Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 1928 – 25 November 1973) was a Lithuanian actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in the United Kingdom after World War II. In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Harvey appeared in stage, film and television productions primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Harvey was known for his clipped, refined accent and cool, debonair screen persona. His performance in Room at the Top (1959) resulted in an Academy Award nomination. That success was followed by the roles of William Barret Travis in The Alamo and Weston Liggett in Butterfield 8, both films released in the autumn of 1960. He also appeared as the brainwashed Sergeant Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He made his directorial debut with The Ceremony (1963), and continued acting into the 1970s until his early death in 1973 of cancer.
Harvey was born in Joniškis, Lithuania, the youngest of three sons of Ella (née Zotnickaita) and Ber Skikne, Lithuanian Jewish parents. His civil birth name was Larushka Mischa Skikne. His Hebrew name was Zvi Mosheh. When he was five years old, his family travelled with the family of Riva Segal and her two sons, Louis and Charles Segal on the SS Adolph Woermann to South Africa, where he was known as Harry Skikne. Harvey grew up in Johannesburg. He was only fifteen when he auditioned to join the Entertainment Unit of the South African Army during the Second World War. Sid James managed the Unit and approved his audition. They become long-time friends.[better source needed] As the Mystery Guest on USA TV show What's My Line? screened 1 May 1960, he states he arrived in South Africa in 1934 and moved to the UK in 1946.

Return to Laurence Harvey Autograph Profile