text
stringlengths 1
3.86k
|
|---|
Writing on the Wall : Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu @-@ Jamal City Lights Publishers ( 2015 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0872866751 |
The Classroom and the Cell : Conversations on Black Life in America Third World Press ( 2011 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0883783375 |
Jailhouse Lawyers : Prisoners Defending Prisoners V. The U.S.A City Lights Publishers ( 2009 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0872864696 |
We Want Freedom : A Life In The Black Panther Party South End Press ( 2008 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0896087187 |
Faith Of Our Fathers : An Examination Of The Spiritual Life Of African And African @-@ American People Africa World Pr ( 2003 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 1592210190 |
All Things Censored Seven Stories Press ( 2000 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 1583220221 |
Death Blossoms : Reflections From A Prisoner Of Conscience Plough Publishing House ( 1997 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0874860863 |
Live from Death Row Harper Perennial ( 1996 ) ISBN 978 @-@ 0380727667 |
= Brandon Minor = |
Brandon Ricardo Minor ( born July 24 , 1988 ) is a former American football running back . He was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2010 , but after being released during the final cuts , he has been on the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts practice squads in 2010 . He played college football at Michigan . |
At Michigan , he finished second on the team in rushing as a freshman and a sophomore and led the team in rushing as a junior and a senior . As a junior , he was an honorable mention All @-@ Big Ten Conference selection by the coaches . He had previously been ranked as the number one high school football fullback in the nation , according to Rivals.com. |
He spent his first two years at Michigan serving as one of the primary backups to Mike Hart . In his third year , he emerged from a field of five runners who were vying to replace Hart , including two true freshmen , as the leading rusher and scorer . He has shared starting responsibilities in his junior and senior seasons . He entered his senior season on the watch lists for the Doak Walker Award and the Maxwell Award . ESPN.com ranked him as the 22nd best player and third best running back in the Big Ten Conference before the season started . |
Following two seasons spent on various inactive NFL rosters , he became a defendant in a drug possession case . He is scheduled to face his charges in court in January 2012 . |
= = Youth career = = |
Minor grew up as a Michigan Wolverines fan . His mother , Julie Gilliam , has pictures of him at age six wearing a Michigan uniform . At age nine , Minor wrote the university to inquire about becoming a Michigan football player . Every year he and his mother watched the Michigan - Ohio State game and rooted for Michigan . |
= = = High school = = = |
Minor inherited the Varina High School starting varsity team role as a sophomore in 2003 , and he gained 209 rushing yards in his first start . That season , he helped his team reach the Virginia Central Region , Division 6 championship ( the qualifying game for the Virginia High School League state semifinals ) . He concluded the regular season as an All @-@ District first @-@ team selection and after the playoffs was selected as a second @-@ team all @-@ region choice . During the season he rushed for 1 @,@ 750 yards and 22 touchdowns for the 10 – 2 ( 7 – 0 ) Varina Blue Devils . Minor also played varsity basketball as a sophomore . During the season , he once made seven three @-@ point field goals in a game . |
As a junior , when Varina 's former Capital District offensive player of the year Army Spc . Clarence Adams III died serving the 91st Engineer Battalion , 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad , Iraq , Minor gave up his number 3 to wear Adams ' # 33 as a tribute . In the District championship game , he rushed for 239 yards on 27 carries , including four touchdown runs . In the subsequent Central Region , Division 6 semifinals , he set a Central Region playoff record by rushing for 296 yards , but his undefeated top @-@ ranked team was upset . He concluded the season as both a first @-@ team all @-@ district and all @-@ Metro Region selection after compiling 2 @,@ 091 yards rushing and scoring 32 rushing touchdowns ( plus 2 receiving touchdowns ) . He was also selected to the Group AAA Virginia High School Football Coaches Association all @-@ state second @-@ team by the coaches . |
Entering his senior season , he was ranked as the sixth best senior football player in Virginia by TechSideline.com. The Roanoke Times described him as " one of the top five recruits in the state " at the time of his August 2005 visit to see the first day of Virginia Tech Hokies football practice . At the time , he was considering Miami , Michigan , Florida , Virginia Tech , Tennessee , LSU and Ohio State . However , he started the season on crutches , due to a torn hip flexor . He returned to the lineup for the team 's final regular season game and rushed for 174 yards on 28 carries . Davon Morgan , his cousin , who now plays strong safety for Virginia Tech , was the team 's quarterback . Despite missing most of the season , he was still honored as an all @-@ district and all @-@ region selection . His three @-@ year career totals were 4 @,@ 259 yards and 64 touchdowns . As a graduating senior he was the number one ranked high school football fullback in the nation , according to rivals.com. Following his senior season , he scored the only touchdown in the East @-@ West Virginia High School Coaches Association All @-@ star game . |
= = College career = = |
= = = Lloyd Carr era = = = |
In January 2006 , Minor selected the University of Michigan . Although he did not enroll in the 2006 Summer semester , he reported to Michigan on June 16 for strength and conditioning training . Minor and fellow freshman Carlos Brown were behind three returning running backs ( Mike Hart , Kevin Grady and senior Jerome Jackson ) on the depth chart entering the season . Minor was considered the less heralded than Brown , who was regarded as the fastest player on the team . On opening day , only Hart and Grady had more carries than Minor , in part because Jackson , who entered his senior season with 505 career rushing yards , did not dress . In his first carry as a Wolverine , he rushed for 24 yards against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the September 2 season opening game . Nonetheless , the depth chart was not very clear behind Hart . By late September , Minor was clearly third on the depth chart and it seemed that Brown might be redshirted . When Hart left the game due to injury against Michigan State on October 7 , Minor scored his first touchdown on a 40 @-@ yard run . He had his first 100 @-@ yard game on November 4 , when he rushed for 108 yards on 12 carries , including a 40 @-@ yard touchdown run in a 34 – 26 win against Ball State . As true freshman member of the 2006 Michigan Wolverines football team , Minor rushed for a total of 238 yards on 42 carries , which was second on the team to Hart . |
