I first became familiar with Laurence Harvey via David Shipman's entry on him in the book The Great Movie Stars. Shipman really tore into him, slagging his acting, quoting people who worked with him and hated him, saying he was a male prostitute.
I get Harvey was annoying. He was relentlessly pushy and ambitious. He spruiked himself mercilessly. He was arrogant and could deliver terrible performances. He never really had a strong box office appeal. He could be bitchy and really cruel. He was chronically unfaithful to people. He spent money like it was going out of fashion. He was a wanker. He hit Hermoine Baddley. He cheated on his partners.
And yet... and yet...
He worked really hard. He constantly went back to the stage even when it cost him film money. He always tried different things - producing, directing. He pushed. He experimented. Some of his performances on film were superb - not just Room at the Top but also The Alamo. (Around the same time he'd be so terrible in Expresso Bongo and The Long and the Short and The Tall.)
Yes he did hook up with women and men who were older and richer than he and could've helped his career - but he seemed to genuinely like them. I think he was attracted to maturity and success. People didn't have to help him as much as he did. He was handsome; he must've been good company when in the right mood.
He had a fascinating life and career. Born in Lithuania, he moved to South Africa as a young boy and grew up in Jo'burg. He didn't like it much and entered the army as soon as he could and entertained the troops - alongside Sid James, who hated him. Then it was off to RADA, which he left soon for Manchester Rep. He was tall, good looking and studied hard, as well as being ambitious - he was working reasonably steadily almost straight away, although as someone who spent money as soon as he earned it he was always whingeing about his lack of progress. What really got things going for him was James Woolf of Romulus - he fell in love with Harvey and thought he was going to be a big star.
Harvey achieved acclaim at Stratford Upon Avon. He was noticed for films like Cairo Road and also Romeo and Juliet; he was in a terrible Hollywood film, King Richard and the Crusades but redeemed himself in Romulus films like I Am Camera and The Silent Enemy. He was also in Storm Over the Nile. He was terrible in Three Men on a Boat but Room at the Top made him an international name.
The films that followed were varied but often interesting - The Alamo, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. He directed on stage and film (The Ceremony) and made a lot of money out of Darling. His star faded in the late 60s and he died relatively young.
The book is well done though frustratingly lacking in footnotes. It feels as though it had a lot of co operation from his family.
A really interesting actor.
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