Laurence Harvey | |
|---|---|
 Harvey in 1973, photograph byAllan Warren | |
| Born | Zvi Mosheh Skikne (1928-10-01)1 October 1928 Joniškis, Lithuania |
| Died | 25 November 1973(1973-11-25) (aged 45) Hampstead, London, England |
| Resting place | Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1948–1973 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Domino Harvey |
Laurence Harvey (bornZvi Mosheh Skikne;[a][1] 1 October 1928[2] – 25 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British[3] actor and film director. He was born toLithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated toSouth Africa at an early age, before later settling in the United Kingdom after World War II. In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Harvey appeared in stage, film and television productions primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States.[4]
Harvey was known for his clipped, refined accent and cool, debonair screen persona. His performance inRoom at the Top (1959)[5] resulted in anAcademy Award nomination forBest Actor.[6] That success was followed by the roles ofWilliam Barret Travis inThe Alamo and Weston Liggett inBUtterfield 8, both films released in the autumn of 1960. He also appeared as the brainwashed Sergeant Raymond Shaw inThe Manchurian Candidate (1962). He made his directorial debut withThe Ceremony (1963), and continued acting into the 1970s until his early death in 1973 of cancer.
Harvey was born inJoniškis, Lithuania, the youngest of three sons of Ella (née Zotnickaita) and Ber Skikne,Lithuanian Jewish parents.[7][8] His civil birth name was Larushka Mischa Skikne,[7] and hisHebrew name was Zvi Mosheh (Yiddish:צבי משה סקיקנה). When he was five years old, his family travelled with the family of Riva Segal and her two sons, Louis andCharles Segal on theSS Adolph Woermann to South Africa, where he was known as Harry Skikne. Harvey grew up in Johannesburg. He was only fifteen when he auditioned to join the Entertainment Unit of the South African Army during the Second World War.Sid James managed the Unit and approved his audition. They became lifelong friends.[9][better source needed] As the mystery guest on the American TV showWhat's My Line?, screened 1 May 1960, Harvey stated that he arrived in South Africa in 1934 and moved to the UK in 1946.[10]
After moving to London, he enrolled in theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art,[11] but left RADA after three months.[12]
Billed as Larry Skikne, he appeared in the playUprooted at theComedy Theatre in 1947. He also appeared on stage at theLibrary Theatre in Manchester.[13] His performances in Manchester led to him being cast in his first film.[14]
Harvey made his cinema debut in the British filmHouse of Darkness (1948), but its distributorBritish Lion thought someone named Larry Skikne was not commercially viable. Accounts vary as to how the actor acquired his stage name of Laurence Harvey. One version has it that it was the idea of talent agent Gordon Harbord who decided Laurence would be an appropriate first name. In choosing a British-sounding last name, Harbord thought of two British retail institutions,Harvey Nichols andHarrods.[15] Another is that Skikne was travelling on a London bus withSid James who exclaimed during their journey: "It's either Laurence Nichols or Laurence Harvey." Harvey's own account differed over time.[16]
Associated British Picture Corporation quickly offered him a two-year contract, which Harvey accepted. He appeared in supporting roles in several of their lower-budget films such asMan on the Run (1949),Landfall (1949) (directed byKen Annakin) andThe Dancing Years (1950). For International Motion Pictures he was inThe Man from Yesterday (1949).[17]
Mayflower Productions, which released through Associated British, gave Harvey his first lead, appearing alongsideEric Portman in the Egypt-set police filmCairo Road (1950). It was a minor success.[12]
He had a small role in the Hollywood-financedThe Black Rose (1950), starringTyrone Power andOrson Welles, directed byHenry Hathaway. It was Harvey's first experience in a Hollywood film. He played Cassio in a version ofOthello for BBC TV starringAndre Morell.[12]
Harvey starred in leading roles for two B-pictures for directorLewis Gilbert at Nettleford Films:Scarlet Thread (1951) andThere Is Another Sun (1951). For Ealing, he madeI Believe in You (1952), directed byBasil Dearden. According toSight and Sound this performance gave "an indication of Harvey's true metier. While Basil Dearden's direction focused on honest Harry Fowler, it was Harvey's Jordie who supplied an authentic glimpse of pin-table thuggery, his clothes and hairstyle on the cusp between cosh-boy andted and his manner redolent of a languorous sexuality no amount of National Service could quell."[18]
