Alec Guinness

Birthday: 2 April 1914, Marylebone, London, England, UK

Birth Name: Alec Guinness de Cuffe

Height: 178 cm

Alec Guinness was an English actor. 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).Guinness is really most remembered for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy for which he receive a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.In 1959, he was knighted by Elizabeth II for services to the arts. In the 1970s, Guinness made regular television appearances in Britain, including the role of George Smiley in the serialisations of two novels by John le Carré: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. In 1980 he received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement.Guinness was also one of three British actors, along with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, who made the transition from Shakespearean theatre in England to Hollywood blockbusters immediately after the Second World War.Guinness died on 5 August 2000, from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex. Show less «

I don't know what else I could do but pretend to be an actor.

I am always ashamed of the slowness of my reading. I think it stems from the fact that when I come a...Show more »

I am always ashamed of the slowness of my reading. I think it stems from the fact that when I come across dialogue in a novel, I can't resist treating it as the text of a play and acting it out, with significant pauses and all. Show less «

[on the performances in Star Wars (1977)]: The only really disappointing performance was Anthony Dan...Show more »

[on the performances in Star Wars (1977)]: The only really disappointing performance was Anthony Daniels as the robot - fidgety and over-elaborately spoken. Not that any of the cast can stand up to the mechanical things around them. Show less «

[on Star Wars (1977)]: When it came to me in script form, I was in Hollywood on the last day of anot...Show more »

[on Star Wars (1977)]: When it came to me in script form, I was in Hollywood on the last day of another movie and I heard it was a script by George Lucas, well that meant something; you know, American Graffiti (1973), this is a new generation, lovely. And then I opened it and saw it was science fiction and groaned, I thought "oh no, they've got the wrong man." I started to read it and I thought some of the dialogue was rather creaky, but I kept turning the pages, I wanted to know what happened next. Then I met George Lucas, fell for him, I thought he was a man of enormous integrity and bright and interesting, and I found myself involved and thank God I did. Show less «

[on Laurence Olivier after the death of the only acting peer of the realm] Olivier made me laugh mor...Show more »

[on Laurence Olivier after the death of the only acting peer of the realm] Olivier made me laugh more as an actor [in eccentric comedy parts] more than anyone else. In my case, I love him in comedy and am not always sure about him in tragedy. Show less «

We live in an age of apologies. Apologies, false or true, are expected from the descendants of empir...Show more »

We live in an age of apologies. Apologies, false or true, are expected from the descendants of empire builders, slave owners, persecutors of heretics and from men who, in our eyes, just got it all wrong. So with the age of 85 coming up shortly, I want to make an apology. It appears I must apologize for being male, white and European. Show less «

[on Star Wars (1977)] Can't say I'm enjoying the film. New rubbish dialogue reaches me every other d...Show more »

[on Star Wars (1977)] Can't say I'm enjoying the film. New rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper - and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable. I just think, thankfully, of the lovely bread, which will help me to keep going until next April. Show less «

Failure has a thousand explanations. Success doesn't need one.

[Asked if Star Wars (1977) had made him a fortune]: Yes, blessed be Star Wars. But two-thirds of tha...Show more »

[Asked if Star Wars (1977) had made him a fortune]: Yes, blessed be Star Wars. But two-thirds of that went to the Inland Revenue and a sizable sum on VAT. 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. Show less «

[in 1985 to The Guardian newspaper, on what he intends to do by the end of his life] A kind of littl...Show more »

[in 1985 to The Guardian newspaper, on what he intends to do by the end of his life] A kind of little bow, tied on life. And I can see myself drifting off into eternity, or nothing, or whatever it may be, with all sorts of bits of loose string hanging out of my pocket. Why didn't I say this or do that, or why didn't I reconcile myself with someone? Or make sure that someone whom I like was all right in every way, either financially or, I don't know... Show less «

[on The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)]: The original script was ridiculous, with elephant charges ...Show more »

[on The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)]: The original script was ridiculous, with elephant charges and girls screaming round in the jungle. When David Lean arrived, with a new screenwriter, it became a very different thing. I saw Nicholson as an effective part, without ever really believing in the character. However, it paid off; it was a huge success and I got an Oscar for it, though I don't think it made an enormous difference in my career. Show less «

[on media reports of his income from the Star Wars films]: The Times reports I've made £4.5 million...Show more »

[on media reports of his income from the Star Wars films]: The Times reports I've made £4.5 million in the past year. Where do they get such nonsense? Show less «

[One day, director Ronald Neame found Guinness sulking in his dressing room, refusing to come to the...Show more »

[One day, director Ronald Neame found Guinness sulking in his dressing room, refusing to come to the set. According to Neame, Guinness felt he had not been stroked enough and explained] Actors are emotionally 14-year olds. We need to be chastised like children, and we need to be hugged and told we're doing fine work. We are the children who never grow up. Show less «

[on playing Gulley Jimson in The Horse's Mouth (1958)] I try to get inside a character and project h...Show more »

[on playing Gulley Jimson in The Horse's Mouth (1958)] I try to get inside a character and project him - one of my own private rules of thumb is that I have not got the character until I have mastered exactly how he walks. Show less «

