Alec Guinness Add to My Celebs Age 86 (passed away Aug. 5th, 2000) Birthday Apr. 2nd, 1914 Born in Marylebone, London, England, UK Height 5' 10"

Alec Guinness' Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Smiley's People (UK) George Smiley Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (UK) George Smiley

Main Movie Roles 1991 - Kafka 1988 - A Handful of Dust 1984 - A Passage to India 1983 - Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 1980 - Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 1980 - Raise The Titanic 1977 - Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope 1976 - Murder by Death 1973 - Hitler: The Last Ten Days 1970 - Cromwell 1970 - Scrooge 1966 - The Quiller Memorandum 1965 - Doctor Zhivago 1964 - The Fall of the Roman Empire 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia 1960 - Tunes of Glory 1958 - The Horse's Mouth 1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai 1956 - The Ladykillers 1953 - The Captain's Paradise 1952 - The Card 1950 - Last Holiday 1949 - Kind Hearts and Coronets 1948 - Oliver Twist 1946 - Great Expectations

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:

• Was a Grammy nominee in 1964, in the Spoken Word category, for the album "Alec Guinness: A Personal Choice" (RCA Victor Red Seal: 1964), on which he read a selection of his favorite poems.
• The qualities he claimed to most admire in an actor were "simplicity, purity, clarity of line."
• A heavy smoker for most of his life, he finally managed to give up the habit in his last years.
• Was the subject of a cover story in "Time" magazine for the week of April 21, 1958, shortly after he won the Best Actor Oscar for _The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)_ (qv).
• He was one of the last surviving members of a great generation of UK actors, which included Sir 'Laurence Olivier' (qv) , Sir 'John Gielgud' (qv) and Sir 'Ralph Richardson (I)' (qv) .
• He was awarded the 'Laurence Olivier' (qv) Theatre Special Award in 1989 (1988 season) for his outstanding contributions to West End Theatre.
• According to playwright 'Neil Simon (I)' (qv), Alec was reading the script for _Star Wars (1977)_ (qv) while on set filming _Murder by Death (1976)_ (qv) and commented that "Star Wars" may be a "good one".
• Despite being two of Britain's most distinguished actors of their generation, he appeared in only two films with 'John Mills (I)' (qv): _Great Expectations (1946)_ (qv) and _Tunes of Glory (1960)_ (qv).

Alec Guinness Photos

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