During April 2007 , Grady tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was lost for the season . In August , Brown broke his hand . It appeared Minor was seriously injured on October 13 when he was carted off the field and left the stadium wearing a protective boot on crutches . However , he recovered and for the next two weeks he and Brown combined to replace the injured Hart . He had his second 100 @-@ yard game and first 150 @-@ yard game on October 27 of that season during the 34 – 10 Little Brown Jug game victory against the Minnesota Golden Gophers when he rushed for 157 yards on 21 carries , including a 46 @-@ yard run and one touchdown . Although Hart returned to play in the Paul Bunyan Trophy game against Michigan State on November 3 , he left the game early and Minor started the second half . Hart missed the next game on November 10 , but Brown and Minor had poor performances . In all three of Hart 's full game absences , Brown was the starter . As a sophomore on the 2007 Michigan Wolverines football team , Minor improved his rushing totals to 385 yards on 90 carries , which was again second on the team to Hart . |
= = = Rich Rodriguez era = = = |
In 2008 Rich Rodriguez replaced Lloyd Carr as head coach . In the spring , Brown broke his finger weightlifting and Grady was still trying to get healthy . In early August , it appeared that juniors Brown and Minor would vie for the starting job because fourth @-@ year junior Grady was under suspension related to driving while intoxicated charges . However , in camp it became apparent very quickly that true freshmen Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw , would have a significant role in the newly installed spread option offense . With both Brown and Minor nursing injuries , McGuffie was tentatively penciled into the starting position on the depth chart . |
As a junior member of the 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team , Minor became the team leader in rushing . However , he only started four games , while McGuffie started 6 , Brown started 1 and Shaw started 1 . McGuffie was the starter until he lost the job to Minor . Minor gave way to Shaw ( November 8 ) and Brown ( November 15 ) as the starter due to his injuries . Minor totalled 533 yards on 103 carries . He had nine rushing touchdowns and added two as a receiver . Of these eleven touchdowns , seven came in a three @-@ week span that included a 117 @-@ yard two @-@ touchdown rushing effort against Penn State on October 18 and a 155 @-@ yard three @-@ touchdown rushing effort against Purdue on November 1 . Sandwiched between these efforts , Minor scored on a 19 @-@ yard reception to compliment his 55 yards and a rushing touchdown in the Paul Bunyan Trophy game against Michigan State on October 25 . The Penn State game was Minor 's first career start . During Minor 's junior year , he played with a wrist injury that impaired his ability to hold the football with his right arm and his ability to stiffarm opponents . He was impaired by a variety of injuries throughout the season . At the conclusion of the 2008 Big Ten Conference football season , Minor was chosen as an honorable mention all @-@ conference selection by the coaches . |
McGuffie transferred to the Rice Owls after the season . As a senior member of the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team , Minor was named to a pair of watch lists : ( Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award ) . He was also selected by ESPN as the 22nd best player and 3rd best running back ( behind Evan Royster and John Clay ) in the Big Ten Conference before the season started . Minor missed the first game of the season due to a high ankle sprain . In the second game , which was the 2009 Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry game , he rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries during the 38 – 34 victory over Notre Dame . The ankle sprain hampered him much of the season and caused him to miss the October 17 game against Delaware State . He had a season @-@ high 154 @-@ yard , 3 @-@ touchdown effort against Purdue on November 7 . A shoulder injury kept him out of the last game of the season against Ohio State . Over the course of his collegiate career , he accumulated 20 rushing touchdowns and 1 @,@ 658 yards . The torn rotator cuff also kept him from participating in the January 23 , 2010 East – West Shrine Game . |
= = Professional career = = |
= = = 2010 = = = |
Minor signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears on April 24 , 2010 , after going undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft . He was released on September 1 . He then signed with the New Orleans Saints to their practice squad . However , Minor was back with the Bears before being released at the beginning of October and signed by the Indianapolis Colts . Minor was released by the Colts in October . In November , Minor tried out for the Green Bay Packers before ending the season as a member of the Denver Broncos ' practice squad . |
= = = 2011 = = = |
On September 4 , 2011 , the Broncos placed Minor on injured reserve . They waived him on October 10 . In November 2011 , he was " charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute " by the Virginia Commonwealth University police department following a traffic stop . He is scheduled for a traffic court appearance on January 18 . |
= Boy @-@ Scoutz ' n the Hood = |
" Boy @-@ Scoutz ' n the Hood " is the eighth episode of The Simpsons ' fifth season . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 18 , 1993 . In the episode , Bart , intoxicated from an all @-@ syrup squishee , mistakenly joins the Junior Campers , a Boy Scout @-@ style organization that 's not affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America . After finding advantages to being a member , Bart gets taken in by the group and eventually goes rafting on a father @-@ son outing with Homer . |
The episode was written by Dan McGrath and directed by Jeffrey Lynch . Ernest Borgnine guest starred in the episode as himself . He recorded his lines at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles . The episode makes cultural references to the films My Dinner with Andre , The Terminator , On the Town , Crocodile Dundee , Deliverance , Friday the 13th , and Boyz n the Hood ( in the title ) as well as the song " Sugar , Sugar " by The Archies . Since airing , the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics . It acquired a Nielsen rating of 13 @.@ 0 , and was the highest @-@ rated show on the Fox network the week it aired . |
