Alec Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage he was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. However, he was probably best 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), Yevgraf in Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India (1984). In later years, he achieved fame with younger audiences for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy.

Early life

Guinness was born at 155 Lauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale, London as Alec Guinness de Cuffe His mother's maiden name was Agnes Cuff. She was born 8 December 1890 to Edward Cuff and Mary Ann Benfield. On Guinness's birth certificate, the space for the mother's name shows Agnes de Cuffe. The space for the infant's name (where first names only are given) says Alec Guinness. The column for name and surname of father is blank.

It has been frequently speculated that the actor's father was a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness family. However, it was a Scottish banker, Andrew Geddes, who paid for Guinness's private school education. From 1875, under English law, when the birth of an illegitimate child was registered, the father's name could be entered on the certificate only if he were present and gave his consent. Guinness and Geddes never met, and the identity of Guinness's father has never been confirmed.Guinness was uninterested in his mother, who later had a short marriage to a violent, shell-shocked veteran of the Irish War of Independence.

 

Early career and war service

Guinness first worked writing advertising copy. His first job in the theatre was on his 20th birthday, while he was still a drama student, in the play Libel, which opened at the old King's Theatre, Hammersmith, and then transferred to the Playhouse where his status was raised from a walk-on to understudying two lines and his salary increased to £1 a week. He appeared at the Albery Theatre in 1936 at the age of 22, playing the role of Osric in John Gielgud's successful production of Hamlet. 1936 also saw Guinness sign on with the Old Vic, where he was cast in a series of classic roles. During this time he worked with many actors and actresses who would become his friends and frequent co-stars in the future, including John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Anthony Quayle and Jack Hawkins. An early influence from afar was Stan Laurel, whom Guinness admired.

Guinness continued playing Shakespearean roles throughout his career. In 1937 he played Aumerle in Richard II and Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice under the direction of John Gielgud. He starred in a 1938 production of Hamlet which won him acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. He also appeared as Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet (1939), Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night and as Exeter in Henry V in 1937, both opposite Laurence Olivier, and Ferdinand in The Tempest, opposite Gielgud as Prospero.

In 1939, he adapted Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations for the stage, playing the part of Herbert Pocket. The play was a success. One of its viewers was a young British film editor, David Lean, who would later have Guinness reprise his role in Lean's 1946 film adaptation of the play.

Guinness served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in World War II, serving first as a seaman in 1941 and being commissioned the following year. He commanded a landing craft taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Elba and later ferried supplies to the Yugoslav partisans.

During the war, he was granted leave to appear in the Broadway production of Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path, about the RAF Bomber Command.

Postwar stage career

Guinness returned to the Old Vic in 1946 and stayed until 1948, playing Abel Drugger in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, the Fool in King Lear opposite Laurence Olivier in the title role, DeGuiche in Cyrano de Bergerac opposite Ralph Richardson in the title role, and finally starring in an Old Vic production as Shakespeare's Richard II. After leaving the Old Vic, he played Eric Birling in J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls at the New Theatre in October 1946. He played the Uninvited Guest in the Broadway production of T. S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party (1950, revived at the Edinburgh Festival in 1968). His third attempt at the title role of Hamlet, this time under his own direction at the New Theatre (1951), proved a major theatrical disaster.

Invited by his friend Tyrone Guthrie to join the premier season of the Stratford Festival of Canada, Guinness lived for a brief time in Stratford, Ontario. On 13 July 1953, Guinness spoke the first lines of the first play produced by the festival, Shakespeare's Richard III: "Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York."

Guinness won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance as poet Dylan Thomas in Dylan. He next played the title role in Macbeth opposite Simone Signoret at the Royal Court Theatre in 1966, a conspicuous failure.

Guinness made his final stage performance at the Comedy Theatre on 30 May 1989, in the play A Walk in the Woods. In all, between 2 April 1934 and 30 May 1989, he played 77 parts in the theatre.

