Friday, 22 May 2009

20 Olivier, Please

I see it's the 102nd birthday of that ghastly old ham Laurence Olivier. This much I will tell you about him, and await contradiction: He is the only man to have had both a locomotive and a brand of cigarettes named after him. There'll never be another.
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5 comments:

  1. malty22 May 2009 at 18:25

    Megaluvvie supreme, never knowingly undersold himself, didn't so much speak his parts as backfire them, like Errol and David, looked good on a horse, the rest of the time a boring fart.

    Eat your heart out Louella.

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  2. Brit22 May 2009 at 22:45

    "Try acting, dear boy" to Hoffman one of the great legendary put-downs...

    ...and it seems it's almost true.

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  3. Susan B.23 May 2009 at 13:20

    I loved him. Best Shakespearean actor I've ever seen (too bad about the ones from earlier centuries; they didn't have film so we can't compare). I believe Kevin Kline needs to play him in a biopic -- they look alike.

    Wait, didn't olive trees get named after him Nige?

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  4. Stephen Fawcus23 May 2009 at 15:15

    Never saw him on stage but I'm not a fan of much of his film work. Henry V was impressive but overall I think film didn't really suit him.
    Ralph Richardson, on the other hand, was always worth watching, I think it's the way he often seemed to be thinking of something else he'd rather be doing.

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  5. Stuart23 May 2009 at 18:26

    Brilliant as Archie Rice in Osborne's The Entertainer at the Royal Court in 1956: a prescient role, as the superannuated old ham.

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