Jill Esmond

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.

  • Popularity : 2.391
  • Known For : Acting
  • Birthday : 1908-01-26
  • Place of Birth : London, England, UK
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Jill Esmond Movies

  • 1942
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    Random Harvest

    Random Harvest

    7.3 1942 HD

    Wandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.

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  • 1948
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    Escape

    Escape

    5.7 1948 HD

    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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  • 1955
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    A Man Called Peter

    A Man Called Peter

    6.4 1955 HD

    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...

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  • 1946
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    Bedelia

    Bedelia

    5.2 1946 HD

    Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington. But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney,...

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  • 1944
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    Casanova Brown

    Casanova Brown

    6.3 1944 HD

    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,...

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  • 1931
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    The Skin Game

    The Skin Game

    5.3 1931 HD

    An old traditional family and a modern family battle over land in a small English village.

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  • 1932
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    Thirteen Women

    Thirteen Women

    6.3 1932 HD

    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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  • 1942
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    The Pied Piper

    The Pied Piper

    6.818 1942 HD

    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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  • 1954
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    Night People

    Night People

    5.9 1954 HD

    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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  • 1946
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    The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

    The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

    4.9 1946 HD

    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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  • 1932
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    State's Attorney

    State's Attorney

    6.7 1932 HD

    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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  • 1944
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    My Pal, Wolf

    My Pal, Wolf

    7.3 1944 HD

    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...

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  • 1932
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    Is My Face Red?

    Is My Face Red?

    5 1932 HD

    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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  • 1932
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    Ladies of the Jury

    Ladies of the Jury

    6.4 1932 HD

    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...

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  • 1931
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    Once a Lady

    Once a Lady

    3.5 1931 HD

    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...

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  • 1933
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    F.P.1

    F.P.1

    6.4 1933 HD

    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...

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  • 1942
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    This Above All

    This Above All

    6.6 1942 HD

    In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF service branch. She soon meets and falls in love with...

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  • 1952
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    Private Information

    Private Information

    6.4 1952 HD

    A woman suspects that the local council is corrupt and building defective drains that could cause public health issues.

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  • 1933
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    No Funny Business

    No Funny Business

    1 1933 HD

    'Riviera. Professional co-respondents mistake one another for clients.' (British Film Catalogue)

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  • 1939
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    Prison Without Bars

    Prison Without Bars

    1 1939 HD

    1939 BBC studio production of Peggy Barwell’s play Prison without Bars, set in a girls’ reformatory, which was adapted from a German play...

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  • 1930
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    The Chinese Bungalow

    The Chinese Bungalow

    1 1930 HD

    A young British woman marries a Chinese mandarin then falls in love with an Englishman. The mandarin plots his revenge.

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  • 1942
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    Journey for Margaret

    Journey for Margaret

    6.6 1942 HD

    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...

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  • 1942
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    Eagle Squadron

    Eagle Squadron

    1 1942 HD

    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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  • 1931
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    The Eternal Feminine

    The Eternal Feminine

    1 1931 HD

    Backstage drama in which the love of a young actress for her crippled husband triumphs.

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  • 1944
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    The White Cliffs of Dover

    The White Cliffs of Dover

    6.7 1944 HD

    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...

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  • 1955
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    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    7.7 1955 HD

    A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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