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Dateline: 23rd April, 2007
Laurence Olivier was born on the 22nd May 1907 at 26 Wathen Road, Dorking, to the Reverend Gerard Olivier and his wife Agnes. There is a blue plaque on the wall of the house acknowledging the fact. It describes Laurence Olivier as "actor". That scarcely seems an adequate description of the man who became one of the leading actors of his generation, was knighted in 1947 and became Lord Olivier in 1981 after helping found the National Theatre in London. There will be a celebration of his centenary in the Dorking area sponsored by Mole Valley Arts Forum from 15th to 30th May, with exhibitions, showings of his most remarkable Shakespeare roles on film, talks about him, and showings of two of his most enduringly popular films. The Festival will begin on Tuesday 15th May with an exhibition of memorabilia, photographs, posters and programmes at the Performing Library, at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking. The exhibition will run until 30th May and is open during normal Performing Arts Library hours. Admission is free. Dorking Local History Group is also planning an exhibition entitled "The Oliviers in Dorking" at Dorking Museum. Dates are still to be finalised. The series of films of Olivier in Shakespeare also begins on 15th May with a screening of Henry V, to be followed by Hamlet on 16th May, Richard III on 24th May and Othello 29th on May. These will all be shown at Dorking Halls, admission £7.00, Box Office 01306 881717. On Sunday May 20th Dorking NADFAS is presenting a talk at Dorking Halls about his life and work, given by Frances Hughes and entitled "Every inch a King", and this will be followed by a showing of his 1940 film Rebecca, with Joan Fontaine and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Tickets will be £16.00 to include wine and nibbles. Phone the Dorking Halls Box Office on 01306 881717. There will be further showings of Rebecca at the Theatre in Leatherhead on Monday 21st May, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets £5.50/£4.50 from the Box Office 01372 365141. On Tuesday 22nd May, Olivier's actual birthday, there will be a talk from Tarquin Olivier, his elder son, on "Life with Father"; to be followed by a showing of Wuthering Heights, in which Olivier starred alongside Merle Oberon. This film was directed by William Wyler, who, Olivier claimed, really taught him the art of film acting. Tickets £7.00 from the Dorking Halls Box Office 01306 881717. Appeals will be made during the Festival to raise funds to have a bust created of Laurence Olivier to be erected in Dorking, possibly at Dorking Halls. The bust will be of him in the role of Hamlet and will be sculpted by the renowned sculptress Angela Conner. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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