The Powerful and the Plain Remember ‘Greatest Showman’

The high and the mighty, his fellow actors and just plain citizens paid tribute Tuesday to the memory of Laurence Olivier, the 82-year-old icon of the stage and screen praised as “perhaps the greatest man in theater ever.”

Queen Elizabeth II sent condolences to the Olivier family at his home in the village of Ashurst in West Sussex, where he died.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher praised his “extraordinary talents” and remembered her favorite Olivier roles in “Hamlet,” “Henry V” and “Richard III.”

Former President Ronald Reagan said that Olivier had delighted millions with unmatched excellence on the stage and screen. “He was an actor of immense talent, precision and a deep and enduring dedication to his craft,” Reagan said.

Theaters from London’s West End to Stratford, birthplace of Shakespeare, turned out their display lights and lowered flags in respect for Olivier.

In Southern California, local theatrical impresario James A. Doolittle said he offered Olivier $25,000 to perform one week of Shakespeare at the Greek Theatre in the late ‘50s--but Olivier turned it down in order to perform at the annual festival in Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-on-Avon, where he was making 80 pounds (about $200) a week. “He said mine was a very good offer, but he couldn’t do it, because Stratford was where his heart was,” Doolittle said.

Actress Lynn Redgrave recalled her days with the National Theatre of Great Britain in the mid-’60s, when Olivier was its leader: “The audience paid 8,000% of its attention to him. He was the greatest showman on earth. He was a charismatic leader in addition to being the actor we all knew he was. He didn’t suffer fools gladly. He could be enormously helpful, warm and loving, but he also could be difficult and intimidating. I remember being on stage just in front of him in ‘Love for Love,’ and although he appeared to be paying 100% attention, he was actually giving me notes or comments on how the show was doing, with those ventriloquist lips of his.

“I learned so much from his discipline,” Redgrave added. “Here he was, running the company and acting in it at the same time, learning his lines, training his muscles--to do less yourself seemed foolish. He set an extraordinary standard for everyone.”

“It’s a great loss,” said Robert Fryer, outgoing artistic director of the Ahmanson Theatre and film producer. “He brought a dynamic quality to everything he did.” Fryer worked as a gofer for Olivier and Ralph Richardson when the Old Vic came to America in 1946, and he later produced “‘The Boys From Brazil,” starring Olivier.

Actress Coral Browne said she knew Olivier “before he became a star, about 1936. I worked for him at the National Theater. He was a very great actor and a very brave man. The last time I saw him was at his son Richard’s wedding. Richard was getting ready to tape some of his father’s most famous speeches. (Olivier’s widow) Joan (Plowright) and the children made an enormous difference in his life. She gave him a family life with children when he was not the usual age. It was a wonderful comfort and support.”

Actress Dame Judith Anderson remembered working with Olivier for the first time in “Macbeth” in London in 1938. “I asked someone, ‘Who’s that man over there?’ and they said ‘That’s Laurence Olivier.’ I hadn’t recognized him. He was such a master of make-up. He used to look at paintings in the museums and learn from them.

“He was at the peak-- the peak --of his profession. After he and Vivien (Leigh) got married in 1940 they stayed in my home in California. They were so beautiful and so in love. It was a perfect match. He was a terrific and tireless worker--a star no matter what he did.”