Film career

In films, Guinness was initially associated mainly with the Ealing Comedies, and particularly for playing eight different characters in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Other films from this period included The Lavender Hill Mob, The Ladykillers, and The Man in the White Suit. In 1952, director Ronald Neame cast Guinness in his first romantic lead role, opposite Petula Clark in The Card. In 1951, exhibitors voted him the most popular British star.

Other notable film roles of this period included The Swan (1956) with Grace Kelly, in her second to last film role; The Horse's Mouth (1958) in which Guinness played the part of drunken painter Gulley Jimson as well as contributing the screenplay, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award; the lead in Carol Reed's Our Man in Havana (1959); Marcus Aurelius in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964); The Quiller Memorandum (1966); Marley's Ghost in Scrooge (1970); Charles I in Cromwell (1970); Pope Innocent III in Franco Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972); and the title role in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), which he considered his best film performance, though critics disagreed.

Guinness also played the role of Jamessir Bensonmum, the blind butler, in the 1976 Neil Simon film Murder by Death.

David Lean

Guinness won particular acclaim for his work with director David Lean, which today is his best-known and most critically acclaimed work. After appearing in Lean's Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, he was given a starring role opposite William Holden in The Bridge on the River Kwai. For his performance as Colonel Nicholson, the unyielding British POW commanding officer, Guinness won an Academy Award. Despite a difficult and often hostile relationship, Lean, referring to Guinness as "my good luck charm", continued to cast Guinness in character roles in his later films: Arab leader Prince Feisal in Lawrence of Arabia; the title character's half-brother, Bolshevik leader Yevgraf, in Doctor Zhivago; and Indian mystic Professor Godbole in A Passage to India. He was also offered a role in Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970), but declined. By that time, Guinness had "mistrusted" Lean and considered the earlier close relationship as strained; although at his funeral, he recalled that the famed director had been "charming and affable".

Star Wars

Guinness' role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy, beginning in 1977, brought him worldwide recognition by a new generation, as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. In letters to his friends, Guinness described the film as "fairy tale rubbish," but the film's sense of moral good – and the studio's doubling of his initial salary offer – appealed to him, and he signed on. He was one of the few cast members who believed that the film would be a box office hit; he negotiated a deal for 2% of the gross royalties paid to the director, George Lucas, who received one fifth of the box office takings. This made him very wealthy in his later life, and he agreed to take the part of Kenobi on the condition that he would not have to do any publicity to promote the film. Upon his first viewing of the film, Guinness wrote in his diary that "It's a pretty staggering film as spectacle and technically brilliant. Exciting, very noisy and warm-hearted. The battle scenes at the end go on for five minutes too long, I feel, and some of the dialogue is excruciating and much of it is lost in noise, but it remains a vivid experience."

However, Guinness soon became unhappy with being identified with the part, and expressed dismay at the fan-following that the Star Wars trilogy attracted. In the DVD commentary of the original Star Wars, director George Lucas says that Guinness was not happy with the script re-write in which Obi-Wan is killed. However, Guinness said in a 1999 interview that it was actually his idea to kill off Obi-Wan, persuading Lucas that it would make him a stronger character, and that Lucas agreed to the idea. Guinness stated in the interview, "What I didn't tell Lucas was that I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo." He went on to say that he "shrivelled up" every time Star Wars was mentioned to him.

Although Guinness disliked the fame that followed work he did not esteem, Lucas and fellow cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels and Carrie Fisher have spoken highly of his courtesy and professionalism, both on and off the set. Lucas credited him with inspiring cast and crew to work harder, saying that Guinness contributed significantly to achieving completion of the filming. Guinness was quoted as saying that the royalties he obtained from working on the films gave him "no complaints; let me leave it by saying I can live for the rest of my life in the reasonably modest way I am now used to, that I have no debts and I can afford to refuse work that doesn't appeal to me." In his autobiography, Blessings In Disguise, Guinness tells an imaginary interviewer "Blessed be Star Wars", regarding the income it provided.

