Olivier

by Philip Ziegler

Overview

Hollywood superstar; Oscar-winning director; greatest stage actor of the twentieth century. The era abounded in great actors - Gielgud, Richardson, Guinness, Burton, O'Toole - but none could challenge Laurence Olivier's range and power.

By the 1940s he had achieved international stardom. His affair with Vivien Leigh led to a marriage as glamorous and as tragic as any in Hollywood history. He was as accomplished a director as he was a leading man: his three Shakespearian adaptations are among the most memorable ever filmed.

And yet, at the height of his fame, he accepted what was no more than an administrator's wage to become the founding Director of the National Theatre. In 2013 the theatre celebrates its fiftieth anniversary; without Olivier's leadership it would never have achieved the status that it enjoys today.

Off-stage, Olivier was the most extravagant of characters: generous, yet almost insanely jealous of those few contemporaries whom he deemed to be his rivals; charming but with a ferocious temper. With access to more than fifty hours of candid, unpublished interviews, Philip Ziegler ensures that Olivier's true character - at its most undisguised - shines through as never before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857385970
Publisher:	Quercus Publishing
Publication date:	09/12/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	296,822
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Philip Ziegler was a diplomat before becoming an editorial director at the publishers William Collins. His many books include acclaimed biographies of Laurence Olivier, William IV, Lady Diana Cooper, Lord Mountbatten and Harold Wilson, as well as the classic history of the Black Death.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

1 Beginnings 3

2 Apprentice Days 19

3 Breakthrough 35

4 Birth of a Classical Actor 49

5 Film Star 65

6 War 79

7 Naval Officer 91

8 The Old Vic 107

9 Hamlet 127

10 Australasia 139

11 Life Without the Old Vic 155

12 Disintegration of a Marriage 169

13 Stratford 187

14 L.O.P. 201

15 Marking Time 219

16 Chichester 231

17 The National: Act One 251

18 The National: Act Two 267

19 The National: Act Three 277

20 Problems 299

21 Challenges 317

22 Who Will Take Over? 335

23 The Coming of Hall 349

24 Olivier's Occupation Gone? 367

25 Old Age 383

26 Death 401

Biographer's Afterword 413

Note on Sources 417

Notes 419

Acknowledgments 453

Index 457

Picture Credits 469

Editorial Reviews

There are some 20 or 30 books about [Olivier], not counting many more in which he merely figures prominently. I suspect, however, that…Philip Ziegler's Olivier, may well be the best yet—perhaps even definitive—not only because it is so widely researched and readably written, but also because so much new material has become available to make such ample use of…The biography is full of marvelous anecdotes; traces sovereignly the rivalries with Richardson, Gielgud and Olivier's successor at the National, Peter Hall; and avoids the salacious. It is altogether a thorough and intelligent book: Read it.

The New York Times Book Review - John Simon

"There are some 20 or 30 books about [Olivier], not counting many more in which he merely figures prominently . . . Philip Ziegler's "Olivier," may well be the best yet - perhaps even definitive - not only because it is so widely researched and readably written, but also because so much new material has become available to make such ample use of. . . . The biography is full of marvelous anecdotes . . . It is altogether a thorough and intelligent book: Read it."—John Simon, The New York Times

"A well-rounded portrait of the legendary English actor... probably the best Olivier book for general readers."—Kirkus Reviews

"Informed, informative, exceptionally well written, Olivier is very highly recommended reading for his legions of fans."—Midwest Book Review

"It enriched my sense of this amazing multi-faceted, multi-talented man."—Antonia Fraser, The Guardian

"Ziegler is an elegant, unfailingly lucid writer, his manner brisk and incisive... Ziegler has addressed Olivier the phenomenon in an elegant and increasingly compelling book."—Simon Callow, The Guardian

"Philip Ziegler is a master of biographical narrative. He tells the extraordinary story with fine judgment and the power of a born storyteller. Seldom has such exhaustive research been made so compellingly readable."—Award-winning author and biographer Michael Holroyd

"This new book is... a triumph. Ziegler's first biography of an actor, it glitters with theatrical life—the tensions, the triumphs, the backstage bitchery. He reduces a huge welter of sources to a crisp narrative, cracking with civilised irony. It is also balanced. Even Tynan, whom Ziegler obviously considers poisonous nuisance, is given praise when due. Above all it succeeds, as far as is humanly possible, in bringing alive on the page Olivier's magnetic theatrical presence, which those who saw him act will never forget."—John Carey, The Sunday Times

"Olivier described himself in later life as 'hollow man.' [Ziegler] captures some of the magnificent noise with which the actor spent his life filling that void."—The Daily Telegraph

"Ziegler chronicles Olivier's life in an accessible road map that navigates through his celebrity, affairs, marriages, divorces, his respect and disdain for certain stars, his acting technique, directing, and work at the helm of the National Theater. He delves deeply into how Olivier reached deep into his psyche to unleash such passion and power."—Ellis Nassour, City Guide

"Undaunted by the challenge of his subject, Philip Ziegler vividly captures the excitement of Olivier's stage presence."—The Weekly Standard

"A recommended retelling of a great ­actor's life."—Stephen Rees, Library Journal

"Ziegler establishes a likable tone of good sportsmanship, and he keeps tight control over his narrative."—Film Comment

"Mr. Ziegler is a sympathetic chronicler . . . he is admirably efficient. In deft strokes, he captures the full range of Olivier's experience-as actor and impresario and as the principal character in the tumultuous drama of his personal and professional life . . . an insightful portrait."—Martin Rubin, The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

2014-03-18
Veteran biographer Ziegler (Edward Heath, 2010, etc.) offers a well-rounded portrait of the legendary English actor. Laurence Olivier's life (1907–1989) has been the subject of innumerable biographies, ranging from innocuous (Anthony Holden, 1988) to scandalous (Donald Spoto, 1992)—not to mention his own weirdly frank yet ultimately unrevealing Confessions of an Actor (1982). Ziegler's version contains nothing particularly new on Olivier's earlier years: the rivalry with John Gielgud in Romeo and Juliet, the partnership with Ralph Richardson at the Old Vic (home to Olivier's greatest performance, in Richard III); his pioneering efforts as a popularizer of Shakespeare on film, most notably with Henry V; and the tragic marriage to Vivien Leigh, doomed by the basic incompatibility of their talents. Ziegler does convey a vivid sense of what made Olivier the most famous stage actor of the 20th century: He simply worked harder than anyone else and invested his roles with a physical bravura that made him thrilling to watch. The biography is notable for a substantive account of Olivier's tenure as director of England's National Theatre, during which he helped establish a fledgling organization with his charm and charisma while also displaying the well-known competitiveness that kept such acting peers as Gielgud and Richardson off the National's roster. Nonetheless, as Ziegler notes, the National owed its existence to Olivier's "passionate exuberance [and] dynamic energy"; he deserved better than the poorly managed transition to Peter Hall's leadership in 1973. Olivier's final years were marked by a series of debilitating illnesses that left him unable to work onstage, a painful fate for an actor who regarded film and TV as second choices. His formerly happy third marriage to Joan Plowright suffered in this period as well; once he could no longer act, he was a querulous old man waiting to die. Despite a lack of revelations, this is probably the best Olivier book for general readers.

Kirkus Reviews