= = Plot = = |
After being forced to leave the amusement arcade for being out of money , Bart and Milhouse find $ 20 that Homer lost and order a Super Squishee made entirely out of syrup from Apu at the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart . With their senses reeling from the high sugar content of the drink , they spend the rest of the money on a night out in town . The next morning , Bart wakes up with a hangover and realizes that in the revelry of the night before he joined the Junior Campers , a Boy Scout @-@ style organization that is not affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America . |
Although Bart initially intends to drop out of the group as soon as possible , he decides to attend a meeting to avoid a pop quiz at school . Bart dislikes the first meeting , but when he finds out that he gets to have a pocket knife , he decides to keep attending . After a while , Bart starts to enjoy being a member of the Junior Campers , which Homer mocks him relentlessly for . Next , a father @-@ son rafting trip is to be held , so Bart has to bring Homer . Homer does not enjoy the experience , especially when he learns that he and Bart have to share a raft with Ned Flanders and his son , Rod . Due to Homer losing the map after making it into a makeshift hat , they accidentally take the wrong turn and find themselves lost at sea . They stay stranded with no food or water for several days , as no rescue is forthcoming ; the Springfield Police Department refuses to search for them because the Coast Guard boat they were using is out of refreshments . After several other failed attempts at being rescued or finding food , the raft springs a leak after Homer accidentally drops a pocket knife he was intending to gift to Bart. All seems lost , but then Homer smells his way to a Krusty Burger on an off @-@ shore oil rig . They are saved , and Bart is proud of his father . |
Meanwhile , the other Junior Campers , led by Ernest Borgnine , take the correct route , ironically they end up in an even worse position : after finding themselves trapped in a dark , tangled swamp ( while being hunted by mountain men ) , they are attacked by a bear that Borgnine tries but fails to fight off ( due to Homer stealing his Swiss Army Knife ) , and they finally flee to an abandoned summer camp . At the camp , they start singing songs , but are soon attacked by an unseen figure lurking in the woods , and their fates are left unknown . |
= = Production = = |
" Boy @-@ Scoutz ' n the Hood " was written by Dan McGrath and directed by Jeffrey Lynch . The episode was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles . Ernest Borgnine guest starred in the episode as himself . The staff liked his work on the films Marty and From Here to Eternity , so they asked him to do a guest appearance on the show . Borgnine felt he could not say no to the offer because his grandchildren were fans of the show . In the final scene of the episode , Borgnine plays a guitar and sings campfire songs with the children . Borgnine was a guitar player in real life , so he brought his own guitar with him to the recording studio . Borgnine apologized because he felt that he was not being able to sing very well , but Nancy Cartwright , who provides the voice of Bart , thought his voice " added to the authenticity of his character " . The Simpsons 's creator Matt Groening thought the recording sessions with Borgnine were " so much fun " . Hank Azaria , who provides the voice of Apu , commented that Borgnine " had no idea what the hell he was doing . He 's a good actor , and he read his lines just fine , but he had no idea what the show was , no idea what we were doing . " |
In her book My Life as a 10 @-@ Year @-@ Old Boy , Cartwright comments that she was a fan of Borgnine 's performance in Marty . She writes that the film had " changed [ her ] forever " , and that it made her " realize that actors have the power through their work to inspire and enlighten others . " She recalls that when Borgnine arrived for the recording session , she " lost all coolness " and ran up to him and exclaimed " ohmygod , Marty ! " |
= = Cultural references = = |
When Bart and Milhouse visit the local video arcade at the beginning of the episode , Martin Prince is seen playing an arcade game based on the 1981 film My Dinner with Andre . Other games at the arcade include a game based on the 1984 film The Terminator . The " Springfield , Springfield " number performed by Bart and Milhouse on their night out in town is a reference to the musical number " New York , New York " from the film On the Town , starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra . During a scene in which Hans Moleman and Moe fight with knives , Hans tells Moe , " You call that a knife ? This is a knife ! " , a reference to a line from the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee . Ernest Borgnine introduces himself a la Troy McClure to the Junior Campers by recalling his role in From Here to Eternity , a film which modern children are unlikely to have seen . During a hallucination , Homer imagines himself singing the song " Sugar , Sugar " by The Archies while dancing with lollipops and ice cream cones . While on the raft , Homer misquotes lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner when he says " Water , water everywhere / Let 's all have a drink . The scene in which Borgnine and the other rafters drift through a dark forest watched by mountain men is a reference to a scene in the 1972 film Deliverance , and the scene features the music from the film 's " Dueling Banjos " scene . The unseen person or creature that attacks Borgnine at the end of the episode is implied to be Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film series . |
= = Reception = = |
In its original American broadcast , " Boy @-@ Scoutz ' n the Hood " finished 35th in the ratings for the week of November 15 to November 21 , 1993 , with a Nielsen rating of 13 @.@ 0 , translating to 12 @.@ 3 million households . The episode was the highest @-@ rated show on the Fox network that week . |
