The untold story of how BBC tried to convince Laurence Olivier his first television appearance will be released in the corporation's new archival project.
The BBC will also publish a chain of correspondence between the broadcaster and Vanessa Redgravecontaining a letter from 1952, when a 15-year-old aspiring actress seeks an audition for herself and her brother Corin.
Both will be included in a new archival initiative which will see the release of a package of 50,000 files detailing part of the national broadcaster's 100-year history.
There is also a letter from the BBC with an invitation. David Attenborough to apply for the Television Training Scheme after his unsuccessful bid to become a producer in 1952 – a decision that may have changed the course of broadcasting history.
Olivier has appeared in a number of popular ITV series such as Return to Brideshead along with American television, including Moon and sixpence but he has never acted in a BBC drama. BBC archives show things could have been different, with internal memos revealing how the national broadcaster tried to persuade Olivier to make his TV debut. Olivier is a doyen of the British screen and stage, winner of an Oscar and five BAFTA awards.
The BBC said the archives will also feature Attenborough's application for the television training programme. Attenborough is best known for his nature documentaries, of which he is undoubtedly the world's best, but he was also the second controller of BBC Two back in the 1960s. Under his leadership, the channel flourished, and he became perhaps its most successful presenter.
The BBC Archives Initiative, which will publish 50,000 files, will also publish reports and cables from the 1930s and 1940s documenting President Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration and wartime broadcasts, as well as correspondence detailing Jawaharlal Nehru's BBC specials on Gandhi and world development.
“This release is part of our plans to make more of the BBC's written archives available to the public, revealing the stories of our programs and the people who helped shape British broadcasting,” said Noreen Adams, BBC director of archival technology and services. “This first batch includes extraordinary materials featuring some of our most famous names, as well as thousands of other documents that provide fresh context to our cultural history.”