In the final volume of the book A Positively Final Appearance (1997), Guinness recounts grudgingly giving an autograph to a young fan who claimed to have watched Star Wars over 100 times, on the condition that the boy promise to stop watching the film, because, as Guinness told him, "this is going to be an ill effect on your life." The fan was stunned at first, but later thanked him (though some sources say it went differently). Guinness is quoted as saying: "'Well,' I said, 'do you think you could promise never to see Star Wars again?' He burst into tears. His mother drew herself up to an immense height. 'What a dreadful thing to say to a child!' she barked, and dragged the poor kid away. Maybe she was right but I just hope the lad, now in his thirties, is not living in a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities."Guinness grew so tired of modern audiences apparently knowing him only for his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi that he would throw away the mail he received from Star Wars fans without reading it.

Television appearances

From the 1970s, Guinness made regular television appearances, including the part of George Smiley in the serialisations of two novels by John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. Le Carré was so impressed by Guinness's performance as Smiley that he based his characterisation of Smiley in subsequent novels on Guinness.

One of Guinness's last appearances was in the BBC drama Eskimo Day (1996).

Awards and honours

Guinness won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1957 for his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai having been unsuccessfully nominated in 1952 for his performance in The Lavender Hill Mob. He was nominated in 1958 for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, for his screenplay adapted from Joyce Cary's novel The Horse's Mouth. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars in 1977. He received an Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980. In 1988, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Little Dorrit.

For his theatre work, he received an Evening Standard Award for his performance as T.E. Lawrence in Ross and a Tony Award for his Broadway turn as Dylan Thomas in Dylan.

Guinness was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1955, and was knighted in 1959. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. Three years later, at age 80, he was appointed a Companion of Honour.

Guinness received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 Vine Street on 8 February 1960.

Personal life

 

Guinness married the artist, playwright and actress Merula Sylvia Salaman (16 October 1914 – 18 October 2000) in 1938; in 1940, they had a son, Matthew Guinness, who later became an actor.

In his biography, Alec Guinness: The Unknown, Garry O'Connor says that Guinness was arrested and fined 10 guineas (£10.50) for a homosexual act in a public lavatory in Liverpool in 1946. Guinness avoided publicity by giving his name to police and court as "Herbert Pocket", the name of the character he played in Great Expectations. The incident did not become public knowledge until April 2001, eight months after his death when a BBC News article claimed that Guinness was in fact bisexual and that he had successfully kept his sexuality private from the public eye as his closest friends and family members also knew he had sexual relationships with men. Piers Paul Read, Guinness's official biographer, doubts that this incident actually occurred. He believes that Guinness was confused with John Gielgud, who was infamously arrested for such an act around the same time.

Religious conversion

While serving in the Royal Navy, Guinness had planned to become an Anglican priest. However, in 1954, while he was filming Father Brown in Burgundy, Guinness, who was in costume as a Catholic priest, was mistaken for a real priest by a local child. Guinness was far from fluent in French, and the child apparently did not notice that Guinness did not understand him, but took his hand and chattered while the two strolled; the child then waved and trotted off. The confidence and affection the clerical attire appeared to inspire in the boy left a deep impression on the actor.Alec Guinness was formally received into the Roman Catholic Church on 24 March 1956. His wife followed suit in 1957 while he was in Sri Lanka filming The Bridge on the River Kwai, and she informed him only after the event. They remained devout and regular church-goers for the remainder of their lives. Their son Matthew had converted to Catholicism some time earlier. Every morning, Guinness recited a verse from Psalm 143, "Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning".

Death

Guinness died on 5 August 2000, from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex. He had been receiving hospital treatment for glaucoma, and had recently also been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was interred at Petersfield, Hampshire. His widow, Lady Guinness, died of cancer at Petersfield, two months after her husband, also aged 86, and was interred alongside her husband of 62 years.

