Sir Alec Guinness, was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played nine different characters. He is also known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations , Fagin in Oliver Twist , Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai , Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia , General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago , and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India . He is also known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy, receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Guinness was one of three British actors, along with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, who made the transition from Shakespearean theatre to blockbuster films immediately after World War II. Guinness served in the Royal Naval Reserve during the war and commanded a landing craft during the invasion of Sicily and Elba. During the war he was granted leave to appear in the stage play Flare Path about the RAF Bomber Command.
Guinness won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Tony Award. In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980 and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 1989.
“…nothing is desperately important and the joy of life is just looking at it.”
A Positively Final Appearance (Penguin, 1999), 3rd hardback edition, p. 2.
My Name Escapes Me (Penguin, 1997), 1st paperback edition, p. 57.
