Alec Guinness on stage and screen
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Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE (1914–2000) was a consummate English actor. In the British Film Institute listing of 1999 of the 100 most important British films of the 20th century, Guinness was single most noted actor, represented across nine films — six in starring roles and three in supporting roles.
After an early career on the stage, Guinness made a name for himself in six Ealing Comedies, starting in 1949 with both A Run for Your Money and Kind Hearts and Coronets — in which he played nine different characters — going on to lead roles in The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man in the White Suit both in 1951, The Ladykillers in 1955, and culminating with Barnacle Bill in 1957.
He is known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India (1984).
He is also known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy; for the original film, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 50th Academy Awards.
He continued his acting in theatre throughout his working life, but his later life was closely associated with his definitive depiction of the leading role of George Smiley in the two BBC television series of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People by John le Carré.
Theatre
[edit]| Year | Production | Role | Theatre (London, unless otherwise noted) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Libel! | Junior Counsel | Playhouse Theatre | Non-speaking role |
| Queer Cargo | Chinese coolie, French Pirate and English Sailor | Piccadilly Theatre | ||
| Hamlet | Osric and Third Player | New Theatre | ||
| 1935 | Noé/Noah | Wolf | ||
| Romeo and Juliet | Sampson and Apothecary | |||
| 1936 | The Seagull | Workman then Yakov | ||
| Love's Labour's Lost | Boyet | The Old Vic | Start of a season with the Old Vic Company; September 1936 – April 1937. | |
| As You Like It | Le Beau and William | |||
| The Witch of Edmonton | Old Thorney | |||
| 1937 | Hamlet | Osric and Reynaldo | ||
| 1937 | Twelfth Night | Sir Andrew Aguecheek | ||
| Henry V | Exeter | |||
| Hamlet | Osric, Player Queen and Reynaldo | Elsinore Castle, Helsingør, Denmark | Put on by the Old Vic Company at Elsinore Castle | |
| Richard II | Aumerle and The Groom | Queen's Theatre | Start of a season with John Gielgud's Company at the Queen's Theatre, September 1937 – May 1938. | |
| The School for Scandal | Snake | |||
| 1938 | The Three Sisters | Fedotik | ||
| The Merchant of Venice | Lorenzo | |||
| The Doctor's Dilemma | Louis Dubedat | Richmond Theatre | ||
| Trelawny of the 'Wells' | Arthur Gower | The Old Vic | Start of a season with the Old Vic Company. September to December 1938. | |
| Hamlet | Hamlet | |||
| The Rivals | Bob Acres | |||
| 1939 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Start of Tour of Europe and Egypt with the Old Vic Company. January to April 1939. | |
| Henry V | Chorus | Tour | ||
| The Rivals | Bob Acres | |||
| Libel! | Emile Flordan | |||
| Macbeth | Macbeth | Sheffield Playhouse, Sheffield | ||
| The Ascent of F6 | Michael Ransom | The Old Vic | ||
| Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | Perth Theatre, Perth, Scotland | Part of the first Perth Scottish Theatre Festival | |
| Great Expectations | Herbert Pocket | Rudolf Steiner Hall | Version adapted by Guinness from Charles Dickens novel; Performed by The Actor's Company, a group Guinness had formed with George Devine and Marius Goring. | |
| 1940 | Cousin Muriel | Richard Meilhac | Globe Theatre | |
| Saint Joan | The Dauphin | Palace Theatre | ||
| The Tempest | Ferdinand | The Old Vic | ||
| Thunder Rock | Charleston | Tour of England | ||
| Flare Path | Fl. Lt. Graham | Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, United States | Was temporarily released from his war service to perform in this production. | |
| 1946 | The Brothers Karamazov | Mitya | Lyric Theatre | Adapted by Guinness from Fyodor Dostoevsky. |
| 1946 | The Vicious Circle[3] | Garcin | Arts Theatre | |
| King Lear | The Fool | New Theatre | Start of a season with the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1946 – May 1947. | |
| An Inspector Calls | Eric Birling | |||
| Cyrano De Bergerac | De Guiche | |||