Since airing , the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics . The authors of the book I Can 't Believe It 's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide , Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood , wrote : " A terrific episode , with Homer so stupid it isn 't true , yet still saving the day . Seeing Ned Flanders get it wrong is great , but the show @-@ stealer is a toss @-@ up between Borgnine 's great self @-@ deprecating role , the ironic seagull , and the dolphins . " DVD Movie Guide 's Colin Jacobson called it a " brilliant episode from start to finish " . He commented that " We see what an amazing amount of goods and services one can purchase in Springfield with only $ 20 , and we get a fun spoof of scouting . Add to that terrific rivalry moments between Bart and Homer and the show excels . " Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict called the plot of the episode " typically inspired " , and gave it a grade of A. Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave the episode a score of 5 out of 5 . TV DVD Reviews 's Kay Daly wrote : " And just when you think the Simpsons ' creators have taken parody as far as it can go , they air an episode like this . The writers cram the 22 @-@ minute episode with allusions to movie genres including disaster movies , Broadway musicals , adventure @-@ suspense and classic teen horror . " Adam Suraf of Dunkirkma.net named it one of his ten favorite episodes of the show . He called the musical sequence a " classic " . Rick Porter of Zap 2 It wrote in that he was not a " fan " of the episode 's second half : " Despite the presence of Borgnine , Homer is a little too aggressively stupid for my taste " . He thought the first part was " absolutely brilliant " , though . |
Kurt M. Koenigsberger analyzed a scene from the episode in his piece " Commodity Culture and Its Discontents " , published in the compilation work Leaving Springfield : The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture edited by John Alberti . He commented that The Simpsons ' literary and cultural awareness extends to the " conventions of its own medium " in this episode . Bart criticizes an Itchy & Scratchy episode because Itchy stakes down Scratchy 's appendages and props his belly to form a tent with faulty knots . With Homer looking on from the couch , Lisa reminds Bart that cartoons do not simply reproduce reality , a point hammered on as a second Homer meanders past the living @-@ room window . Koenigsberger said that " this moment and many others like it reveal a strong sense of self @-@ awareness within the show , an awareness especially characteristic of high modernism . " |
In the United Kingdom , when the 300th episode was shown , Sky 1 held a Golden D 'ohnuts evening , in which viewers voted for their favourite episodes to win in each category . This episode won the category of : Best School Jinx . |
= Last Exit on Brooklyn = |
The Last Exit on Brooklyn was a Seattle University District coffeehouse established in 1967 by Irv Cisski . It is known for its part in the history of Seattle 's counterculture , for its pioneering role in establishing Seattle 's coffee culture , and as a former chess venue frequented by several master players . |
= = History = = |
The Last Exit on Brooklyn opened on June 30 , 1967 at 3930 Brooklyn Avenue NE near the University of Washington campus in a small light @-@ industrial building leased from the University . It was one of the pioneer espresso bars in Seattle , adding an espresso machine shortly after Café Allegro opened the first in 1975 . The Last Exit was known for its original espresso concoction named the Caffè Medici – " a doppio poured over chocolate syrup and orange peel with whipped cream on top " . Described in 1985 as " America 's second oldest , continuously running coffeehouse " , it was also known for its inexpensive food and as a venue for folk music and bohemian conversation . |
The Last Exit was also notable as a popular destination for Seattle 's amateur and professional Go and chess players including Peter Biyiasas , Viktors Pupols , and Yasser Seirawan , who wrote of the venue , " Those first chess lessons soon led me to the legendary Last Exit on Brooklyn coffee house , a chess haven where an unlikely bunch of unusual people congregates to do battle . " Interviewed by Sports Illustrated in 1981 , Seirawan described the Last Exit as " Scrabble players , backgammon players , chess and game hustling ... This became my home . This was to become my family . " |
When interviewed by Mary Lasher of Chess Life in 1985 , owner Irv Cisski said , " So what if games @-@ people turn away business . They add flavor . Chess and Go are assets to a coffeehouse . " The Last Exit was the subject of a 1987 retrospective in The Seattle Times in which Cisski described his intent to " create a haven where students and the benign crazies " were welcome and where " everyone felt equal and there were no sacred cows " . It was later described by Seattle writer and journalist Knute Berger as |
one of Seattle 's great ' 60s landmarks , a gathering place for UW students , radicals , poets , nut jobs , chess masters , teens , intellectuals , workers , musicians , artists , beatniks , and hippies ... I remember the din , the open @-@ mike music , cigarette smoke , impromptu poetry readings , the arguments of lefties , libertarians , crackpots , and cultists . You could hear the rhythm and roar of the counterculture as it lived and breathed . |
Cisski died on August 25 , 1992 . In 1993 the University repossessed the building occupied by the coffeehouse , and the Last Exit 's new owners moved it to upper University Way . The Last Exit on Brooklyn closed in 2000 . The space the original Last Exit once occupied now houses staff members from the University of Washington 's Human Resources Department . |
= = In popular culture = = |
The Last Exit was included in Clark Humphrey 's 2006 book of historical photographs , Vanishing Seattle . |
Descriptions of the interior and atmosphere of the Last Exit appear in Kristin Hannah 's 2008 novel , Firefly Lane , in David Guterson 's 2008 novel , The Other , and in Marjorie Kowalski Cole 's 2012 The City Beneath the Snow : Stories . |
= Laurence Olivier = |
Laurence Kerr Olivier , Baron Olivier , OM ( / ˈlɒrəns kɜːr ɒˈlɪvieɪ / ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989 ) was an English actor who , along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud , dominated the British stage of the mid @-@ 20th century . He also worked in films throughout his career , playing more than fifty cinema roles . Late in his career , he had considerable success in television roles . |
His family had no theatrical connections , but Olivier 's father , a clergyman , decided that his son should become an actor . After attending a drama school in London , Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s . In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward 's Private Lives , and he appeared in his first film . In 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft , and by the end of the decade he was an established star . In the 1940s , together with Richardson and John Burrell , Olivier was the co @-@ director of the Old Vic , building it into a highly respected company . There his most celebrated roles included Shakespeare 's Richard III and Sophocles 's Oedipus . In the 1950s Olivier was an independent actor @-@ manager , but his stage career was in the doldrums until he joined the avant garde English Stage Company in 1957 to play the title role in The Entertainer , a part he later played on film . From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain 's National Theatre , running a resident company that fostered many future stars . His own parts there included the title role in Othello ( 1964 ) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice ( 1970 ) . |
