King Lear

TV Movie
1983
2h 38m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Aging King Lear invites disaster when he abdicates to his two disloyal and obsequious daughters while rejecting the one who truly loves him.Aging King Lear invites disaster when he abdicates to his two disloyal and obsequious daughters while rejecting the one who truly loves him.Aging King Lear invites disaster when he abdicates to his two disloyal and obsequious daughters while rejecting the one who truly loves him.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

901

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total

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Storyline

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Trivia
Esmond Knight (Old Man) previously appeared in all three Shakespearean films directed by Laurence Olivier: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955).

Quotes
King Lear: How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!

Connections
Featured in The 36th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1984)

User reviews36

Featured review

tour de force for the ageing Olivier

This TV production was Laurence Olivier's final great performance, playing Lear at the age of 75 (beyond him perhaps on stage but cleverly done here).

He is supported by a large cast of stage actors - Dorothy Tutin, Anna Calder-Marshall and Diana Rigg as his daughters; Robert Lindsay and David Threlfall as the warring brothers Edmund and Edgar; Colin Blakely as Kent; Leo McKern as Gloucester; John Hurt as The Fool - all of which make their impact. The staging is memorable and pulls the viewer in to the action.

Comparable to really being there watching the greats at work in the theatre, and a fantastic piece of television drama.