![]() Critical acumen matches psychological insight in this biography. Since her death at the age of nineteen in 1431, Joan of Arc has maintained a remarkable hold on our. Neither wife nor nun, queen nor noblewoman, philosopher nor stateswoman, Joan of Arc demonstrates that everyone who follows their heart has the power to change history. In third wife Joan Plowright, a young, lively actress, Olivier found maternal endorsement and encouragement. In this meticulously researched landmark biography, Donald Spoto captures her astonishing life and the times in which she lived. ![]() ![]() The tragedy of his failed marriage to Vivien Leigh, victim of mental instability and electroshock, was totally avoidable, insists Spoto. Olivier envied the success of his first wife, actress Jill Esmond, a lesbian. This childhood, suggests Spoto, created an emotionally inaccessible man who channeled his passion into his art. Never close to his cold father, an Anglican priest, Olivier lost his mother at 12. A magnificent, moving biography worthy of its protean subject, this resonant portrait defines an actor whose personal upheavals fueled his intense realism on stage and screen. His 10-year affair with Danny Kaye drove Olivier to suicidal thoughts, reports Spoto, biographer of Hitchcock and Tennessee Williams. ![]() Knight of the realm, embodiment of England, great Shakespearean actor and movie star, Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) was saddled with self-loathing, chronic guilt over failed relationships and sexual ambivalence. ![]()
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