Among Olivier 's films are Wuthering Heights ( 1939 ) , Rebecca ( 1940 ) , and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor @-@ director : Henry V ( 1944 ) , Hamlet ( 1948 ) , and Richard III ( 1955 ) . His later films included Sleuth ( 1972 ) , Marathon Man ( 1976 ) , and The Boys from Brazil ( 1978 ) . His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence ( 1960 ) , Long Day 's Journey into Night ( 1973 ) , Love Among the Ruins ( 1975 ) , Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( 1976 ) , Brideshead Revisited ( 1981 ) and King Lear ( 1983 ) . |
Olivier 's honours included a knighthood ( 1947 ) , a life peerage ( 1970 ) and the Order of Merit ( 1981 ) . For his on @-@ screen work he received four Academy Awards , two British Academy Film Awards , five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards . The National Theatre 's largest auditorium is named in his honour , and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards , given annually by the Society of London Theatre . He was married three times , to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940 , Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960 , and Joan Plowright from 1961 until his death . |
= = Life and career = = |
= = = Family background and early life ( 1907 – 24 ) = = = |
Olivier was born in Dorking , Surrey , the youngest of the three children of the Revd Gerard Kerr Olivier ( 1869 – 1939 ) and his wife Agnes Louise , née Crookenden ( 1871 – 1920 ) . Their elder children were Sybille ( 1901 – 89 ) and Gerard Dacres " Dickie " ( 1904 – 58 ) . His great @-@ great @-@ grandfather was of French Huguenot descent , and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen . Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster , but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England . He practised extremely high church , Ritualist Christianity and liked to be addressed as " Father Olivier " . This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations , and the only church posts he was offered were temporary , usually deputising for regular incumbents in their absence . This meant a nomadic existence , and for Laurence 's first few years , he never lived in one place long enough to make friends . |
In 1912 , when Olivier was five , his father secured a permanent appointment as assistant priest at St Saviour 's , Pimlico . He held the post for six years , and a stable family life was at last possible . Olivier was devoted to his mother , but not to his father , whom he found a cold and remote parent . Nevertheless , he learned a great deal of the art of performing from him . As a young man Gerard Olivier had considered a stage career and was a dramatic and effective preacher . Olivier wrote that his father knew " when to drop the voice , when to bellow about the perils of hellfire , when to slip in a gag , when suddenly to wax sentimental ... The quick changes of mood and manner absorbed me , and I have never forgotten them . " |
In 1916 , after attending a series of preparatory schools , Olivier passed the singing examination for admission to the choir school of All Saints , Margaret Street , in central London . His elder brother was already a pupil , and Olivier gradually settled in , though he felt himself to be something of an outsider . The church 's style of worship was ( and remains ) Anglo @-@ Catholic , with emphasis on ritual , vestments and incense . The theatricality of the services appealed to Olivier , and the vicar encouraged the students to develop a taste for secular as well as religious drama . In a school production of Julius Caesar in 1917 , the ten @-@ year @-@ old Olivier 's performance as Brutus impressed an audience that included Lady Tree , the young Sybil Thorndike , and Ellen Terry , who wrote in her diary , " The small boy who played Brutus is already a great actor . " He later won praise in other schoolboy productions , as Maria in Twelfth Night ( 1918 ) and Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew ( 1922 ) . |
From All Saints , Olivier went on to St Edward 's School , Oxford , from 1920 to 1924 . He made little mark until his final year , when he played Puck in the school 's production of A Midsummer Night 's Dream ; his performance was a tour de force that won him popularity among his fellow pupils . In January 1924 , his brother left England to work in India as a rubber planter . Olivier missed him greatly and asked his father how soon he could follow . He recalled in his memoirs that his father replied , " Don 't be such a fool , you 're not going to India , you 're going on the stage . " |
= = = Early acting career ( 1924 – 29 ) = = = |
In 1924 Gerard Olivier , a habitually frugal man , told his son that not only must he gain admission to the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art , but he must also gain a scholarship with a bursary to cover his tuition fees and living expenses . Olivier 's sister had been a student there and was a favourite of Elsie Fogerty , the founder and principal of the school . Olivier later speculated that it was on the strength of this that Fogerty agreed to award him the bursary . |
One of Olivier 's contemporaries at the school was Peggy Ashcroft , who observed he was " rather uncouth in that his sleeves were too short and his hair stood on end but he was intensely lively and great fun " . By his own admission , he was not a very conscientious student , but Fogerty liked him and later said that he and Ashcroft stood out among her many pupils . On leaving the school after a year , Olivier gained work with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband , Lewis Casson , as a bit @-@ part player , understudy and assistant stage manager for their London company . He modelled his performing style on that of Gerald du Maurier , of whom he said , " He seemed to mutter on stage but had such perfect technique . When I started I was so busy doing a du Maurier that no one ever heard a word I said . The Shakespearean actors one saw were terrible hams like Frank Benson . " His concern to speak naturally and avoid what he called " singing " Shakespeare 's verse was the cause of much frustration in his early career , with critics regularly decrying his delivery . |
In 1926 , on Thorndike 's recommendation , Olivier joined the Birmingham Repertory Company . His biographer Michael Billington describes the Birmingham company as " Olivier 's university " , where in his second year he was given the chance to play a wide range of important roles , including Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer , the title role in Uncle Vanya , and Parolles in All 's Well That Ends Well . Billington adds that the engagement led to " a lifelong friendship with his fellow actor Ralph Richardson that was to have a decisive effect on the British theatre . " |