He starred in the low-budget thrillerA Killer Walks (1952). In 1951 he appeared on stage inHassan at the Cambridge Theatre.[12]
Harvey's career gained a boost when he appeared inWomen of Twilight (1952); this was made by Romulus Films run by brothersJohn and James Woolf, who signed Harvey to a long-term contract. James Woolf in particular was a big admirer of Harvey and played an important role in turning the actor into a star.[19]
In 1953 he played Orlando on a BBC TV version ofAs You Like It, oppositeMargaret Leighton, whom he would later marry.[20]
Romulus put him in two ensemble films: a comedy,Innocents in Paris (1953) and a crime thriller,The Good Die Young (1954). He had an especially strong role in the latter, which was directed byLewis Gilbert, and featured Hollywood actors such as John Ireland, Richard Basehart and Gloria Grahame, along with Leighton.[21] This has been called his "first performance of note."[18]
Harvey received an offer to play the juvenile male lead in the Hollywood spectacularKing Richard and the Crusaders (1954), a medieval swashbuckler for Warner Bros starringRex Harrison,Virginia Mayo andGeorge Sanders. It was a box-office disappointment, although Harvey's performance was well received.[20]
Harvey played Romeo inRenato Castellani's adaptation ofShakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet (1954), narrated byJohn Gielgud. His performance was generally not well received.[13] According to a contemporary interview, he turned down an offer to appear inHelen of Troy (1955) to act atStratford-upon-Avon, where he again performed inRomeo and Juliet, this time on stage.[22]
Romulus gave Harvey another excellent chance when he was cast as the writerChristopher Isherwood inI Am A Camera (1955), withJulie Harris asSally Bowles. He and Leighton starred in an adaptation ofA Month in the Country forITV Play of the Week (1955). He made his Broadway debut in 1955 in the playIsland of Goats, a flop that closed after one week, though his performance won him a 1956Theatre World Award.[23] While in the US he appeared on TV in an episode ofThe Alcoa Hour calledThe Small Servant, co-starringDiane Cilento.[24]
Zoltan Korda used him as one of the soldiers inStorm Over the Nile (1955), a remake ofThe Four Feathers (1939), playing the part taken byRalph Richardson in the 1939 version. It was popular in Britain as was the comedyThree Men in a Boat (1956), made for Romulus under the direction ofKen Annakin.[25]
Harvey appeared inThe Bet forITV Television Playhouse (1956) then did another for Romulus,After the Ball (1957), a biopic ofVesta Tilley, in which Harvey playedWalter de Frece. He followed it withThe Truth About Women (1958), a comedy directed byMuriel Box for Beaconsfield Productions.
Harvey returned to Broadway in 1957 to appear alongside Julie Harris,Pamela Brown andColleen Dewhurst inWilliam Wycherley'sThe Country Wife (a production he had originally starred in at London's Royal Court Theatre).
For Romulus, Harvey starred inThe Silent Enemy (1958), with his old friend Sid James, a biopic of war heroLionel Crabb.[25]
Harvey's breakthrough to international stardom came after he was cast by directorJack Clayton as the social climber Joe Lampton inRoom at the Top (1959), produced by Romulus. For his performance, Harvey received aBAFTA Award[26] nomination and a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actor.[11]Simone Signoret andHeather Sears co-starred as Lampton's married lover and eventual wife respectively. It was the third most popular movie at the British box office in 1959 and a hit in the U.S.
Harvey went to Broadway in 1958, as Shakespeare'sHenry V, as part of theOld Vic company, which featured a youngJudi Dench as Katherine, the daughter of the king of France.[27][25]
Harvey followed it with the musicalExpresso Bongo (1959), a film best remembered for introducingCliff Richard.[28] He didThe Violent Years for theITV Play of the Week (1959).
While in the US he appeared in "Arthur", an episode ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents directed by Hitchcock himself.
The success ofRoom at the Top led to Hollywood offers and Harvey decided to spend the next three years focusing on films.[29] He was inJohn Wayne's epicThe Alamo (1960), being John Wayne's personal choice to play Alamo commandantWilliam Barret Travis. Wayne had been impressed by Harvey's talent and ability to project the aristocratic demeanor Wayne believed Travis possessed. Harvey and Wayne later expressed their mutual admiration and satisfaction at having worked together.[30]The Alamo was a hit.
