Laurence Harvey Parents: Ber Skikne & Ella Skikne

Laurence Harvey was born in Joniskis, Lithuania, the youngest of three sons of Ella and Ber Skikne.

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.

After moving to London, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but left RADA after three months. Billed as Larry Skikne, he appeared in the play Uprooted at the Comedy Theatre in 1947.