While playing the juvenile lead in Bird in Hand at the Royalty Theatre in June 1928 , Olivier began a relationship with Jill Esmond , the daughter of the actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore . Olivier later recounted that he thought " she would most certainly do excellent well for a wife ... I wasn 't likely to do any better at my age and with my undistinguished track @-@ record , so I promptly fell in love with her . " |
In 1928 Olivier created the role of Stanhope in R. C. Sherriff 's Journey 's End , in which he scored a great success at its single Sunday night premiere . He was offered the part in the West End production the following year , but turned it down in favour of the more glamorous role of Beau Geste in a stage adaptation of P. C. Wren 's 1929 novel of the same name . Journey 's End became a long @-@ running success ; Beau Geste failed . The Manchester Guardian commented , " Mr. Laurence Olivier did his best as Beau , but he deserves and will get better parts . Mr. Olivier is going to make a big name for himself " . For the rest of 1929 Olivier appeared in seven plays , all of which were short @-@ lived . Billington ascribes this failure rate to poor choices by Olivier rather than mere bad luck . |
= = = Rising star ( 1930 – 35 ) = = = |
In 1930 , with his impending marriage in mind , Olivier earned some extra money with small roles in two films . In April he travelled to Berlin to film the English @-@ language version of The Temporary Widow , a crime comedy with Lilian Harvey , and in May he spent four nights working on another comedy , Too Many Crooks . During work on the latter film , for which he was paid £ 60 , he met Laurence Evans , who became his personal manager . Olivier did not enjoy working in film , which he dismissed as " this anaemic little medium which could not stand great acting " , but financially it was much more rewarding than his theatre work . |
Olivier and Esmond married on 25 July 1930 at All Saints , Margaret Street , although within weeks both realised they had erred . Olivier later recorded that the marriage was " a pretty crass mistake . I insisted on getting married from a pathetic mixture of religious and animal promptings . ... She had admitted to me that she was in love elsewhere and could never love me as completely as I would wish " . Olivier later recounted that following the wedding he did not keep a diary for ten years and never followed religious practices again , although he considered those facts to be " mere coincidence " , unconnected to the nuptials . |
In 1930 Noël Coward cast Olivier as Victor Prynne in his new play Private Lives , which opened at the new Phoenix Theatre in London in September . Coward and Gertrude Lawrence played the lead roles , Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne . Victor is a secondary character , along with Sybil Chase ; the author called them " extra puppets , lightly wooden ninepins , only to be repeatedly knocked down and stood up again " . To make them credible spouses for Amanda and Elyot , Coward was determined that two outstandingly attractive performers should play the parts . Olivier played Victor in the West End and then on Broadway ; Adrianne Allen was Sybil in London , but could not go to New York , where the part was taken by Esmond . In addition to giving the 23 @-@ year @-@ old Olivier his first successful West End role , Coward became something of a mentor . In the late 1960s Olivier told Sheridan Morley : |
He gave me a sense of balance , of right and wrong . He would make me read ; I never used to read anything at all . I remember he said , " Right , my boy , Wuthering Heights , Of Human Bondage and The Old Wives ' Tale by Arnold Bennett . That 'll do , those are three of the best . Read them " . I did . ... Noël also did a priceless thing , he taught me not to giggle on the stage . Once already I 'd been fired for doing it , and I was very nearly sacked from the Birmingham Rep. for the same reason . Noël cured me ; by trying to make me laugh outrageously , he taught me how not to give in to it . My great triumph came in New York when one night I managed to break Noël up on the stage without giggling myself . " |
In 1931 RKO Pictures offered Olivier a two @-@ film contract at $ 1 @,@ 000 a week ; he discussed the possibility with Coward , who , irked , told Olivier " You 've no artistic integrity , that 's your trouble ; this is how you cheapen yourself . " He accepted and moved to Hollywood , despite some misgivings . His first film was the drama Friends and Lovers , in a supporting role , before RKO loaned him to Fox Studios for his first film lead , a British journalist in a Russia under martial law in The Yellow Passport , alongside Elissa Landi and Lionel Barrymore . The cultural historian Jeffrey Richards describes Olivier 's look as an attempt by Fox Studios to produce a likeness of Ronald Colman , and Colman 's moustache , voice and manner are " perfectly reproduced " . Olivier returned to RKO to complete his contract with the 1932 drama Westward Passage , which was a commercial failure . Olivier 's initial foray into American films had not provided the breakthrough he hoped for ; disillusioned with Hollywood , he returned to London , where he appeared in two British films , Perfect Understanding with Gloria Swanson and No Funny Business — in which Esmond also appeared . He was tempted back to Hollywood in 1933 to appear opposite Greta Garbo in Queen Christina , but was replaced after two weeks of filming because of a lack of chemistry between the two . |
Olivier 's stage roles in 1934 included Bothwell in Gordon Daviot 's Queen of Scots , which was only a moderate success for him and for the play , but led to an important engagement for the same management ( Bronson Albery ) shortly afterwards . In the interim he had a great success playing a thinly disguised version of the American actor John Barrymore in Edna Furber 's Theatre Royal . His success was vitiated by his breaking an ankle two months into the run , in one of the athletic , acrobatic stunts with which he liked to enliven his performances . |
In 1935 , under Albery 's management , John Gielgud staged Romeo and Juliet at the New Theatre , co @-@ starring with Peggy Ashcroft , Edith Evans and Olivier . Gielgud had seen Olivier in Queen of Scots , spotted his potential , and now gave him a major step up in his career . For the first weeks of the run Gielgud played Mercutio and Olivier played Romeo , after which they exchanged roles . The production broke all box @-@ office records for the play , running for 189 performances . Olivier was enraged at the notices after the first night , which praised the virility of his performance but fiercely criticised his speaking of Shakespeare 's verse , contrasting it with his co @-@ star 's mastery of the poetry . The friendship between the two men was prickly , on Olivier 's side , for the rest of his life . |
