Alec Guinness
On Friday, September 23, 1955, Guinness was at the Villa Capri restaurant in Los Angeles, and found no table available. The actor James Dean, then filming Giant, invited Guinness to sit at his table. During lunch, Dean talked about his new car, a Porsche 550 Spyder. On leaving the restaurant, Dean insisted on showing off the car to Guinness, who said "Please never get in it. If you do, you will be dead within a week." Dean died in a fatal car crash in the Porsche the following Friday, September 30.[13][14]
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Awards and honours
Guinness won the Academy Award as Best Actor in 1957 for his role in Bridge on the River Kwai. He was nominated in 1958 for his screenplay adapted from Joyce Cary's novel The Horse's Mouth and for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977. He also received an Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1955, and was knighted in 1959. He became a Companion of Honour in 1994 at the age of 80.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 Vine Street.
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Writings
Guinness wrote three volumes of a bestselling autobiography, beginning with Blessings in Disguise in 1985, followed by My Name Escapes Me in 1996, and A Positively Final Appearance in 1999. His authorised biography was written by his close friend, British novelist Piers Paul Read. It was published in 2003.
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Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Evensong | Extra (WWI soldier in audience) | uncredited |
| 1946 | Great Expectations | Herbert Pocket | |
| 1948 | Oliver Twist | Fagin | |
| 1949 | Kind Hearts and Coronets | The Duke, The Banker, The Parson, The General, The Admiral, Young Ascoyne, Young Henry, Lady Agatha | |
| A Run for Your Money | Whimple | ||
| 1950 | Last Holiday | George Bird | |
| The Mudlark | Benjamin Disraeli | ||
| 1951 | The Lavender Hill Mob | Henry Holland | |
| The Man in the White Suit | Sidney Stratton | ||
| 1952 | The Card | Edward Henry ‘Denry’ Machin | |
| 1953 | The Square Mile | narrator | short subject |
| Malta Story | Flight Lt. Peter Ross | ||
| The Captain's Paradise | Capt. Henry St. James | ||
| 1954 | Father Brown | Father Brown | |
| The Stratford Adventure | narrator | short subject | |
| 1955 | Rowlandson's England | narrator | short subject |
| To Paris with Love | Col. Sir Edgar Fraser | ||
| The Prisoner | The Cardinal | ||
| The Ladykillers | Professor Marcus | ||
| 1956 | The Swan | Prince Albert | |
| 1957 | The Bridge on the River Kwai | Col. Nicholson | Academy Award for Best Actor |
| Barnacle Bill | Captain William Horatio Ambrose | released in the US as All at Sea | |
| 1958 | The Horse's Mouth | Gulley Jimson | also writer |
| 1959 | Our Man in Havana | Jim Wormold | |
| The Scapegoat | John Barratt/Jacques De Gue | ||
| 1960 | Tunes of Glory | Maj. Jock Sinclair, D.S.O., M.M. | |
| 1962 | A Majority of One | Koichi Asano | |
| HMS Defiant | Captain Crawford | ||
| Lawrence of Arabia | Prince Feisal | ||
| 1964 | The Fall of the Roman Empire | Marcus Aurelius | |
| 1965 | Pasternak | Himself | short subject |
| Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious | Wilhelm Frick | ||
| Doctor Zhivago | Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago | ||
| 1966 | Hotel Paradiso | Benedict Boniface | |
| The Quiller Memorandum | Pol | ||
| 1967 | The Comedians in Africa | Himself | uncredited, short subject |
| The Comedians | Major H.O. Jones | ||
| 1970 | Cromwell | King Charles I | |
| Scrooge | Jacob Marley’s ghost | ||
| 1972 | Brother Sun, Sister Moon | Pope Innocent III | |
| 1973 | Hitler: The Last Ten Days | Adolf Hitler | |
| 1976 | Murder by Death | Jamesir Bensonmum | |
| 1977 | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination |
| 1980 | Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi | |
| Raise the Titanic | John Bigalow | ||
| Little Lord Fauntleroy | Earl of Dorincourt | ||
| 1983 | Lovesick | Sigmund Freud | |
| Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi | ||
| 1984 | A Passage to India | Professor Godbole | |
| 1988 | 'Little Dorrit | William Dorrit | |
| A Handful of Dust | Mr. Todd | ||
| 1991 | Kafka | The Chief Clerk | |
| 1993 | A Foreign Field | Amos | |
| 1994 | Mute Witness | The Reaper |
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References
- ^ GRO Register of Births: JUN 1914 1a 39 PADDINGTON - Alec Guinness De Cuffe, mmn = De Cuffe
- ^ Alec Guinness biography at MSN Movies. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ On June 3, 1961, Alec Guinness sent a letter to Stan Laurel,[1] acknowledging that he had unconsciously modeled his portrayal of Sir Andrew Aguecheek as he imagined Laurel might have done. Guinness was 23 at the time he was performing in Twelfth Night, so this would have been around 1937, by which time Laurel had become an international movie star.
- ^ Alec Guinness Blasts Jedi 'Mumbo Jumbo'. Space.com (September 8th, 1999).
- ^ The shy introvert who shone on screen. The Guardian (Monday August 7, 2000).
- ^ X-Rated: The Paranormal Experiences of The Movie Star Greats by Michael Munn, pg. 93., Robson Books, 1999
- ^ Alec Guinness
- ^ Rita Reichardt (Monday August 7, 2000). How Father Brown Led Sir Alec Guinness to the Church. Catholic Answers, Inc..
- ^ Tom Sutcliffe (Monday August 7, 2000). Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000). The Guardian.
- ^ The invisible man, by Hugh Davies, originally published in the Telegraph and reprinted in The Sunday Age, 13 August 2000.
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: AUG 2000 1DD 21 CHICHESTER - Alec Guinness, DoB = 2 Apr 1914 aged 86
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: OCT 2000 38C 104 PETERSFIELD - Merula Sylvia (Lady) Guinness, DoB = 16 Oct 1914 aged 86
- ^ Olga Craig (September 24, 2005). Revealed: the truth behind the crash that killed James Dean. telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ [Blessings in Disguise 1985 autobiography]
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External links
- Alec Guinness at the Internet Movie Database
- Alec Guinness at Find A Grave
- 1986 audio interview of Alec Guinness by Don Swaim of CBS Radio - RealAudio at Wired for Books.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Finch for A Town Like Alice |
BAFTA Award for Best Actor 1957 for The Bridge on the River Kwai |
Succeeded by Trevor Howard for The Key |
| Preceded by Kirk Douglas for Lust for Life |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor 1957 for The Bridge on the River Kwai |
Succeeded by David Niven for Separate Tables |
| Preceded by Kirk Douglas for Lust for Life |
NYFCC Award for Best Actor 1957 for The Bridge on the River Kwai |
Succeeded by David Niven for Separate Tables |
| Preceded by Edward Fox for Edward and Mrs Simpson |
BAFTA Award for Best TV Actor 1980 for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy |
Succeeded by Denholm Elliot for Gentle Folk |
| Preceded by King Vidor |
Academy Honorary Award 1980 |
Succeeded by Henry Fonda |
| Preceded by Anthony Andrews for Brideshead Revisited |
BAFTA Award for Best TV Actor 1983 for Smiley's People |
Succeeded by Alan Bates for An Englishman Abroad |
|
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Guinness, Alec |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sir Alec Guiness; Alec Guinness de Cuffe |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | English actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 2, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Marylebone, London, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 5, 2000 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Midhurst, Sussex, England |
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