| 1947 | The Alchemist | Abel Drugger | ||
| Richard II | Richard II | Start of a season with the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1947 – May 1948. | ||
| Saint Joan | The Dauphin | |||
| 1948 | The Government Inspector | Khlestakov | ||
| Coriolanus | Menenius Agrippa | |||
| Twelfth Night | - | Director only for the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1948. | ||
| 1949 | The Human Touch | Dr. James Simpson | Savoy Theatre | |
| The Cocktail Party | Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly | Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland. | ||
| 1950 | The Cocktail Party | Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly | Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, USA | |
| 1951 | Hamlet | Hamlet | New Theatre | This production was also directed by Guinness. |
| 1952 | Under the Sycamore Tree | The Ant Scientist | Aldwych Theatre | |
| 1953 | Richard III | Richard III | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada | Start of a season at the Stratford Festival. July to September 1953. |
| All's Well That Ends Well | King of France | Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada | ||
| 1954 | The Prisoner | The Cardinal | Globe Theatre | |
| 1956 | Hotel Paradiso | Boniface | Winter Garden Theatre | |
| 1960 | Ross | Aircraftman Ross / T.E. Lawrence | Theatre Royal Haymarket | Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Best Actor |
| 1963 | Exit the King | Berenger the First | Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and Royal Court Theatre | |
| 1964 | Dylan | Dylan Thomas | Plymouth Theatre, New York City, USA | Drama League Awards-Distinguished Performance Award; Tony Awards- Best Actor |
| 1966 | Incident at Vichy | Von Berg | Phoenix Theatre | |
| 1966 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Royal Court Theatre | |
| 1967 | Wise Child | Jock Masters/Mrs. Artminster | Wyndham's Theatre | |
| 1968 | The Cocktail Party | Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly | Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, Sussex, Wyndham's Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket | Production was also directed by Guinness. |
| 1970 | Time out of Mind | John | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Surrey. | |
| 1971 | A Voyage Round My Father | Father | Theatre Royal Haymarket | |
| 1973 | Habeas Corpus | Dr. Wickstead | Lyric Theatre | |
| 1975 | A Family and a Fortune | Dudley | Apollo Theatre | |
| 1976 | Yahoo | Dean Swift | Queen's Theatre | Adapted by Guinness from the works of Jonathan Swift. |
| 1977 | The Old Country | Hilary | Queen's Theatre | |
| 1984 | Merchant of Venice | Shylock | Chichester Festival Theatre | |
| 1988 | A Walk in the Woods | Andrey Botvinnik | Comedy Theatre |
Film
[edit]Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Baker's Dozen | The Major | Television film |
| 1959 | The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks | Jebal Deeks | |
| 1969 | Conversation at Night | The Executioner | |
| 1970 | Twelfth Night | Malvolio | |
| 1974 | The Gift of Friendship | Jocelyn Broome | |
| 1976 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Julius Caesar | |
| 1979 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | George Smiley | 7 episodes |
| 1980 | Little Lord Fauntleroy | Earl of Dorincourt | Television film |
| 1982 | Smiley's People | George Smiley | 6 episodes |
| 1984 | Edwin | Sir Fennimore Truscott | Television film |
| 1987 | Monsignor Quixote | Monsignor Quixote | Television film Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor |
| 1992 | Tales from Hollywood | Heinrich Mann | Television film |
| 1993 | A Foreign Field | Amos | |
| 1996 | Eskimo Day | James |
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ Taylor 2000, pp. 185–190.
- ^ O'Connor 2002, pp. 409–418.
- ^ "Vicious Circle – cast and crew". theatricalia.com.
Sources
[edit]- O'Connor, Garry (2002). Alec Guinness: The Unknown. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-07340-3.
- Taylor, John Russell (2000). Alec Guinness: A Celebration. London: Pavilion. ISBN 1-86205-501-7.
External links
[edit]- Alec Guinness at the British Film Institute[better source needed]
- Alec Guinness at the BFI's Screenonline
- Alec Guinness at IMDb
- Alec Guinness at the TCM Movie Database