= = = Old Vic and Vivien Leigh ( 1936 – 38 ) = = = |
In May 1936 Olivier and Richardson jointly directed and starred in a new piece by J. B. Priestley , Bees on the Boatdeck . Both actors won excellent notices , but the play , an allegory of Britain 's decay , did not attract the public and closed after four weeks . Later in the same year Olivier accepted an invitation to join the Old Vic company . The theatre , in an unfashionable location south of the Thames , had offered inexpensive tickets for opera and drama under its proprietor Lilian Baylis since 1912 . Her drama company specialised in the plays of Shakespeare , and many leading actors had taken very large cuts in their pay to develop their Shakespearean techniques there . Gielgud had been in the company from 1929 to 1931 , and Richardson from 1930 to 1932 . Among the actors whom Olivier joined in late 1936 were Edith Evans , Ruth Gordon , Alec Guinness and Michael Redgrave . In January 1937 he took the title role in an uncut version of Hamlet , in which once again his delivery of the verse was unfavourably compared with that of Gielgud , who had played the role on the same stage seven years previously to enormous acclaim . The Observer 's Ivor Brown praised Olivier 's " magnetism and muscularity " but missed " the kind of pathos so richly established by Mr Gielgud " . The reviewer in The Times found the performance " full of vitality " , but at times " too light ... the character slips from Mr Olivier 's grasp " . |
After Hamlet , the company presented Twelfth Night in what the director , Tyrone Guthrie , summed up as " a baddish , immature production of mine , with Olivier outrageously amusing as Sir Toby and a very young Alec Guinness outrageous and more amusing as Sir Andrew " . Henry V was the next play , presented in May to mark the Coronation of George VI . A pacifist , as he then was , Olivier was as reluctant to play the warrior king as Guthrie was to direct the piece , but the production was a success , and Baylis had to extend the run from four to eight weeks . |
Following Olivier 's success in Shakespearean stage productions , he made his first foray into Shakespeare on film in 1936 , as Orlando in As You Like It , directed by Paul Czinner , " a charming if lightweight production " , according to Michael Brooke of the British Film Institute 's ( BFI 's ) Screenonline . The following year Olivier appeared alongside Vivien Leigh in the historical drama Fire Over England . He had first met Leigh briefly at the Savoy Grill and then again when she visited him during the run of Romeo and Juliet , probably early in 1936 , and the two had begun an affair sometime that year . Of the relationship , Olivier later said that " I couldn 't help myself with Vivien . No man could . I hated myself for cheating on Jill , but then I had cheated before , but this was something different . This wasn 't just out of lust . This was love that I really didn 't ask for but was drawn into . " While his relationship with Leigh continued he conducted an affair with the actress Ann Todd , and possibly had a homosexual fling with the actor Henry Ainley , according to the biographer Michael Munn . |
In June 1937 the Old Vic company took up an invitation to perform Hamlet in the courtyard of the castle at Elsinore , where Shakespeare located the play . Olivier secured the casting of Leigh to replace Cherry Cottrell as Ophelia . Because of torrential rain the performance had to be moved from the castle courtyard to the ballroom of a local hotel , but the tradition of playing Hamlet at Elsinore was established , and Olivier was followed by , among others , Gielgud ( 1939 ) , Redgrave ( 1950 ) , Richard Burton ( 1954 ) , Derek Jacobi ( 1979 ) , Kenneth Branagh ( 1988 ) and Jude Law ( 2009 ) . Back in London , the company staged Macbeth , with Olivier in the title role . The stylised production by Michel Saint @-@ Denis was not well liked , but Olivier had some good notices among the bad . On returning from Denmark , Olivier and Leigh told their respective spouses about the affair and that their marriages were over ; Esmond moved out of the marital house and in with her mother . After Olivier and Leigh made a tour of Europe in mid 1937 they returned to separate film projects — A Yank at Oxford for her and The Divorce of Lady X for him — and moved into a property together in Iver , Buckinghamshire . |
Olivier returned to the Old Vic for a second season in 1938 . For Othello he played Iago , with Richardson in the title role . Guthrie wanted to experiment with the theory that Iago 's villainy is driven by suppressed homosexual love for Othello . Olivier was willing to co @-@ operate , but Richardson was not ; audiences and most critics failed to spot the supposed motivation of Olivier 's Iago , and Richardson 's Othello seemed underpowered . After that comparative failure , the company had a success with Coriolanus starring Olivier in the title role . The notices were laudatory , mentioning him alongside great predecessors such as Edmund Kean , William Macready and Henry Irving . The actor Robert Speaight described it as " Olivier 's first incontestably great performance " . This was Olivier 's last appearance on a London stage for six years . |
= = = Hollywood and the Second World War ( 1939 – 43 ) = = = |
In 1938 Olivier joined Richardson to film the spy thriller Q Planes , released the following year . Frank Nugent , the critic for The New York Times , thought Olivier was " not quite so good " as Richardson , but was " quite acceptable " . In late 1938 , lured by a salary of $ 50 @,@ 000 , the actor travelled to Hollywood to take the part of Heathcliff in the 1939 film Wuthering Heights , alongside Merle Oberon and David Niven . In less than a month Leigh had joined him , explaining that her trip was " partially because Larry 's there and partially because I intend to get the part of Scarlett O 'Hara " — the role in Gone with the Wind in which she was eventually cast . Olivier did not enjoy making Wuthering Heights , and his approach to film acting , combined with a dislike for Oberon , led to tensions on set . The director , William Wyler , was a hard taskmaster , and Olivier learned to remove what Billington described as " the carapace of theatricality " to which he was prone , replacing it with " a palpable reality " . The resulting film was a commercial and critical success that earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor , and created his screen reputation . Caroline Lejeune , writing for The Observer , considered that " Olivier 's dark , moody face , abrupt style , and a certain fine arrogance towards the world in his playing are just right " in the role , while the reviewer for The Times wrote that Olivier " is a good embodiment of Heathcliff ... impressive enough on a more human plane , speaking his lines with real distinction , and always both romantic and alive . " |
