LONDON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The widow of British actor Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, says the man was a genius "attended by demons," the BBC reports.
In a rare interview, the 76-year-old widow told Britain's Telegraph rumors of affairs -- both with women and men -- can't sully his legacy.
"I don't think there is any need to defend his memory. His performances, his greatness as an artist are there," she said. "If a man is touched by genius, he is not an ordinary person. He doesn't lead an ordinary life."
The actor died in 1989 at the age of 82 from prostate cancer and a muscle wasting disease.
The couple met when she was a rising star at London's Royal Court Theatre in the late 1950s, The Telegraph said. She refuted the claim in his autobiography there was an instant attraction between them, saying that didn't happen until they worked together in the West End production of John Osborne's The Entertainer.
At the time, Olivier was married to Vivien Leigh, who won two Oscars for "Gone With The Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire." However, the marriage was about to collapse, Olivier said, because of Leigh's manic depression.
