Jill Esmond
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jill Esmond (26 January 1908 – 28 July 1990) was an English actress and first wife of Sir Laurence Olivier.
In 1928 Esmond (billed as Jill Esmond Moore) appeared in the production of Bird in the Hand, where she met fellow cast member Laurence Olivier for the first time. Three weeks later, he proposed to her. In his autobiography Olivier later wrote that he was smitten with Esmond, and that her cool indifference to him did nothing but further his ardour. When Bird in the Hand was being staged on Broadway, Esmond was chosen to join the American production – but Olivier was not.
Determined to be near Esmond, Olivier travelled to New York City where he found work as an actor. Esmond won rave reviews for her performance. Olivier continued to follow Esmond, and after proposing to her several times, she agreed and the couple were married on 25 July 1930 at All Saints', Margaret Street; within weeks, the couple regretted their marriage. They had one son, Tarquin Olivier (born 21 August 1936).
Returning to the United Kingdom, Esmond made her film debut with a starring role in an early Alfred Hitchcock film The Skin Game (1931), and over the next few years appeared in several British and (pre-Code) Hollywood films, including Thirteen Women (1932). She also appeared in two Broadway productions with Olivier, Private Lives in 1931 with Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence and The Green Bay Tree in 1933.
Esmond's career continued to ascend while Olivier's own career languished, but after a couple of years, when his career began to show promise, she began to refuse roles. Esmond had been promised a role by David O. Selznick in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) but at only half-salary. Olivier had discovered that Katharine Hepburn had been offered a much greater salary, and convinced Esmond to turn down the role. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jill Esmond, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 3.743 |
Birthday | 1908-01-26 |
Place of Birth | London, England, UK |
Also Known As | Jill Esmond-Moore, Jill Esmond Moore, |
1942
Random Harvest
7.2/98
An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-...
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Random Harvest
1948
Escape
5.6/14
A convict sentenced to three years for killing a detective escapes from a prison and goes on the run aided by a local girl.
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Escape
1955
A Man Called Peter
6.4/15
Based on the true story of a young Scottish lad, Peter Marshall, who dreams of only going to sea but finds out there is a different future for him whe...
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A Man Called Peter
1946
Bedelia
5.2/6
Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington. But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney, begin...
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Bedelia
1944
Casanova Brown
6.31/21
Cass Brown is about to marry for the second time; his first marriage, to Isabel was annulled. But when he discovers that Isabel just had their baby, C...
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Casanova Brown
1931
The Skin Game
5.3/72
An old traditional family and a modern family battle over land in a small English village.
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The Skin Game
1932
Thirteen Women
6.2/28
Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
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Thirteen Women
1942
The Pied Piper
6.8/10
Englishman Mr. Howard is on a fishing holiday in eastern France when the Germans invade in 1940. Setting off to try and get back home he is persuaded...
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The Pied Piper
1954
Night People
5.938/32
A US intelligence officer, stationed in Germany, is caught in a political dilemma when the Russians kidnap a young Army private, the son of prominent...
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Night People
1946
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
4.9/9
Robin Hood's swashbuckling son comes to the rescue when England's boy-king is captured by the evil, power-hungry William of Pembroke.
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The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
1932
State's Attorney
6.7/6
Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster...
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State's Attorney
1944
My Pal, Wolf
7.3/3
A lonely child, neglected by her parents, encounters and befriends a German Shepherd, but she's unaware the animal is a military dog being trained for...
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My Pal, Wolf
1932
Is My Face Red?
4.8/4
William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and everyone as long as he gets the credit. He gets most of...
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Is My Face Red?
1932
Ladies of the Jury
6.4/8
Society matron Mrs. Livingston Baldwin Crane is selected as a juror in the trial of former chorus girl Yvette Gordon, who's accused of murdering her r...
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Ladies of the Jury
1931
Once a Lady
3.5/2
A young Russian woman marries a wealthy Englishman, and has a daughter with him. After she has an affair with one of his friends, she is forced to lea...
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Once a Lady
1933
F.P.1
6.3/7
Urged by famous airman Ellissen the Lennartz Company puts into reality the project proposed by his friend Droste: F.P.1, a huge floating platform in t...
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F.P.1
1942
This Above All
6.6/17
In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF service branch. She soon meets and falls in love with t...
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This Above All
1952
Private Information
6.4/5
A woman suspects that the local council is corrupt and building defective drains that could cause public health issues.
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Private Information
1939
Prison Without Bars
0/0
1939 BBC studio production of Peggy Barwell’s play Prison without Bars, set in a girls’ reformatory, which was adapted from a German play by Gina Kaus...
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Prison Without Bars
1930
The Chinese Bungalow
0/0
A young British woman marries a Chinese mandarin then falls in love with an Englishman. The mandarin plots his revenge.
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The Chinese Bungalow
1942
Journey for Margaret
6.6/17
An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days of WWII. After a shrapnel wound and loss of her ba...
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Journey for Margaret
1942
Eagle Squadron
0/0
An American joins the British Royal Air Force just before Pearl Harbor is attacked, and falls in love with a beautiful English girl.
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Eagle Squadron
1931
The Eternal Feminine
0/0
Backstage drama in which the love of a young actress for her crippled husband triumphs.
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The Eternal Feminine
1944
The White Cliffs of Dover
6.7/21
American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whir...
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The White Cliffs of Dover
1933
No Funny Business
0/0
'Riviera. Professional co-respondents mistake one another for clients.' (British Film Catalogue)
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