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Alec Guinness
Age: 86 (passed away Aug. 5th, 2000)
Height: 5' 10"
Birth Place: Marylebone, London, England, UK
Born: Apr. 2nd, 1914
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Alec Guinness' Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: While working in advertising, he studied at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, debuting on stage in 1934 and played classic theater with the Old Vic from 1936. In 1941, he entered the Royal navy as a seaman and was commissioned the next year. Beyond an extra part in Evensong (1934), his film career began after World War II with his portrayal of Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946). A string of films, mostly comedies, showed off his ability to look different in every role, eight of them, including a woman, in one movie alone, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). His best known recent work was as the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars (1977) trilogy. He earned a best actor Oscar and Golden Globe in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and an Honorary Academy Award (1980) for "advancing the art of screen acting through a host of memorable and distinguished performances". Academy nominations have included The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) (actor); The Horse's Mouth (1958) (screenplay); Star Wars (1977) (supporting) and Little Dorrit (1988) (supporting). He was knighted in 1959 for his accomplishments in theater and film.
TRIVIA:
- While filming _The Swan (1956)_ (qv) in Hollywood he met 'James Dean (I)' (qv), just days before the young actor's death. Sir Alec later recalled predicting that Dean would die in a car crash: when Dean showed Guinness his newly-bought Porsche, Guinness advised him to "Get rid of that car, or you'll be dead in a week!" Guinness unfortunately proved right.
- Went bald on top, and according to his "Time" Magazine cover story of 21 April 1958, he was embarrassed by it but chose not to wear a hairpiece in private life. He told the "Time" writer that he had shaved the top of his head as a young man in his first professional acting engagement, playing a coolie. It never grew back properly after that, he lamented.
- Created a Companion of Honour in 1994.
- He was awarded the 'Laurence Olivier' (qv) Theatre Special Award in 1989 (1988 season) for his outstanding contributions to West End Theatre.
- He was voted third in the Orange Film 2001 survey of greatest British film actors.
- The qualities he claimed to most admire in an actor were "simplicity, purity, clarity of line."
- His favourite hotel in London was the Connaught, in which he always stayed whenever visiting the city.
- 'Ewan McGregor' (qv) was not the only actor in the Star Wars prequels to study his performances. The voice for the character Watto was modeled after Guinness's performance as Fagin in _Oliver Twist (1948)_ (qv).
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