Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OMwas an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, 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...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth22 May 1907
art firsts actors
The art of persuasion. The actor persuades himself, first, and through himself, the audience.
book eye thinking
I often think that could we creep behind the actor's eyes, we would find an attic of forgotten toys and a copy of the Domesday Book.
art prove-it ifs
If you're an artist, you've got to prove it.
thinking mad gone
If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights.
thinking intelligent innovation
No matter how well you perform, there's always somebody of intelligent opinion who thinks it's lousy.
ideas alive new-ideas
Above all, you must remain open and fresh and alive to any new idea.
lying acting should
I am far from sure when I am acting and when I am not or, should I more frankly put it, when I am lying and when I am not. For what is acting but lying and what is good acting but convincing lying?
religious belief religious-belief
Work is life for me, it is the only point of life-and with it there is almost religious belief that service is everything.
lying acting convincing
What is acting but lying and what is good lying but convincing lying?
believe game nursery
It's just like a nursery game of make-believe.
believe cities theatre
I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.
real magic acting
Acting is illusion, as much illusion as magic is, and not so much a matter of being real.
stars trying actresses
We used to have actresses trying to become stars; now we have stars trying to become actresses.
beautiful stars kindness
In the great wealth, the great firmament of your nation's generosities this particular choice may perhaps be found by future generations as a trifle eccentric, but the mere fact of it . . . the prodigal, pure, human kindness of it . . . must be seen as a beautiful star in that firmament which shines upon me at this moment, dazzling me a little, but filling me with warmth of the extraordinary elation, the euphoria that happens to so many of us at the first breath of the majestic glow of a new tomorrow.