Even more successful was Harvey's next Hollywood film, MGM'sBUtterfield 8 (1960), which wonElizabeth Taylor her first Oscar. He was named forTheEddie Chapman Story but it was not made until years later, asTriple Cross withChristopher Plummer.[31]
Back in Britain, Harvey was cast inthe film version ofThe Long and the Short and the Tall (1961) in a role originally performed byPeter O'Toole during the play'sWest End run. He clashed with Richard Todd and Richard Harris during filming but the movie was a hit in Britain.[32] He was announced for some films that were not made (The Disenchanted from the novel byBudd Schulberg,No Bail for the Judge fromAlfred Hitchcock,The Lion, andThe Long Walk).[33]
In the U.S., he supportedShirley MacLaine in MGM'sTwo Loves (1961) and co-starred withGeraldine Page in the film adaptation ofTennessee Williams'sSummer and Smoke (1961), directed byPeter Glenville.[11] He signed to appear in the film ofFive Finger Exercise but was not in the eventual film.[34] His fee around this time was $300,000 a film.[35]
Harvey played the male lead inWalk on the Wild Side (1962), produced by Charles Feldman, cast alongsideBarbara Stanwyck,Jane Fonda andCapucine.[36] Fonda was not positive about the experience of working with him: "There are actors and actors – and then there are the Laurence Harveys. With them, it's like acting by yourself."[7]
The same year, he recorded an album of spoken excerpts from the bookThis Is My Beloved byWalter Benton, accompanied by original music byHerbie Mann. It was released on theAtlantic label.[37] He narrated a TV musical,The Flood (1962).
MGM cast Harvey asWilhelm Grimm in the MGM filmThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), produced byGeorge Pal. Harvey's performance earned him a nomination for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.[38] The fantasy movie filmed in 3-stripCinerama was a box office disappointment.
Harvey appeared as the brainwashed US Army Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw in the Cold War thrillerThe Manchurian Candidate (1962), directed byJohn Frankenheimer and starringFrank Sinatra andAngela Lansbury.[11] Film criticDavid Shipman wrote: "Harvey's role required him to act like a zombie and several critics cited it as his first convincing performance".[12] The movie was a hit and has since become critically highly regarded, and is one of Harvey's better-remembered films.
Harvey went to Japan to makeA Girl Named Tamiko (1962) withFrance Nuyen for directorJohn Sturges and producerHal Wallis. "I have suddenly found the gates of Hollywood opened to me," he said at the time.[29]
He followed this withThe Running Man (1963), directed byCarol Reed, withLee Remick and Alan Bates.[29]
Harvey made his directorial debut with the crime dramaThe Ceremony (1963), in which he also starred. It was shot in Spain for United Artists.[39]
Harvey played King Arthur in the 1964 London production of theAlan Jay Lerner andFrederick Loewe musicalCamelot at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane.[40]
He was the male lead in an adaptation ofW. Somerset Maugham'sOf Human Bondage (1964), co starringKim Novak. Harvey had been connected to the project for several years.[41] It was a troubled shoot, with Harvey and Novak clashing, and original directorHenry Hathaway leaving during the shoot and being replaced by Ken Hughes.[42] During filming, kidnap threats were made against both Harvey and Novak by student organisations.[43][44]
The Outrage (1964) was directorMartin Ritt's remake ofAkira Kurosawa's Japanese filmRashomon (1950). Besides Harvey, the film starredPaul Newman andClaire Bloom, but was unsuccessful critically and commercially.[45]
Harvey reprised his role as Joe Lampton inLife at the Top (1965), directed byTed Kotcheff. This is considered one of his best later performances.[18]
He had his first commercially successful film in a number of years withDarling (1965), starringJulie Christie andDirk Bogarde.[46] While Harvey's role in the film is short, his involvement enabled directorJohn Schlesinger to raise financial backing for the project.[12] Harvey starred in a version ofThe Doctor and the Devils directed byNicholas Ray from a script byDylan Thomas but the film was not completed.[18]
Harvey co-starred with Israeli actressDaliah Lavi in the comedyThe Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), a parody of theJames Bond films.[47] Harvey didThe Winter's Tale (1967) and thenDial M for Murder (1967) for American TV.
Harvey owned the rights to the book on whichJohn Osborne's early script for the filmThe Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) was partially based,Cecil Woodham-Smith's bookThe Reason Why (1953). He intended to make his own version.[48] A lawsuit was filed against directorTony Richardson's companyWoodfall Film Productions on behalf of the book's author. There was a monetary settlement, and Harvey insisted on being cast in a cameo role (being cast as Prince Radziwill) as part of the agreement for which he was paid £60,000.[49]Charles Wood was brought in to re-write the script. Harvey's scenes were cut from the movie at Richardson's insistence except for a brief glimpse as an anonymous member of a theatre audience which, technically, still met the requirements of the legal settlement.[50]John Osborne asserted in his autobiography that Richardson shot the scenes with Harvey "French", which is film jargon for a director "going through the motions" because of some obligation, but with no film in the camera.[51]
Harvey completed direction of the spy thrillerA Dandy in Aspic (1968) after directorAnthony Mann died during production. The film co-starsMia Farrow.[52] This has been called "his last effective cinema role... The critics greeted it with disdain but the plot was tailor-made for Harvey, who plays a Russian spy who has adopted an English identity so he can go undercover within British Intelligence."[18]
Harvey provided the narration for the Soviet filmTchaikovsky (1969), directed byIgor Talankin.[53]
Harvey co-starred withAnn-Margret inRebus (1969) then appeared inKampf um Rom (1970), a film set in Ancient Rome. The latter starredOrson Welles, who directed Harvey inThe Deep, a thriller that was abandoned.[54]
Harvey starred inShe and He (1969), which he helped produce.[55]
He had a cameo role as himself inThe Magic Christian (1969), a film based on theTerry Southern novel of the same name. He gives a rendition ofHamlet's soliloquy that develops unexpectedly into a campy striptease routine.
