Laurence Harvey (1 October 1928 – 25 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born actor. 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. His 1959 performance in Room at the Top brought him global fame and an Academy Award nomination. That success was followed by the role of the ill-fated Texan commander William Barret Travis in The Alamo, produced by John Wayne, and as the brainwashed Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate. Many of his films earned nominations and awards for either the films or his co-stars.
Paulene Stone (m. 1972–1973), Joan Perry (m. 1968–1972), Margaret Leighton (m. 1957–1961)
Children
Domino Harvey
Parents
Ella Skikne, Ber Skikne
Awards
Golden Globe Henrietta Award for World Film Favorites
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama, BAFTA Award for Best British Actor
Movies
The Manchurian Candidate, Room at the Top, The Alamo, BUtterfield 8, Walk on the Wild Side, Life at the Top, A Dandy in Aspic, Summer and Smoke, Expresso Bongo, The Silent Enemy, The Good Die Young, The Magic Christian, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Outrage, Night Watch, Welcome to ...
Star Sign
Libra
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Trademark
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Powerful intensity, often added to an underlying sense of menace
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Deep voice and impeccable diction
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Often played complex, morally ambiguous characters
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Often played characters torn between love and ambition
[on Julie Christie] She is marvelous, absolutely adorable, enchanting, sexy, alive, vibrant, astute, clever and knowledgeable.
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I've always lived above my income. When I was earning $100 a week, I spent $200 . . . always borrowing against my future earnings. That's why I'm not the only one who wants me to be a success.
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We English have sex on the brain. Not the best place for it, actually.
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Fact
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Became a father for the 1st time at age 40 when his lover [later 3rd wife] Paulene Stone gave birth to their daughter Domino Harvey on August 7, 1969.
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Attended Michael Caine's wedding to wife Shakira in early 1973.
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Lied about his age at 14 in order to join the South African Navy.
4
During filming of The Alamo (1960) in late 1959, Harvey was seriously injured during a scene in which a cannon fired, recoiled and landed on his foot, breaking it in several places. According to witnesses, Harvey finished the scene (with director & actor John Wayne at his side) and collapsed in agony only after the cameras stopped rolling.
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Was friends with Sidney James until they worked on The Silent Enemy (1958), together. According to the book "A Biography Of Sid James", James was offered the role of "Chief Petty Officer Thorpe" on the recommendation of Harvey, but their friendship ended during the filming. He found Harvey to be "pompous and full of his own importance".
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His death from stomach cancer is thought to have been caused by his heavy smoking and longtime alcoholism.
He had a long run as King Arthur in the musical "Camelot" in Drury Lane in 1964.
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On acting with Harvey in Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Jane Fonda later commented, "Acting opposite Harvey is like acting by yourself--only worse!".
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During the launching of the James Bond franchise in 1961, he was strongly considered for the part of Bond.
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Appears briefly in a scene in Tony Richardson's The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), sitting in a theater audience near Trevor Howard as the crowd shouts out "Black bottle." Harvey had planned to make a film about the charge, even to the extent of bidding for the original Light Brigade bugle when it was up for auction in 1964. The dueling productions led to a lawsuit: As part of a settlement with Woodfall Films, he was cast as a Russian prince in the film but his part was cut out completely except for this very brief (and uncredited) appearance in the final cut.
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His daughter, Domino Harvey, was born out-of-wedlock in Belgravia, London on August 7, 1969 to Vogue model Paulene Stone. Domino was the fruit of a three-year-long affair between Harvey and Stone during his second marriage to American multi-millionaire Joan Cohn. The former Joan Perry, she was Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn's widow and 17 years Harvey's senior. Harvey eventually divorced Cohn and married Stone shortly before his death from stomach cancer in 1973.
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While a teenager, he served in the South African Army's entertainment unit during World War Two.
14
Was cast in the film version of Jungle Fighters (1961) (1961), the hit 1959 West End play that made Peter O'Toole a stage star, as the Hollywood studio would not accept O'Toole or second-choice Albert Finney in the role that went to Harvey, who was a known quantity in films.
His daughter, Domino Harvey, once a model, was a bounty hunter. She was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her Los Angeles home, June 27, 2005, dying that day in a hospital of an accidental overdose of the painkiller, Fentanyl, at age 35.
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He considered himself British (as well as South African), and was also quite proud of his Lithuanian Jewish heritage.
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Emigrated to South Africa at the age of 5 and grew up in Johannesburg, moving to London in 1946.
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First Lithuanian actor to be nominated for an Oscar.
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Adopted his stage name from the Harvey Nichols Group.
$1.1 Million
