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The New Elizabethans

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James Naughtie profiles 60 public figures nominated to mark the diamond jubilee

The New Elizabethans: Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

22/06/2012

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The New Elizabethans, Laurence Olivier

Olivier's theatre and stage career spanned more than 60 years with 12 Oscar nominations.

First artistic director of the National Theatre, Laurence Olivier's theatre and stage career spanned more than 60 years with 12 Oscar nominations.

The New Elizabethans: Laurence Olivier. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Laurence Olivier is considered by many to be Britain's most important and revered actor of the 20th century. Most famous for his classical roles, as a Shakespearean actor of breadth and panache, and as the driving force behind the development of the National Theatre, his later film career included roles such as the sadistic Nazi dentist in Marathon Man, with Dustin Hoffman, and in Sleuth with Michael Caine. 

Olivier's private life and his three marriages were equally fascinating to his audiences, and particularly the great romance played out in public with Vivien Leigh, who he directed in many films and co-starred with in others. Olivier is one of only a handful of actors whose final resting place is Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings. 

Producer: James Cook.

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