His next film was another stage adaptation, though a decidedly more modern one and starred an actress who would definitely have been out of place in one of his Shakespeare pictures. Marilyn Monroe was the female lead in The Prince and the Showgirl and received one of the films five BAFTA nomination as Best Foreign Actress although it was snubbed by the Oscars.

Two of his most famous performances came in 1960 and they couldn’t have been more different. The Entertainer was the story of Archie Rice, a has-been vaudeville performer, and the play it was adapted from was written specifically for Olivier by John Osborne. It was a part he felt great affinity for, later remarking, "I am Archie Rice. I am not Hamlet." Spartacus was his other film from 1960 and as Marcus Licinius Crassus he was the perfect remedy to Kirk Douglas’ overdose of testosterone.

Othello brought further plaudits (and another Oscar nomination) making the effort Olivier underwent to get in shape for the part worthwhile. A further three nominations followed in the '70s – Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978).

He continued acting into his eighties, playing King Lear on TV (1983) and making a cameo appearance in the Anthony Hopkins/Mel Gibson film The Bounty (1984). He died on 11 July, 1989.

This article has only covered Olivier’s film work and even then only some of the high points. He continued to work on the stage into the '70s as well as lending his vocal talents to the famous Thames TV documentary series The World at War (1974). He was married three times - to Jill Esmond (1930-1940), Vivien Leigh (1940-1960), and Joan Plowright (1961-1989).

May 22 marks the centenary of Olivier's birth and over the coming week I’ll be reviewing some of my favourite films starring the great man, including Marathon Man and Sleuth.