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Olivier / Philip Ziegler.
Van Pelt Library PN2598.O55 Z54 2014
Available
Kislak Center for Special Collections - Furness Shakespeare Library (Van Pelt 628) PN2598.O55 Z54 2014
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Ziegler, Philip.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Olivier, Laurence, 1907-1989.
- Olivier, Laurence.
- Actors--Great Britain--Biography.
- Actors.
- Great Britain.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- xiii, 467 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm
- Place of Publication:
- New York ; London : MacLehose Press, 2014.
- Summary:
- A finalist for the Sheridan Morley Prize that has been called "probably the best Olivier book for general readers" (Kirkus Reviews), Philip Ziegler's Olivier provides an incredibly accessible and comprehensive portrait of this Hollywood superstar, Oscar-winning director, and one who is considered the greatest stage actor of the twentieth century. The era abounded in great actor -- 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 With access to more than fifty hours of candid, unpublished interviews, Ziegler ensures that Olivier's true character -- at its most undisguised -- shines through as never before.
- Contents:
- Beginnings
- Apprentice days
- Breakthrough
- Birth of a classical actor
- Film star
- War
- Naval officer
- The Old Vic
- Hamlet
- Australasia
- Life without the Old Vic
- Disintegration of a marriage
- Stratford
- L.O.P.
- Marking time
- Chichester
- The National: Act One
- The National: Act Two
- The National: Act Three
- Problems
- Challenges
- Who will take over?
- The coming of the Hall
- Olivier's occupation gone?
- Old age
- Death
- Biographer's afterword.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 419-451) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.
- ISBN:
- 9781623650421
- 1623650429
- OCLC:
- 864545983
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