[his diary entry after viewing Star Wars (1977) for the first time] It's a pretty staggering film as...Show more »

[his diary entry after viewing Star Wars (1977) for the first time] It's a pretty staggering film as spectacle and technically brilliant. Exciting, very noisy and warmhearted. 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. Show less «

Getting to the theater on the early side, usually about seven o'clock, changing into a dressing-gown...Show more »

Getting to the theater on the early side, usually about seven o'clock, changing into a dressing-gown, applying make-up, having a chat for a few minutes with other actors and then, quite unconsciously, beginning to assume another personality which would stay with me (but mostly tucked inside) until curtain down, was all I required of life. I thought it bliss. Show less «

[on how much he disliked working on Star Wars (1977) and his attempts to encourage George Lucas to k...Show more »

[on how much he disliked working on Star Wars (1977) and his attempts to encourage George Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi] And he agreed with me. What I didn't tell him was that I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo. Show less «

[while considering doing Star Wars (1977)]: Science fiction - which gives me pause - but it is to be...Show more »

[while considering doing Star Wars (1977)]: Science fiction - which gives me pause - but it is to be directed by George Lucas, who did American Graffiti (1973), which makes me think I should. Big part. Fairytale rubbish, but could be interesting. Show less «

[Asked if he was a rich man]: No, not rich. Compared to striking miners and workless actors very ric...Show more »

[Asked if he was a rich man]: No, not rich. Compared to striking miners and workless actors very rich: compared to successful stockbrokers and businessmen I expect I would be considered nearly poor. Show less «

Personally, I have only one great regret - that I never *dared* enough. If at all.

Once I've done a film, it's finished. I never look at it again.

Essentially I'm a small part actor who's been lucky enough to play leading roles for most of his lif...Show more »

Essentially I'm a small part actor who's been lucky enough to play leading roles for most of his life. Show less «

I prefer full-length camera shots because the body can act better than the face.

An actor is an interpreter of other men's words, often a soul which wishes to reveal itself to the w...Show more »

An actor is an interpreter of other men's words, often a soul which wishes to reveal itself to the world but dare not, a craftsman, a bag of tricks, a vanity bag, a cool observer of mankind, a child and at his best a kind of unfrocked priest who, for an hour or two, can call on heaven and hell to mesmerize a group of innocents. Show less «

An actor is at his best a kind of unfrocked priest who, for an hour or two, can call on heaven and h...Show more »

An actor is at his best a kind of unfrocked priest who, for an hour or two, can call on heaven and hell to mesmerize a group of innocents. Show less «

[on winning the Best Actor award for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)] No doorstop shenanigans fo...Show more »

[on winning the Best Actor award for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)] No doorstop shenanigans for me. I'll put the Oscar on my mantel, which I realize makes very dull copy, except that I'll put a mirror on the mantel so that I'll get a view of Oscar's back too. Show less «

An actor is totally vulnerable. His total personality is exposed to critical judgment - his intellec...Show more »

An actor is totally vulnerable. His total personality is exposed to critical judgment - his intellect, his bearing, his diction, his whole appearance. In short, his ego. Show less «

[To a group of reporters upon winning his Academy Award in 1958]: No doorstop shenanigans for me, bo...Show more »

[To a group of reporters upon winning his Academy Award in 1958]: No doorstop shenanigans for me, boys. I have a nice mantel where I'm going to display it. Show less «

Flamboyance doesn't suit me. I enjoy being elusive.

I can walk through a crowd and nobody would notice at all.

[on his first lunch meeting with George Lucas]: I liked him. The conversation was divided culturally...Show more »

[on his first lunch meeting with George Lucas]: I liked him. The conversation was divided culturally by 8,000 miles and 30 years; but I think we might understand each other if I can get past his intensity. Show less «

[during filming of Star Wars (1977)]: Apart from the money, I regret having embarked on the film. I ...Show more »

[during filming of Star Wars (1977)]: Apart from the money, I regret having embarked on the film. I like them well enough, but it's not an acting job, the dialogue - which is lamentable - keeps being changed and only slightly improved, and I find myself old and out of touch with the young. Show less «

I gave my best performances during the war, trying to be an officer and a gentleman.

I shrivel up every time someone mentions Star Wars (1977) to me.

[replying to a writer whose script he rejected, who sent him a note saying "We tailored it just for ...Show more »

[replying to a writer whose script he rejected, who sent him a note saying "We tailored it just for you"] But no one came to take measurements. Show less «

The stage was my prime interest. I had no ambition to be a film actor, and a screen career seemed un...Show more »

The stage was my prime interest. I had no ambition to be a film actor, and a screen career seemed unlikely to come my way. I'd done a stage adaption of "Great Expectations" before the war and this had been seen by David Lean and Ronald Neame. I went into the navy during the war, and when I came out they were preparing their film [Great Expectations (1946)]. They remembered my performance on the stage and asked me if I'd go into their film as Herbert Pocket. I'd thought of film as a much greater mystery than the theater and I felt a need to begin in films with a character I knew something about. Show less «

Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness's FILMOGRAPHY

Alec Guinness'S roles

Feedback about this page?