He had a small role inWUSA (1970) and was guest murderer onColumbo: The Most Dangerous Match in 1973, portraying a chess champion who kills his opponent.[56] For British TV he appeared in a version ofArms and the Man forITV Sunday Night Theatre (1971).Joanna Pettet appeared with Harvey in an episode ofRod Serling'sNight Gallery ("The Caterpillar", 1972), in which Harvey's character attempts to assassinate a romantic rival by having a burrowing insect dropped in the man's ear.[57]
Harvey starred inEscape to the Sun (1972), directed byMenahem Golan and was reunited with Elizabeth Taylor inNight Watch (1973), financed byBrut Productions.[58] The same company financedWelcome to Arrow Beach (1974), which Harvey directed and starred in; the cast also included his friend Pettet,John Ireland andStuart Whitman. The film deals with a type of war-relatedpost-traumatic stress disorder that turns a military veteran tocannibalism.[44]
In August 1973, it was reported Harvey had been ill, but he assured people he was busier than ever.[59] Just before he died, he was planning to star in and direct two films: one onKitty Genovese, the other aWolf Mankowitz comedy titledCockatrice.[60] His death put an end to any hope thatOrson Welles'sThe Deep would be completed. With Harvey andJeanne Moreau in the leading roles, Welles worked on the film between his other projects, although the production was hampered by financial problems.[61]
He metHermione Baddeley, an established actress, when they were cast in the filmThere Is Another Sun in 1950. She became his live-in partner and a lucky charm for his career. She introduced him toBasil Dean and his first part on the London stage inHassan, followed by a season at Stratford in 1952 withGlen Byam Shaw. Most significantly, she introduced him toJames Woolf, of Romulus Films. Harvey left Baddeley in 1952 for actressMargaret Leighton, who was then married to publisherMax Reinhardt. Leighton and Reinhardt divorced in 1955, and she married Harvey in 1957 off theRock of Gibraltar. The couple divorced in 1961.[62][63]
In 1968 he marriedJoan Perry, the widow of film mogulHarry Cohn.[64] Her marriage to Harvey lasted until 1972.
His third marriage was to British fashion modelPaulene Stone. She gave birth to their daughterDomino in 1969 while he was still married to Perry.[65] Harvey and Stone married in 1972 and soon after, he adopted her child from her previous marriage, Sophie Norris (now Sophie Harvey). The wedding took place at the home ofHarold Robbins.[11][66]
In his account of beingFrank Sinatra's valet,Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra (2003),George Jacobs writes that Harvey often made passes at him while visiting Sinatra. According to Jacobs, Sinatra was aware of Harvey's sexuality. In his autobiographyClose Up (2004), British actorJohn Fraser claimed Harvey was gay and that his long-term lover was Harvey's managerJames Woolf, who had cast Harvey in several of the films he produced in the 1950s.[67]
After working in two films with her, Harvey remained friends withElizabeth Taylor for the rest of his life. She visited him three weeks before he died. Upon his death, Taylor issued the statement: "He was one of the people I really loved in this world. He was part of the sun. For everyone who loved him, the sun is a bit dimmer." She andPeter Lawford held a memorial service for Harvey in California.[68]
Harvey once responded to an assertion about himself: "Someone once asked me, 'Why is it so many people hate you?' and I said, 'Do they? How super! I'm really quite pleased about it.' "[7]
A heavy smoker and drinker, Harvey died at the age of 45 fromstomach cancer inHampstead, north London, on 25 November 1973.[69][70]
His daughterDomino, who later became abounty hunter, was only four years old at the time. She died at the age of 35, in 2005, after overdosing on the painkiller drugfentanyl. They are buried alongside one another in Santa Barbara Cemetery inSanta Barbara, California.[71]
According to his obituary inThe New York Times:
With his clipped speech, cool smile and a cigarette dangling impudently from his lips, Laurence Harvey established himself as the screen's perfect pin-striped cad. He could project such utter boredom that willowy debutantes would shrivel in his presence. He could also exude such charm that the same young ladies would gladly lend him their hearts, which were usually returned utterly broken ... The image Mr Harvey carefully fostered for himself off screen was not far removed from some of the roles he played. "I'm a flamboyant character, an extrovert who doesn't want to reveal his feelings", he once said. "To bare your soul to the world, I find unutterably boring. I think part of our profession is to have a quixotic personality."[7]
