Laurence Olivier In Focus (Part 1)

May 22nd is Laurence Olivier’s 103rd birthday, so I thought it would be fun to do a sort of “ode to Larry” and post some of my favorite Olivier photos in a series called “Laurence Olivier in Focus.”

This particular photo was taken during Larry’s service with the Fleet Air Arm during the war.  You can see he’s got his Navy blues on, and frankly he looks like he’s modeling that uniform, what with the popped collar and everything.  Very nice.  My favorite part of this picture, however, is that it’s made out to Vivien Leigh’s mother.  The inscription says “Darling Gertrude, with love, Larry.”  I’m sure Gertrude Hartley appreciated a nice, handsome military photo of her son-in-law.  Or perhaps Vivien asked him to send one.  Who knows!