Action! Action!
Olivier was born on this day in 1907.
At the age of ten, while attending a West End choir school Laurence Olivier appeared in a production of Julius Caesar; it was seen by Irving's former theatrical partner, Ellen Terry, who noted in her diary: 'The small boy who played Brutus is already a great actor' (DNB).
Olivier became in turn "classical actor, Hollywood star, theatrical and television producer, West End impresario" and co-founder and director of the National Theatre. (Our post on Olivier continues here.)
Arthur Conan Doyle was born on this day in 1859. In an earlier post, we noted that His Life in Letters had been published.
Guy Ritchie has a new film coming out - Sherlock Holmes. Over the top, I'd say.
One of the happy things about Olivier's genius was that he could find a place to express it. Brits have loved and supported theatre for a long time.