According toSight and Sound, "Any young actor who delighted in pink bathroom suites and liked to compare himself favourably to Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson – preferably in the same sentence – was clearly going to find it hard to fit the mould of New Elizabethan chappism promoted by Rank and ABPC ... Harvey flaunted a cigarette holder almost as a parody of Terry Thomas' and boasted that his drainpipe trousers pre-dated the teddy boys'. His hairstyle always tended towards the baroque and quickly became a trademark."[18]
Note: Where British Film Institute (BFI) and American Film Institute (AFI) differed on release year, or if the Wikipedia article title had a different release year, whichever source is the country of production is the year used.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Othello | Cassio | (BBC TV) | [159] |
| 1953 | As You Like It | Orlando | (BBC TV) | [160] |
| 1955 | ITVPlay of the Week | Beljajew | A Month in the Country | [161] |
| The Alcoa Hour | Dick Swiveller | The Small Servant | ||
| 1956 | The Bet | |||
| 1957 | Holiday Night Reunion | |||
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Arthur Williams | Season 5 Episode 1:Arthur | [162] |
| ITV Play of the Week | Chris/Misha | The Violent Years | [163] | |
| 1960 | Pontiac Star Parade | Self | The Spirit of the Alamo, wrap party inBrackettville, Texas | [164] |
| What's My Line? | Self | Guest panelist 6 March; mystery guest 1 May | ||
| Here's Hollywood | Self | Episode 1.19 | ||
| 1962 | The Milton Berle Show | Self | 9 March episode | [165] |
| The Flood (Stravinsky) | Narrator | [166] | ||
| 1964 | Password | Self | Georgia Brown v. Laurence Harvey | |
| The Ed Sullivan Show | Self | Episode 18.5 | ||
| The Eamonn Andrews Show | Self | Episode 1.2 | ||
| 1965 | The Eamonn Andrews Show | Self | Episode 2.15 | |
| The Danny Kaye Show | Self | Episode 3.14 | [167] | |
| 1966 | Hollywood Talent Scouts | Self | 31 January episode | |
| Late Night Line-Up | Self | 5 February episode, BBC | [168] | |
| 1967 | The Merv Griffin Show | Self | 27 April episode | |
| Dial M for Murder | Tony Wendice | TV movie | [169] | |
| The Jerry Lewis Show | Self | 17 October 1967 episode | [170] | |
| 1968 | The Joey Bishop Show | Self | Episodes 2.245 and 3.40 | |
| Marvelous Party! | Host | A 70th birthday tribute toNoël Coward | ||
| 1969 | Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In | Self | Episode 2.25 | |
| Joker's Wild | Self | American TV game show | ||
| 1970 | The David Frost Show | Self | Episode 2.184 | |
| 1971 | ITV Saturday Night Theatre | Major Sergius Saranoff | Arms and the Man | [171] |
| The Dick Cavett Show | Self | 11 May episode | ||
| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self | 19 November episode | ||
| Celebrity Bowling | Self | Unknown episode | ||
| 1972 | Night Gallery | Steven Macy | Episode: "Caterpillar" | [172] |
| 1973 | Columbo | Emmett Clayton | Episode: "The Most Dangerous Match" | |
| 45th Academy Awards | Self (presenter) | Special | ||
| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self (guest) | Episode dated 8/24/73 |
| Award | Date | Category | Nominated work | Result | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 4 April 1960 | Best Actor | Room at the Top | Nominated | [6] |
| British Academy Film Awards | 1959 | Best British Actor | Nominated | [26] | |
| 1960 | Expresso Bongo | Nominated | [26] | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | 5 March 1963 | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | Nominated | [38] |
| 12 February 1968 | World Film Favorite - Male | — | Won | ||
| Golden Laurel Awards | 1960 | Top Male New Personality | — | 4th place | |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | 1959 | Best Actor | Room at the Top | Nominated | |
| Theatre World Award[23] | 1956 | — | Island of Goats | Won | |
| Western Heritage Awards | 1961 | Theatrical Motion Picture | The Alamo | Won |
camelot laurence harvey.
of human bondage kim novak.
of human bondage laurence harvey.
darling julie christie.
