At one point I would have liked the role of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1970). Then I saw it done by Laurence Olivier on television and he was so good that I decided to forget about it.
Oliver Reed
Laurence Olivier might have been a much better actor on film if he hadn`t had that flippant attitude. [He] was a remarkable actor, but he was entirely missing the point consistently. He felt that film was an inferior form.
Daniel Day-Lewis
I wanted to be a serious actress, but of course that didn`t really happen. I did Desdemona [at the National, opposite Olivier] with great discomfort and was terrified all the time. But then everyone was terrified of Larry.
Maggie Smith
[On The Boys from Brazil (1978)] "I felt, Laurence Olivier felt, friends of mine like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon felt, that I was good in this part. Some critics seem unwilling to accept actors when they break what they think is the mold or the image....
Gregory Peck
If a man is touched by genius, he is not an ordinary person. He doesn`t lead an ordinary life. He has extremes of behaviour which you understand and you just find a way not to be swept overboard by his demons. - On Laurence OlivierJoan Plowright
These two men, how they like their women to be is so different. The way Wong [Karwai]sees beauty, or women related to beauty, it has to be that sensual, perfect thing, whereas Olivier [Assayas] is more interested in something more internal and modern. But...
Maggie Cheung
[on Laurence Olivier] If you had to worship something mortal on Earth, I would go and bow twice a day to wherever Olivier was standing.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
[on Laurence Olivier] If you had to worship something mortal on Earth, I would go and bow twice a day to wherever Olivier was standing.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Cable from Laurence Olivier to Richard Burton at the height of the Cleopatra (1963) scandal: "Make up your mind, dear heart. Do you want to be a great actor or a household word?" Burton replied: "Both."
Richard Burton
[During the 20 year Ghostbusters reunion commentary on the Ghostbusters DVD] "Acting is all about big hair and funny props... All the great actors knew it. Olivier knew it, Brando knew it."
Harold Ramis
[When asked what he thought about the John Holmes porn trial] "You know, someone once asked me that and I said the day that Laurence Olivier drops his pants on the screen is the day that I will support adult actors, and then I saw the movie The Betsy (197...
Gregory Peck
I would speak to Vanessa`s father [Sir Michael Redgrave], or Laurence Olivier or John Gielgud, and they told me that, at a certain point, I had to make a choice. I could be a star and maybe make lots of money, or I could change roles all the time and have...
Franco Nero
One of the people I got to know years ago, which was a great privilege, was Laurence Olivier. He was like a laser - that was his power. And the only actor I`ve met since who had that same quality of laser-like determination is Russell Crowe. The first day...
Anthony Hopkins
[On Laurence Olivier after the death of the only acting peer of the realm]: "Olivier made me laugh more as an actor (in eccentric comedy parts) more than anyone else. In my case, I love him in comedy and am not always sure about him in tragedy.
Alec Guinness
[On Laurence Olivier after the death of the only acting peer of the realm]: "Olivier made me laugh more as an actor (in eccentric comedy parts) more than anyone else. In my case, I love him in comedy and am not always sure about him in tragedy.
Alec Guinness
Olivier was another case of a genius, who couldn`t understand why anybody would have any trouble doing this, because for him it came so easily.
James Lipton
My dream as a youngster was to be like Olivier. To be a great stage actor. To be a great Shakespearean actor. To me that is the Olympics of acting.
Armand Assante