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Life & Times
Laurence Olivier
Accessible and affordable illustrated biography
168 pages, Paperback
First published December 29, 2005
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 21, 2012
Apparently there's been a lot written about Laurence Olivier, including extensive memoirs by the man himself, but this brief biography gave me the essentials about the great actor's youth, beginning, career highs and lows, relationships, late life, and death. I finished this book pitying the way Olivier seemed to dig himself into a life of self deceit, and I desperately hope that my late life isn't as lonely or painful as his was. Olivier claims to have been truly alive only when he was acting, and as many people commented throughout his life, it was unclear whether in normal life he was acting or being himself.
It sounds to me that, while Sir Laurence Olivier was a brilliant artist and one of the greatest and hardest working actors of the past century, his entire life revolved around an escape that would only last three hours a night while he was working, and during times that he was debilitated by illness or injury, especially late in life, he was quick to descend into putrid, rotting emotional states. He based his entire self worth off of his art, and while many people agreed that he was fantastic, some people thought he was meh! One of his notable colleagues remarked that the man was technically brilliant, but emotionally shallow! Wow. This biography carries me to the insight that ART cannot be the only goal and purpose of life, especially for a stage actor, whose work is so fleeting. Olivier was not happy with his life after Vivien Leigh died, and he would pine away in his house watching old tapes of her over and over again.
Olivier lost his looks eventually, a point driven home when a young actress refused to do a romantic scene with him. It seems that Olivier's loss of youth was replaced by a maddening drive for perfection, which as I've personally learned from other studies, is the antithesis to great art. I think I am ultimately saddened by this tale of Olivier's life because while he was a beautiful, narcissistic artist, it sounds like he never took the time to accept himself for who he was, and decided to remain negligent of the realities real life would eventually throw at him.
SO--Laurence Olivier.
Brilliant performer.
Loved by the majority, but NOT EVERYONE.
Extremely self-centered, egotistical and ruthless.
Created stunning theatre.
Married stunning women.
Estranged himself from his family and 'friends.'
Died alone, in pain, and from an old man's death.
I'm glad I read this.
It sounds to me that, while Sir Laurence Olivier was a brilliant artist and one of the greatest and hardest working actors of the past century, his entire life revolved around an escape that would only last three hours a night while he was working, and during times that he was debilitated by illness or injury, especially late in life, he was quick to descend into putrid, rotting emotional states. He based his entire self worth off of his art, and while many people agreed that he was fantastic, some people thought he was meh! One of his notable colleagues remarked that the man was technically brilliant, but emotionally shallow! Wow. This biography carries me to the insight that ART cannot be the only goal and purpose of life, especially for a stage actor, whose work is so fleeting. Olivier was not happy with his life after Vivien Leigh died, and he would pine away in his house watching old tapes of her over and over again.
Olivier lost his looks eventually, a point driven home when a young actress refused to do a romantic scene with him. It seems that Olivier's loss of youth was replaced by a maddening drive for perfection, which as I've personally learned from other studies, is the antithesis to great art. I think I am ultimately saddened by this tale of Olivier's life because while he was a beautiful, narcissistic artist, it sounds like he never took the time to accept himself for who he was, and decided to remain negligent of the realities real life would eventually throw at him.
SO--Laurence Olivier.
Brilliant performer.
Loved by the majority, but NOT EVERYONE.
Extremely self-centered, egotistical and ruthless.
Created stunning theatre.
Married stunning women.
Estranged himself from his family and 'friends.'
Died alone, in pain, and from an old man's death.
I'm glad I read this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review