Jill Esmond (January 26, 1908 – July 28, 1990) was a British actress. January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Esmond was born in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she decided at the age of fourteen to become an actress. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys Cooper's Peter Pan but her success was shortlived. When her father died suddenly in 1922 Esmond returned to school and at the time considered abandoning her ambition to act. Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... Henry Vernon Esmond (1869 – April 17, 1922) was a British actor and playwright. ... Eva Moore (February 9, 1870 - April 27, 1955) was an English actress. ... A boarding school is a self-contained educational total institution where students not only study but where some or all students may live. ... Dame Gladys Constance Cooper (December 18, 1888 - November 17, 1971) was an English actress, who was awarded the DBE for her services to the theatre. ... Statue of Peter Pan in St. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

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. RADAs theatre in London The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, and is generally regarded as the most prestigious drama school in the United Kingdom. ... The term West End is most commonly used to refer to the West End of London, an area mostly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden, in London, England. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ...

In 1928 she appeared in the production of Bird in the Hand where she met fellow cast member Laurence Olivier 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 in 1930; they had one son, Tarquin Olivier (later a film producer), in 1936. 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 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. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Laurence Olivier, as photographed in 1939 by Carl Van Vechten The Right Honourable Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, KBE (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an Oscar winning English actor and director, esteemed by many as the greatest actor of the 20th century. ... This article is about the street in New York City. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a British-born film director and producer, closely associated with the suspense thriller genre. ... The Skin Game is a 1931 film by Alfred Hitchcock, based on a play by John Galsworthy. ... Thirteen Women is a 1932 film, produced by RKO Studios and directed by George Archainbaud. ... Private Lives is a play written by Noel Coward in 1930. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Noël Coward Sir Noel Peirce Coward (spelling his forename Noël with the diaeresis was an affectation of later life, and Peirce is the correct spelling) (December 16, 1899 – March 26, 1973) was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ... Gertrude Lawrence (June 4, 1898 - September 6, 1952) was an actress and musical performer popular in the 1930s-40s, appearing on stage in London and on Broadway, and in several films. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Esmond withstood the publicity of Olivier's affair with Vivien Leigh and did not seek a divorce. Pressed by Olivier, who was anxious to marry Leigh, she eventually agreed and they were divorced in 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). She starred in the Broadway production of 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. Vivien Leigh (1913-1967) Vivien Leigh (November 5, 1913 – July 7, 1967) was an English actress who achieved outstanding success in both theatre and cinema. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 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 helping a large group of children to safety. ... Random Harvest is a 1942 film in which a man loses his memory after being traumatized by his experiences in World War I. He begins a new life, then suddenly regains his memory and tries to pick up his old life, having no recollection of his new life. ... The white cliffs of Dover The white cliffs of Dover, immortalized in popular song and verse (by Vera Lynn, Kate Smith, and others), are cliffs facing the Strait of Dover near the major English port town of Dover, in the county of Kent, and form part of the North Downs. ... Morning Star may mean: Morning Star (chief), a Cheyenne leader, also known as Dull Knife. ... This article is about the year. ... Gregory Peck at Cannes, 2000 Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American film actor. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In her later years, Esmond discussed the bitterness she still 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. She did not remarry, and died in Wimbledon, London at the age of 82. Wimbledon (pronounced ) is a suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton and seven miles (11. ...

Since the deaths of Esmond and Olivier, biographers have written that Olivier was bisexual for his entire life, and that his marriage with Esmond was convenient for both of them, as she was a lesbian, although they produced a child, as well. This article needs cleanup. ... Bisexuality in human sexual behavior refers to the aesthetic, romantic, and sexual desire for both genders. ...

The biographies describe the marriage as a relatively happy one, based on mutual respect and affection and their shared love of theatre. They write that Esmond's feelings of betrayal were genuine despite the unconventional nature of the marriage.