Laurence Harvey
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Laurence Harvey (October 1, 1928 - November 25, 1973) was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.
Born Laruschka Mischa Skikne to a Jewish family in Joniskis, Lithuania, he emigrated to South Africa at the age of five. He grew up in Johannesburg, and was in his teens when he served with the entertainment unit of the South African Army during World War II. After moving to London, England, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and from there moved to perform on stage and film using the stage name "Laurence Harvey."
Harvey's first major role came in 1959 when he was cast by director Jack Clayton in Room at the Top produced by British film producing brothers Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and Remus Films. For his performance, Harvey received a nomination for a BAFTA Award and for an Academy Award for Best Actor, the first person of Lithuanian descent to be nominated for an Academy Award.
During the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in several major films, including Butterfield 8, The Alamo, Darling and the critically acclaimed The Manchurian Candidate, for which he is most well known.
He was married three times:
- Margaret Leighton (1957-1961) (divorced)
- Joan Cohn (1968-1972) (divorced)
- Paulene Stone (1972-1973), with whom he remained until his death from stomach cancer at age of 45, and with whom he had a daughter, Domino Harvey (1969-2005).
