 One of Olivier 's contemporaries at the school was Peggy Ashcroft , who observed he was " rather <unk> in that his sleeves were too short and his hair stood on end but he was intensely lively and great fun " . By his own admission , he was not a very conscientious student , but Fogerty liked him and later said that he and Ashcroft stood out among her many pupils . On leaving the school after a year , Olivier gained work with small touring companies before being taken on in 1925 by Sybil Thorndike and her husband , Lewis <unk> , as a bit @-@ part player , <unk> and assistant stage manager for their London company . He modelled his performing style on that of Gerald du <unk> , of whom he said , " He seemed to <unk> on stage but had such perfect technique . When I started I was so busy doing a du <unk> that no one ever heard a word I said . The Shakespearean actors one saw were terrible <unk> like Frank Benson . " His concern to speak naturally and avoid what he called " singing " Shakespeare 's verse was the cause of much frustration in his early career , with critics regularly decrying his delivery . 
