The Real Life of Laurence Olivier

In The Real Life of Laurence Olivier, Roger Lewis goes beyond the magical illusions the actor created to tell the truth about the man's sexuality, ambition, revenges, power, preoccupations, and achievements. Most of all, Olivier's life and work become a love story - the tale of his relationship with Vivien Leigh, who was destroyed by the extent of her passion for him, as he himself was cast into a frenzy of guilt and disillusion - which he embodied in his portrayals of Archie Rice, Macbeth, and James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night. Olivier and Leigh never got over each other: they grieved for a world of lost innocence and happiness - which had never, in fact, existed.