All-Star Cast Pays Homage to Olivier

It was Laurence Olivier’s last production, and it was played at noon Friday by an all-star cast in a grand setting--the stately Westminster Abbey, where the ashes of the late king of the British theater will be buried next year near a bust of Shakespeare.

Hundreds of England’s best-known performers gathered for a memorial service for Olivier, who died three months ago at age 82. They were led by John Gielgud and Alec Guinness, the only surviving actors of Olivier’s generation whose talent and reputations approach his own.

A procession of actors carried mementos of Olivier’s life and career to the altar. They were led by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who carried the insignia of the Order of Merit given Olivier by Queen Elizabeth II in 1981. He was followed by Michael Caine cradling the special Oscar awarded Olivier in 1979 for lifetime achievement. Paul Scofield, Maggie Smith, Peter O’Toole, Derek Jacobi and Frank Finley followed with other personal treasures.

Joan Plowright, Olivier’s third wife, and their three children sat alongside the altar, as did Jill Esmond, his first wife. His second wife, actress Vivien Leigh, died in 1967.

As was usually the case during his life, Olivier had the last word--a spoken excerpt from his film “Henry V” in which the king addresses his troops before the battle of Agincourt. In a few months, the great actor’s ashes will reside several dozen yards from the spot where the king he played so perfectly is buried.