The Oliviers - A Biography

London: Hamish Hamilton, 1953. First Edition. Signed presentation copy from Laurence Olivier to George Crawford, the stuntman who performed a dangerous stunt for Olivier in his film version of Hamlet. Inscribed at the bottom of the frontispiece photograph portrait of Olivier and Vivien: “To George Crawford. Every good wish & kind and most grateful remembrance. L. Olivier.” Slightly cocked, the book is very good in a very good dust jacket, chipped at bottom of spine, and with tears and creases. Crawford’s work for Olivier is discussed in the book: “The dramatic scene in which Hamlet leapt from the balcony to kill Claudius at the end of the duel was not filmed until the very last day, as Olivier had privately planned something in the great heroic and acrobatic tradition which was becoming his trade mark, and in the performance of which he might very easily get hurt. Basil, who was playing the King, shared the apprehension of the rest of the unit about this leap, and was not reassured by Olivier’s promise that he would hardly notice it. When he heard that his back would be to the camera in the scene Sydney firmly said he thought it would be better if he had a stand-in. A professional strong-man name Geroge Crawford was brought down to the studios, fitted into the robes of Claudius and, as Olivier changed from the jump he had planned which would have meant he landed only half on the King. With the cry of ‘The venom to thy work’ he back his arms and performed a complete swallow dive on to the stand-in. Even strong men have their limits, this one was knocked unconscious and lost two teeth. Crawford’s sacrifice also went without honour, for the publicity department, unwilling to divulge the secret of the stand-in was forced to pretend to the world that scene went off “without mishap.’