Autobiographies and biography

Guinness wrote three volumes of a best-selling autobiography, beginning with Blessings in Disguise in 1985, followed by My Name Escapes Me in 1996, and A Positively Final Appearance in 1999. He recorded each of them as an audiobook. Shortly after his death, Lady Guinness asked the couple's close friend and fellow Catholic, novelist Piers Paul Read, to write Guinness's official biography. It was published in 2003.

Filmography

 

Year Title Role Notes 1934 Evensong Extra (World War I 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 D'Ascoyne, Young Henry,
• Lady Agatha

National Board of Review Award for Best Actor 1949 A Run for Your Money Whimple   1950 Last Holiday George Bird   1950 The Mudlark Benjamin Disraeli   1951 The Lavender Hill Mob Henry Holland

• Silver Ribbon Award for Best Actor—Foreign Film (Migliore Attore Straniero)
• Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor

1951 The Man in the White Suit Sidney Stratton   1952 The Card Edward Henry 'Denry' Machin released in the United States as The Promoter 1953 The Square Mile narrator short subject 1953 Malta Story Flight Lt. Peter Ross   1953 The Captain's Paradise Capt. Henry St. James   1954 Father Brown Father Brown   1954 The Stratford Adventure Himself short subject 1955 Rowlandson's England narrator short subject 1955 To Paris with Love Col. Sir Edgar Fraser   1955 The Prisoner The Cardinal Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 1955 The Ladykillers Professor Marcus   1956 The Swan Prince Albert   1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai Col. Nicholson

• Academy Award for Best Actor
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
• National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
• New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
• Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor (Mejor Actor Extranjero)
• Nominated—Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Dramatic Performance

1957 Barnacle Bill Captain William Horatio Ambrose released in the United States as All at Sea 1958 The Horse's Mouth Gulley Jimson

• Also writer
• Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor (Mejor Actor Extranjero)
• Volpi Cup for Best Actor
• Nominated—Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
• Nominated—Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Comedy Performance

1959 Our Man in Havana Jim Wormold   1959 The Scapegoat John Barratt/Jacques De Gue   1960 Tunes of Glory Maj. Jock Sinclair, D.S.O., M.M. Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 1962 A Majority of One Koichi Asano   1962 H.M.S. Defiant Captain Crawford   1962 Lawrence of Arabia Prince Faisal   1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire Marcus Aurelius   1965 Pasternak Himself short subject 1965 Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious Wilhelm Frick   1965 Doctor Zhivago Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago   1966 Hotel Paradiso Benedict Boniface   1966 The Quiller Memorandum Pol   1967 The Comedians in Africa Himself uncredited, short subject 1967 The Comedians Major H.O. Jones Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor 1970 Cromwell King Charles I   1970 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 Obi-Wan Kenobi

• Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
• Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

1979 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy George Smiley British Academy Television Award for Best Actor 1980 The Empire Strikes Back Obi-Wan Kenobi   1980 Raise the Titanic John Bigalow   1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy Earl of Dorincourt   1982 Smiley's People George Smiley

• British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
• Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

1983 Lovesick Sigmund Freud   1983 Return of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi   1984 A Passage to India Professor Godbole   1985 Monsignor Quixote Monsignor Quixote   1988 Little Dorrit William Dorrit

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

1988 A Handful of Dust Mr. Todd   1991 Kafka The chief clerk   1993 A Foreign Field Amos   1994 Mute Witness The Reaper   1996 Eskimo Day James   Box office ranking in Britain

For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted Guinness among the most popular stars in Britain at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald.

• 1951: most popular British star (5th overall)
• 1952: 3rd most popular British star
• 1953: 2nd most popular British star
• 1954: 6th most popular British star
• 1955: 10th most popular British star
• 1956: 8th most popular British star
• 1958: most popular star
• 1959: 2nd most popular British star
• 1960: 4th most popular star

See also