Jill Esmond
Encyclopedia
Jill Esmond was an English actress and first wife of Sir Laurence Olivier.
, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond
and Eva Moore
. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding school
s until she decided at the age of 14 to become an actress. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys Cooper
's Peter Pan
but her success was short-lived. When her father died suddenly in 1922, Esmond returned to school and at the time considered abandoning her ambition to act.
After reassessing her future and coming to terms with her father's death she studied with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
in London, and returned to the West End
stage in 1924. In 1925, she starred with her mother in a play Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, and after a few more successful roles, won critical praise for her part as a young suicide
in Outward Bound
.
for the first time. 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, he travelled to New York
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 July 25, 1930; they had one son, Tarquin Olivier (born 21 August 1936), who later became a film producer.
Returning to the United Kingdom
she 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 Noel Coward
and Gertrude Lawrence
, and The Green Bay Tree in 1933.
Her career continued to ascend while Olivier's own career languished, but when his career began to show promise after a couple of years, she began to refuse roles. She had been promised a role by David O. Selznick
in A Bill of Divorcement
(1932) but at only half-salary. Meanwhile, Olivier discovered that Katharine Hepburn
had been proposed a much greater salary, and convinced Esmond to turn down the role.
' play The Morning Star in 1942, a production noted for the acting debut of Gregory Peck
. Her acting appearances grew more sporadic with the passage of time and she made her final film appearance in 1955 but did have a recurring role as Eleanor of Aquitaine
in the late 50's TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood
.
and did not seek a divorce. Pressed by Olivier, who was anxious to marry Leigh, she eventually agreed and they were divorced on 29 January 1940. She returned briefly to acting and appeared in such popular films as Journey for Margaret
, The Pied Piper
and Random Harvest (all 1942) and The White Cliffs of Dover
(1944).
It is suggested that in her later years, Esmond discussed the bitterness she felt towards Olivier and her feeling that she had sacrificed her career so that he could further his own, only to find herself cruelly discarded. However, Esmond kept in touch with Olivier and in a letter to their son Tarquin said "It's funny after all that time how I can still love him so much." She attended his memorial service in October 1989 at Westminster Abbey, frail and in a wheelchair.
, London.
Early life
Esmond was born Jill Esmond Moore in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond
Henry V. Esmond
Henry Vernon Esmond was an English actor and playwright.Born Jack Esmond he began his career as an actor in London in 1889 where he had several successes in comedies. He began writing plays, usually comedies, while in his early twenties...
and Eva Moore
Eva Moore
Eva Moore was an English actress. Her career on stage and in film spanned six decades, and she was active in the women's suffrage movement.-Early life and career:...
. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
s until she decided at the age of 14 to become an actress. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television....
's Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
but her success was short-lived. When her father died suddenly in 1922, Esmond returned to school and at the time considered abandoning her ambition to act.
After reassessing her future and coming to terms with her father's death she studied with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in London, and returned to the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
stage in 1924. In 1925, she starred with her mother in a play Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, and after a few more successful roles, won critical praise for her part as a young suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in Outward Bound
Outward Bound
Outward Bound is an international, non-profit, independent, outdoor educationorganization with approximately 40 schools around the world and 200,000 participants per year...
.
Marriage and career
In 1928 she appeared in the production of Bird in the Hand where she met fellow cast member Laurence OlivierLaurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
for the first time. 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
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Esmond was chosen to join the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
production - but Olivier was not.
Determined to be near Esmond, he travelled to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
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 July 25, 1930; they had one son, Tarquin Olivier (born 21 August 1936), who later became a film producer.
Returning to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
she made her film debut with a starring role in an early Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
film The Skin Game (1931), and over the next few years appeared in several British and (pre-Code
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
) Hollywood films, including Thirteen Women
Thirteen Women
Thirteen Women is a psychological thriller film, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Archainbaud. It starred Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, Florence Eldridge and Jill Esmond...
(1932). She also appeared in two Broadway productions with Olivier, Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
in 1931 with Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
and Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End theatre district of London and on Broadway.-Early life:...
, and The Green Bay Tree in 1933.
Her career continued to ascend while Olivier's own career languished, but when his career began to show promise after a couple of years, she began to refuse roles. She had been promised a role by David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
in A Bill of Divorcement
A Bill of Divorcement
A Bill of Divorcement is a 1932 American drama film, directed by George Cukor and starring John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn in her movie debut. It is based on the British play of the same name, written by Clemence Dane as a reaction to a law passed in Britain in the early 1920s that allowed...
(1932) but at only half-salary. Meanwhile, Olivier discovered that Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
had been proposed a much greater salary, and convinced Esmond to turn down the role.
Later years
She starred in the Broadway production of Emlyn WilliamsEmlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE , known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor.-Biography:He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family in Mostyn, Flintshire....
' play The Morning Star in 1942, a production noted for the acting debut of Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
. Her acting appearances grew more sporadic with the passage of time and she made her final film appearance in 1955 but did have a recurring role as Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
in the late 50's TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...
.
Personal life
Esmond withstood the publicity of Olivier's affair with Vivien LeighVivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
and did not seek a divorce. Pressed by Olivier, who was anxious to marry Leigh, she eventually agreed and they were divorced on 29 January 1940. She returned briefly to acting and appeared in such popular films as Journey for Margaret
Journey for Margaret
Journey for Margaret is a 1942 drama film set in London in World War II. It stars Robert Young and Laraine Day as a couple who have to deal with the loss of their unborn child due to a bombing raid. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Lindsay White.-Plot:John Davis is a...
, The Pied Piper
The Pied Piper (1942 film)
The Pied Piper is a 1942 film in which an Englishman on vacation in France is caught up in the German invasion of that country, and finds himself taking an ever-growing group of children to safety. It stars Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson...
and Random Harvest (all 1942) and The White Cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944 film)
The White Cliffs of Dover is a 1944 film made by Loew's and MGM. It was directed by Clarence Brown and produced by Clarence Brown and Sidney Franklin. The screenplay was by Claudine West, Jan Lustig and George Froeschel, based on the Alice Duer Miller poem titled The White Cliffs with additional...
(1944).
It is suggested that in her later years, Esmond discussed the bitterness she felt towards Olivier and her feeling that she had sacrificed her career so that he could further his own, only to find herself cruelly discarded. However, Esmond kept in touch with Olivier and in a letter to their son Tarquin said "It's funny after all that time how I can still love him so much." She attended his memorial service in October 1989 at Westminster Abbey, frail and in a wheelchair.
Death
She was 82 years old when she died on 28 July 1990 in WandsworthLondon Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
, London.