Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Laurence Olivier: A Life
TITLE DETAILS

Laurence Olivier: A Life

1982-10-24 · 155 min · ★ 10.0

Documentary

A multi-award winning biography covering the life and career of legendary screen and stage actor/director Laurence Olivier.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Unavailable
Production companies
Unavailable
Countries
United Kingdom
Status
Released

Top Cast

Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierSelf
Ralph RichardsonRalph RichardsonSelf
John GielgudJohn GielgudSelf
Vivien LeighVivien LeighSelf ( Archive footage )
William WylerWilliam WylerSelf
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.Douglas Fairbanks Jr.Self
John OsborneSelf
Joan PlowrightJoan PlowrightSelf
Jill EsmondJill EsmondSelf ( Archive footage)
Melvyn BraggMelvyn BraggSelf (Interviewer )
Peggy AshcroftPeggy AshcroftSelf

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Sidney
★ 6.9
Sidney2022Documentary

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

Gilbert
★ 6.7
Gilbert2017Documentary

The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.

I Am Heath Ledger
★ 7.4
I Am Heath Ledger2017Documentary

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

Looking for Richard
★ 6.8
Looking for Richard1996Documentary

Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."

I Know That Voice
★ 7.1
I Know That Voice2014Documentary

Filmmaker Lawrence Shapiro discusses voice-over acting with the talented people behind the characters.

A Decade Under the Influence
★ 7.9
A Decade Under the Influence2003Documentary

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

My Mom Jayne
★ 8.0
My Mom Jayne2025Documentary

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

For the Love of Spock
★ 7.4
For the Love of Spock2016Documentary

The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.

Heart of a Dog
★ 6.5
Heart of a Dog2015Documentary

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.

Come See Me in the Good Light
★ 7.1
Come See Me in the Good Light2025Documentary

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Love, Marilyn
★ 6.5
Love, Marilyn2013Documentary

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
★ 7.0
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin2003Documentary

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
★ 7.8
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty2000Documentary

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
★ 6.9
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction2013Documentary

An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.

28 Up
★ 7.5
28 Up1985Documentary

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
★ 7.4
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds2016Documentary

An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.

Elstree 1976
★ 6.2
Elstree 19762015Documentary

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.

Corman's World
★ 7.0
Corman's World2011Documentary

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
★ 7.5
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski2018Documentary

Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.

Directed by John Ford
★ 7.0
Directed by John Ford1971Documentary

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Similar titles

Fernando
★ 2.0
Fernando2017Documentary

Fernando is an actor and theater teacher who, at the age of 74, is impelled to be the protagonist of himself in an experience that blurs the boundaries between the documentary and the fictional. Faced with a delicate problem in his heart, he follows a life full of love for art, where education emerges as a powerful transforming element of reality.

La banlieue, c’est le paradis
★ 6.3
La banlieue, c’est le paradis2025Documentary

In the 1960s, the suburbs were meant to be modern havens for newcomers from rural France, Portugal, Spain, North Africa, and Africa, helping rebuild post-war France. Large housing complexes symbolized this ideal, offering comfort, heating, and electricity. But by the 1980s, disillusionment set in as economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, crime, racism, and police violence took hold. Mohamed Bouhafsi tells the story of a dream that didn’t last.

Oskar Kokoschka : Portraits européens
★ 9.0
Oskar Kokoschka : Portraits européens2022Documentary

Dave Chappelle's Block Party
★ 6.8
Dave Chappelle's Block Party2005Documentary

The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio mans moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unprecedented block party.

Investigation of a Citizen Named Volonté
★ 6.5
Investigation of a Citizen Named Volonté2004Documentary

Indagine su un cittadino di nome Volonté is a documentary exploring the life and career of Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté. Known for his roles in films with significant political and social impact, this documentary offers an intimate look through interviews and archival footage, highlighting his commitment to cinema as a form of artistic expression and a tool for social change.

