And, there is the film career. Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, That Hamilton Woman, Spartacus, The Entertainer...Well...Do I really need to go on? He was versatile, charismatic, and accomplished. He was a minister's son who became a peer of the realm. "I know the Olivier career must seem effortless to all of you," he says in Orson's Shadow. To which Orson replies, "It does, yes." Let's be clear - the man worked very hard at his craft, and beat himself up to get it right.
He learned to take risks, largely due to the efforts of Kenneth Tynan, and continued to be relevant just as the English stage became a fertile field of modernism. His excellence as a producer and director earned him the respect of many backstage. Olivier never pretended to be above anyone else, and that became a kind of legacy in and of itself. He was, famously, Larry to one and all.
We find him, in Orson's Shadow, at a career and lifestyle crossroads. His marriage to Vivian Leigh, which was the most glamorous and celebrated union in show business for many years, was ending. Larry could no longer deal with her mental illness and marital indiscretions. He had found the younger, and more grounded, Joan Plowright to share bed and dreams. Professionally, he was about to become the director of Britain's National Theater. This would make him the perfunctory head of the English stage.
One suspects that all of the stories about Olivier are true. He was too public a figure to hide, and too earnest to obfuscate. Yet, all the putty and greasepaint over the years blur the perception of the man as a man. Rightly or wrongly, we see him today only as an actor. Albeit, the greatest actor of the 20th century.
