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1-11 of 11
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High Anglican priest. His surname came from a great-great-grandfather who was of French Huguenot origin.
One of Olivier's earliest successes as a Shakespearean actor on the London stage came in 1935 when he played "Romeo" and "Mercutio" in alternate performances of "Romeo and Juliet" with John Gielgud. A young Englishwoman just beginning her career on the stage fell in love with Olivier's Romeo. In 1937, she was "Ophelia" to his "Hamlet" in a special performance at Kronborg Castle, Elsinore (Helsingør), Denmark. In 1940, she became his second wife after both returned from making films in America that were major box office hits of 1939. His film was Wuthering Heights (1939), her film was Gone with the Wind (1939). Vivien Leigh and Olivier were screen lovers in Fire Over England (1937), 21 Days Together (1940) and That Hamilton Woman (1941).
There was almost a fourth film together in 1944 when Olivier and Leigh traveled to Scotland with Charles C. Bennett to research the real-life story of a Scottish girl accused of murdering her French lover. Bennett recalled that Olivier researched the story "with all the thoroughness of Sherlock Holmes" and "we unearthed evidence, never known or produced at the trial, that would most certainly have sent the young lady to the gallows". The film project was then abandoned. During their two-decade marriage, Olivier and Leigh appeared on the stage in England and America and made films whenever they really needed to make some money.
In 1951, Olivier was working on a screen adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel "Sister Carrie" (Carrie (1952)) while Leigh was completing work on the film version of the Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). She won her second Oscar for bringing "Blanche DuBois" to the screen. Carrie (1952) was a film that Olivier never talked about. George Hurstwood, a middle-aged married man from Chicago who tricked a young woman into leaving a younger man about to marry her, became a New York street person in the novel. Olivier played him as a somewhat nicer person who didn't fall quite as low. A PBS documentary on Olivier's career broadcast in 1987 covered his first sojourn in Hollywood in the early 1930s with his first wife, Jill Esmond, and noted that her star was higher than his at that time. On film, he was upstaged by his second wife, too, even though the list of films he made is four times as long as hers.
More than half of his film credits come after The Entertainer (1960), which started out as a play in London in 1957. When the play moved across the Atlantic to Broadway in 1958, the role of "Archie Rice"'s daughter was taken over by Joan Plowright, who was also in the film. They married soon after the release of The Entertainer (1960).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Travis was born William Benton Justice in Carlsbad, New Mexico on April 17, 1913. He started off unbilled in daredevil cliffhangers and proceeded to war-era Warner Bros. features. He changed his stage moniker from "William Justice" to "William Travis" before finally settling on "Richard (or Dick) Travis" for the remainder of his career.
Lacking somewhat lacking the requisite star-power attraction, the tall (6'2"), lanky blond made his biggest impression early in the game with the all-star The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941). As "Bert Jefferson", he played the love interest to Bette Davis's "Maggie Cutler" character in the screwball comedy classic. While he did earn a few prime Warner roles in its aftermath, such as third-billing in The Big Shot (1942), with Humphrey Bogart, a lead in Escape from Crime (1942) and a featured part in the stalwart war picture Mission to Moscow (1943) starring Walter Huston, Richard was eventually relegated to headlining such "Poverty Row" programmers as The Postman Didn't Ring (1942), Busses Roar (1942), Spy Train (1943), Truck Busters (1943) and The Last Ride (1944).
In the post-war years, he maintained in films with such dubious titles as Jewels of Brandenburg (1947), Alaska Patrol (1949) and Sky Liner (1949), among his lead offerings. He did, however, play an unbilled role as Lou Gehrig in the The Babe Ruth Story (1948), starring William Bendix.
In the 1950s, Richard appeared in several films but also found steady work in rugged TV westerns. He was the rugged star of the modern western detective TV series, Code 3 (1957), which ran for one season. He also appeared on Cowboy G-Men (1952), Fury (1955), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), The Texan (1958) and The Legend of Jesse James (1965), one of his last TV roles.
Richard eventually retired and reverted to his original name of "William Justice." Thereafter, he found a lucrative career as a real estate entrepreneur in Southern California. Richard died at his Pacific Palisades home in 1989 at age 76.- Shirley Paige was born on 21 October 1921 in East Providence, Rhode Island. She was married to Victor Moore. She died on 11 July 1989 in Florida, USA.
- Tommy Tucker was born on 22 June 1933 in Souris, North Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Kraft Theatre (1947), The Lineup (1954) and The Millionaire (1955). He died on 11 July 1989 in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
- Writer
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Margarita Robles was born on 20 May 1894. She was a writer and actress, known for El misterioso viajero del Clipper (1945), La condesa María (1942) and Altar mayor (1944). She died on 11 July 1989 in Madrid, Spain.- Elizabeth Craig was born in 1902 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was married to Benjamin Tankle. She died on 11 July 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Valdemar Brodthagen was born on 30 December 1894 in Fuglebjerg, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Næste stop paradis (1980), Natten i ventesalen (1974) and Doktor imod sin vilje (1965). He died on 11 July 1989.
- Robert Trias was born on 18 March 1923 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He was married to Jane Rita Arkenberg. He died on 11 July 1989 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
- Joan Arliss was born on 4 September 1897 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for The Man Worthwhile (1921) and Swing Into Sports (1947). She was married to Romaine Fielding. She died on 11 July 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Galina Bukanova was born on 7 October 1943. She was an actress, known for Klad (1988), Starik (1974) and Ne vsyo kotu maslenitsa (1978). She died on 11 July 1989 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR.
- Andor Kovács was born on 4 June 1929 in Budapest, Hungary. He was a composer, known for A magyar ugaron (1973). He died on 11 July 1989 in Budapest, Hungary.