Becoming King
★ 1.0
Becoming King2024Documentary

An emotional portrait of David Oyelowo’s journey to play legendary civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and intimate home videos, Becoming King is a story of faith, friendship and a destiny fulfilled.

Comrades under Edelweiss
★ 7.5
Comrades under Edelweiss1943Documentary

This rare documentary was filmed with the participation and personal camera of Wolfgang Gorther, a German military cinematographer of the 1st mining division, who participated in the legendary ascent of Elbrus on the night of August 21, 1942. From the beginning of the Second World War and the last international winter sports week in Garmisch-Partenkirchen follows the invasion of the German troops into the Soviet Union: Dnieper, Zaporozhy, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, Nogaean Steppe, Caucasus – fighting at 50 degrees below zero, military expedition into the world of ice and snow; – ascent of mountain arrows and subsequent hoisting of flags on the Elbrus at an altitude of 5,633 meters.

Twiggy
★ 7.6
Twiggy2025Documentary

Twiggy takes a comprehensive look at the life story of UK model and cultural icon Twiggy, real name Lesley Lawson, whose career kickstarted in the 1960s. It features interviews with Twiggy and her husband Leigh Lawson, as well as commentary from Erin O’Connor, Paul McCartney, Lulu, Poppy Delavigne, Brooke Shields, Pattie Boyd and Zandra Rhodes.

Popular Science J-8-1
Not rated
Popular Science J-8-11938Documentary

A variety of scientific subjects, including the laboratory of a plastic surgeon in London, and his method for applying permanent makeup; a new school for kiddies employing finger paint so they can express their urge to put things on paper; Army aviation, showing the latest development in blind landing. Produced in Cinecolor.

Popular Science L-7-4
★ 8.0
Popular Science L-7-41948Documentary

At Arcata, California, testing technology for landing planes in fog. Also: a high-tech barber shop in Westwood Village, California; manufacture of precision steel gauge blocks in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Censored!1999Documentary

A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America.

Create or Die
Not rated
Create or Die2024Documentary

In an industry that is becoming increasingly competitive, what drives indie filmmakers to keep creating their art, even when there is no promise of money or fame? CREATE OR DIE explores the insatiable passion to create despite the overwhelming odds through the lens of South Carolina writer and filmmaker David Axe, as he and his band of cast and crew head out into the backwoods of Georgia to shoot his low budget passion project ACORN. But when tragedy strikes on set, doubt and tension threaten to bring an end to their production and their dreams.

Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda
★ 4.0
Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda1975Documentary

Episode of the BBC television program with host Michael Parkinson interviewing American actor Henry Fonda.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Killer Instincts: Richard Widmark and Ida Lupino at Twentieth Century Fox2008Documentary

Brief overview of the two actors at the Fox Studio.

Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle
★ 7.3
Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle2002Documentary

Russell revisits the life of composer Edward Elgar, using his own music as the score and featuring evocative, visually rich scenes, often set in the Malvern Hills where Elgar grew up.

Martin Scorsese Directs
★ 9.0
Martin Scorsese Directs1990Documentary

Providing behind the scenes footage of the director on set with clips from his own films, Martin Scorsese Directs depicts to riveting effect the way Scorsese brings the written story to life on the big screen. Additional interviews with the likes of Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Thelma Schoonmaker, the director’s own parents, and others build a perception of Scorsese that not everybody knows.

Matisse & Lydia
★ 8.0
Matisse & Lydia2025Documentary

Bacon-Freud, face à face
★ 8.0
Bacon-Freud, face à face2025Documentary

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Happy Skies: The Making of The Night Witches2025Documentary

The story of the making of "The Night Witches: the amazing true story of how Russian woman pilots helped win World War II" at UNW Theatre.

Le Paris des mannequins
★ 6.0
Le Paris des mannequins1963Documentary

A photoshoot on the roofs and in the streets of Paris, under the astonished eyes of the inhabitants.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.