Jill Esmond

Jill Esmond

Born: January 26, 1908
Died: July 20, 1990
in London, England, UK
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.

Movies for Jill Esmond...

Title: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Character: Jill Hillcrist (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: October 2, 1955
Type: TV
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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A Man Called Peter
Title: A Man Called Peter
Character: Mrs. Findlay
Released: March 31, 1955
Type: Movie
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 when he receives a "calling" from God to be a minister. He leaves Scotland and goes to America where after a few small congregations he lands the position of pastor of the Church of the Presidents in Washington, D.C. and eventually he becomes Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.
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Night People
Title: Night People
Character: Frau Schindler / Rachel Cameron
Released: March 11, 1954
Type: Movie
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 American businessman. In exchange for the soldier's return, the Russians attempt to barter a trade for an elderly German couple who they want for treason.
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Private Information
Title: Private Information
Character: Mrs. Charlotte Carson
Released: March 26, 1952
Type: Movie
A woman suspects that the local council is corrupt and building defective drains that could cause public health issues.
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Escape
Title: Escape
Character: Grace Winton
Released: March 1, 1948
Type: Movie
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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Bedelia
Title: Bedelia
Character: Nurse Harris
Released: July 8, 1946
Type: Movie
Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington. But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney, begins probing into her past with curious concern. Chaney, who is really a detective, learns that Bedelia's obsession for money has led her, in the past, to husband-poisoning for the insurance money.
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The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
Title: The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
Character: The Queen Mother
Released: February 21, 1946
Type: Movie
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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My Pal, Wolf
Title: My Pal, Wolf
Character: Elizabeth Munn
Released: September 25, 1944
Type: Movie
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 service in WW2.
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Casanova Brown
Title: Casanova Brown
Character: Dr. Zernerke
Released: August 23, 1944
Type: Movie
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, Cass kidnaps the infant to keep her from being adopted. Isabel's parents hunt for the child and discover that Cass and Isabel are still hopelessly in love.
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The White Cliffs of Dover
Title: The White Cliffs of Dover
Character: Rosamund
Released: May 11, 1944
Type: Movie
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 whirlwind romance. However, she never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry. At the outbreak of World War I, John is sent to the trenches and never returns. When her son goes off to fight in World War II, Susan fears the same tragic fate may befall him too.
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Random Harvest
Title: Random Harvest
Character: Lydia
Released: December 17, 1942
Type: Movie
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-War life.
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Journey for Margaret
Title: Journey for Margaret
Character: Susan Fleming
Released: December 17, 1942
Type: Movie
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 baby she returns to America. War weary, he is forced to do a story about war orphans, where he meets Margaret.
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The Pied Piper
Title: The Pied Piper
Character: Mrs. Cavanaugh
Released: August 21, 1942
Type: Movie
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 to take along the two Cavanaugh children, and as his journey progresses his family keeps growing in size. Once in German-occupied northern France a new problem arises — the risk of being heard speaking English.
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Eagle Squadron
Title: Eagle Squadron
Character: Phyllis
Released: June 16, 1942
Type: Movie
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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This Above All
Title: This Above All
Character: Nurse Emily Harvey
Released: May 12, 1942
Type: Movie
In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF service branch. She soon meets and falls in love with the brooding Clive Briggs, despite his prejudice against the upper classes, and agrees to spend a week with him at a Dover hotel. When Clive's soldier friend, Monty, arrives to retrieve him, Prudence learns that Clive went AWOL after Dunkirk, and urges him to recall why England must fight the war.
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Prison Without Bars
Title: Prison Without Bars
Released: July 29, 1939
Type: Movie
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 and Otto Edgar Eis. An inmate of a girl's reformatory competes with its superintendent for the affections of its young doctor.
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F.P.1
Title: F.P.1
Character: Claire Lennartz
Released: April 2, 1933
Type: Movie
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 the Atlantic that makes long-distance flights viable. Ellissen is in love with company heiress Claire, but when he returns from his adventures to save the endangered F.P.1 he finds out that he has lost her to Droste. English version of F.P.1 antwortet nicht with Conrad Veidt replacing Hans Albers as the jaded pilot Ellissen.
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No Funny Business
Title: No Funny Business
Character: Anne Moore
Released: March 30, 1933
Type: Movie
'Riviera. Professional co-respondents mistake one another for clients.' (British Film Catalogue)
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Thirteen Women
Title: Thirteen Women
Character: Jo Turner
Released: September 16, 1932
Type: Movie
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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Is My Face Red?
Title: Is My Face Red?
Character: Mildred Huntington
Released: June 17, 1932
Type: Movie
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 his information from his showgirl gal-pal, Peggy. Eventually Bill's reckless tattling gets him in deep trouble with friends and enemies, putting his career and life in jeopardy.
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State's Attorney
Title: State's Attorney
Character: Lillian Ulrich
Released: May 20, 1932
Type: Movie
Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster Valentine Powers, who employs Cardigan and put him through school, asks him to represent a woman, June Perry, accused of prostitution. Cardigan agrees. But he never expected to fall for her, which is problematic since he's angling to become governor and will need the right kind of wife.
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Ladies of the Jury
Title: Ladies of the Jury
Character: Yvette Gordon
Released: February 2, 1932
Type: Movie
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 rich older husband. In court and during deliberations, Mrs. Crane proves to be a disruptive and unorthodox juror.
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Once a Lady
Title: Once a Lady
Character: Faith Penwick
Released: November 7, 1931
Type: Movie
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 leave Britain and moves to Paris. Many years later, her daughter approaches her, needing her help.
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The Skin Game
Title: The Skin Game
Character: Jill Hillcrist
Released: February 26, 1931
Type: Movie
An old traditional family and a modern family battle over land in a small English village.
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The Eternal Feminine
Title: The Eternal Feminine
Character: Claire Lee
Released: February 1, 1931
Type: Movie
Backstage drama in which the love of a young actress for her crippled husband triumphs.
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The Chinese Bungalow
Title: The Chinese Bungalow
Character: Jean Sing
Released: September 26, 1930
Type: Movie
A young British woman marries a Chinese mandarin then falls in love with an Englishman. The mandarin plots his revenge.