Laurence Harvey

Laurence Harvey, born Larushka Mischa Skikne on 1 October 1928 in Joniškis, Lithuania, was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director who worked across stage, film, and television primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States until his death on 25 November 1973. His Hebrew name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne, and he was the youngest of three sons born to Ella and Ber Skikne, Lithuanian Jewish parents. At the age of five, Harvey emigrated with his family to South Africa aboard the SS Adolph Woermann, where he grew up in Johannesburg and was known as Harry Skikne. At fifteen, he auditioned for the Entertainment Unit of the South African Army during the Second World War; the unit was managed by Sid James, who approved the audition, and the two remained lifelong friends. Harvey later stated on the American television program What's My Line?, broadcast 1 May 1960, that he arrived in South Africa in 1934 and relocated to the United Kingdom in 1946.

After settling in London, Harvey enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but departed after three months. Billed as Larry Skikne, he made his stage debut in Uprooted at the Comedy Theatre in 1947 and subsequently performed at the Library Theatre in Manchester, where his work led to his first film role. His cinema debut came in the British film House of Darkness in 1948, but distributor British Lion considered the name Larry Skikne commercially unviable. The stage name Laurence Harvey was adopted, with one account crediting talent agent Gordon Harbord, who drew on the names of British retailers Harvey Nichols and Harrods when selecting it. Another version attributes the name to Sid James, who reportedly suggested it during a London bus journey.

Harvey signed a two-year contract with Associated British Picture Corporation and appeared in supporting roles in several lower-budget productions, including Man on the Run and Landfall, both 1949, and The Dancing Years in 1950. Mayflower Productions gave him his first lead role in the Egypt-set police film Cairo Road in 1950, opposite Eric Portman. That same year he had a small part in the Hollywood-financed The Black Rose, starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles and directed by Henry Hathaway, marking his first experience in a Hollywood production. He also played Cassio in a BBC television production of Othello starring Andre Morell, and appeared on stage in Hassan at the Cambridge Theatre in 1951.

His career advanced further when he appeared in Women of Twilight in 1952, produced by Romulus Films, whose co-founder James Woolf became a significant supporter and signed Harvey to a long-term contract. Romulus cast him in the ensemble comedy Innocents in Paris in 1953 and the crime thriller The Good Die Young in 1954, the latter directed by Lewis Gilbert and featuring John Ireland, Richard Basehart, and Gloria Grahame. In 1953 he played Orlando in a BBC television production of As You Like It opposite Margaret Leighton, whom he would later marry. Harvey received an offer to play the juvenile male lead in the Warner Bros. medieval film King Richard and the Crusaders in 1954, starring Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, and George Sanders. That same year he played Romeo in Renato Castellani's film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, narrated by John Gielgud, and subsequently performed the same role on stage at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1955, Romulus cast him as writer Christopher Isherwood in I Am a Camera, alongside Julie Harris as Sally Bowles.

Harvey made his Broadway debut in 1955 in the drama Island of Goats, a production that closed after one week, though his performance earned him a Theatre World Award in 1956. He returned to Broadway in 1957 to appear in William Wycherley's comedy The Country Wife alongside Julie Harris, Pamela Brown, and Colleen Dewhurst, a production he had originally performed at London's Royal Court Theatre. His Broadway appearances also included the play King Henry V, with his work on the New York stage spanning 1955 to 1958.

Harvey's breakthrough to international stardom came when director Jack Clayton cast him as social climber Joe Lampton in Room at the Top in 1959, produced by Romulus, with Simone Signoret among the co-stars. The performance earned Harvey both a BAFTA Award nomination and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In the autumn of 1960, he appeared as William Barret Travis in The Alamo and as Weston Liggett in BUtterfield 8. In 1962 he played the brainwashed Sergeant Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate. Harvey made his directorial debut with The Ceremony in 1963 and continued acting into the 1970s. He died of cancer on 25 November 1973 at the age of 45.