical performances, most notably in Noel Coward‘s “Private Lives,” caught the attention of filmmakers both in the UK and the US.

Let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.īorn in 1907 in Surrey, England, Olivier first came to prominence on the British stage. Yet his filmography extends well past the Bard’s work. Laurence Olivier was an Oscar-winning thespian best remembered for his psychologically intense Shakespeare adaptations, both as an actor and a director.

Laurence olivier hamlet full movie