After returning to London briefly in mid @-@ 1939 , the couple returned to America , Leigh to film the final takes for Gone with the Wind , and Olivier to prepare for filming of Alfred Hitchcock 's Rebecca — although the couple had hoped to appear in it together . Instead , Joan Fontaine was selected for the role of Mrs de Winter , as the producer David O. Selznick thought that not only was she more suitable for the role , but that it was best to keep Olivier and Leigh apart until their divorces came through . Olivier followed Rebecca with Pride and Prejudice , in the role of Mr. Darcy . To his disappointment Elizabeth Bennet was played by Greer Garson rather than Leigh . He received good reviews for both films and showed a more confident screen presence than he had in his early work . In January 1940 Olivier and Esmond were granted their divorce . In February , following another request from Leigh , her husband also applied for their marriage to be terminated . |
On stage , Olivier and Leigh starred in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway . It was an extravagant production , but a commercial failure . In The New York Times Brooks Atkinson praised the scenery but not the acting : " Although Miss Leigh and Mr Olivier are handsome young people they hardly act their parts at all . " The couple had invested almost all their savings in the project , and its failure was a grave financial blow . They were married in August 1940 , at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara . |
The war in Europe had been under way for a year and was going badly for Britain . After his wedding Olivier wanted to help the war effort . He telephoned Duff Cooper , the Minister of Information under Winston Churchill , hoping to get a position in Cooper 's department . Cooper advised him to remain where he was and speak to the film director Alexander Korda , who was based in the US at Churchill 's behest , with connections to British Intelligence . Korda — with Churchill 's support and involvement — directed That Hamilton Woman , with Olivier as Horatio Nelson and Leigh in the title role . Korda saw that the relationship between the couple was strained . Olivier was tiring of Leigh 's suffocating adulation , and she was drinking to excess . The film , in which the threat of Napoleon paralleled that of Hitler , was seen by critics as " bad history but good British propaganda " , according to the BFI . |
Olivier 's life was under threat from the Nazis and pro @-@ German sympathisers . The studio owners were concerned enough that Samuel Goldwyn and Cecil B. DeMille both provided support and security to ensure his safety . On the completion of filming , Olivier and Leigh returned to Britain . He had spent the previous year learning to fly and had completed nearly 250 hours by the time he left America . He intended to join the Royal Air Force but instead made another propaganda film , 49th Parallel , narrated short pieces for the Ministry of Information , and joined the Fleet Air Arm because Richardson was already in the service . Richardson had gained a reputation for crashing aircraft , which Olivier rapidly eclipsed . Olivier and Leigh settled in a cottage just outside RAF Worthy Down , where he was stationed with a training squadron ; Noël Coward visited the couple and thought Olivier looked unhappy . Olivier spent much of his time taking part in broadcasts and making speeches to build morale , and in 1942 he was invited to make another propaganda film , The Demi @-@ Paradise , in which he played a Soviet engineer who helps improve British @-@ Russian relationships . |
In 1943 , at the behest of the Ministry of Information , Olivier began working on Henry V. Originally he had no intention of taking the directorial duties , but ended up directing and producing , in addition to taking the title role . He was assisted by an Italian internee , Filippo Del Giudice , who had been released to produce propaganda for the Allied cause . The decision was made to film the battle scenes in neutral Eire , where it was easier to find the 650 extras . John Betjeman , the press attaché at the British embassy in Dublin , played a key liaison role with the Irish government in making suitable arrangements . The film was released in November 1944 . Brooke , writing for the BFI , considers that it " came too late in the Second World War to be a call to arms as such , but formed a powerful reminder of what Britain was defending . " The music for the film was written by William Walton , " a score that ranks with the best in film music " , according to the music critic Michael Kennedy . Walton also provided the music for Olivier 's next two Shakespearean adaptations , Hamlet ( 1948 ) and Richard III ( 1955 ) . Henry V was warmly received by critics . The reviewer for The Manchester Guardian wrote that the film combined " new art hand @-@ in @-@ hand with old genius , and both superbly of one mind " , in a film that worked " triumphantly " . The critic for The Times considered that Olivier " plays Henry on a high , heroic note and never is there danger of a crack " , in a film described as " a triumph of film craft " . There were Oscar nominations for the film , including Best Picture and Best Actor , but it won none and Olivier was instead presented with a " Special Award " . He was unimpressed , and later commented that " this was my first absolute fob @-@ off , and I regarded it as such . " |
= = = Co @-@ directing the Old Vic ( 1944 – 47 ) = = = |
Throughout the war Tyrone Guthrie had striven to keep the Old Vic company going , even after German bombing in 1942 left the theatre a near @-@ ruin . A small troupe toured the provinces , with Sybil Thorndike at its head . By 1944 , with the tide of the war turning , Guthrie felt it time to re @-@ establish the company in a London base and invited Richardson to head it . Richardson made it a condition of accepting that he should share the acting and management in a triumvirate . Initially he proposed Gielgud and Olivier as his colleagues , but the former declined , saying , " It would be a disaster , you would have to spend your whole time as referee between Larry and me . " It was finally agreed that the third member would be the stage director John Burrell . The Old Vic governors approached the Royal Navy to secure the release of Richardson and Olivier ; the Sea Lords consented , with , as Olivier put it , " a speediness and lack of reluctance which was positively hurtful . " |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.