Acting Legend Alec Guinness Dead at 86
August 9, 2000 - 0:0
TEHRAN Tributes flooded in from the world of entertainment on Monday for British actor Sir Alec Guinness, "The Man of a Thousand Faces" who died at the age of 86 after a stage and screen career spanning more than six decades, Reuter reported.
Guinness, whose repertoire stretched from Shakespeare to "Star Wars", died late on Saturday after being taken to hospital on Thursday, a spokesman for King Edward VII Hospital in West Sussex, southern England, said on Monday.
The hospital would not confirm the cause of death, but Guinness had suffered from ill health for several years and had undergone cataract surgery to restore his vision, which was badly affected by chronic glaucoma.
Winner of an Oscar for his role in the classic 1957 war movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, the reluctant star of blockbusters including Lawrence of Arabia was remembered as one of Britain's greatest and most versatile thespians.
"He was one of the all-time greats of both stage and screen professionally," said Ronald Neame, who produced the actor's first film, Great Expectations, released in 1946.
"The wonderful thing about Guinness was he became the part he was playing, he was like a chameleon, he would change colors." No Fan of "Star Wars" Role Director George Lucas, who brought the veteran's magic to younger audiences by casting him as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 1977 epic Star Wars, praised Guinness as "one of the most talented and respected actors of his generation".
But, as Guinness once told a British magazine, the role and "those bloody awful lines" were not among his favorites.
"I shrivel up every time someone mentions Star Wars to me," Guinness added, scorning the film despite the fact his percentage of the box-office takings made him a fortune.
Sir John Mills, 92, who played opposite Guinness in Great Expectations, recalled a hardworking, humble man who simply viewed acting as a job for which he was well paid.
"He was a great character actor, the best we've ever had I think," Mills said.
"It was a job to him, and how he worked at it. He was meticulous." The Daily Telegraph reflected on the words of fellow actor Peter Ustinov in its headline, describing Guinness as "the outstanding poet of anonymity".
Born in London in 1914, his first professional appearance was a walk-on part in Libel in 1933. In 1938, he played Hamlet in modern dress at London's Old Vic Theater.
After serving with the Royal Navy during World War II, he rejoined the Old Vic in 1946.
After Oliver Twist in 1948 came a series of Ealing studio comedies that included the internationally popular Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), with Guinness as a mousy clerk turned bank robber.
Guinness, who was knighted in 1960, was renowned for his reluctance to take on the role of a superstar.
"You can only be your own personality and I am just happy to be an actor," he said. "If I tried to swan around, I wouldn't know how to behave. If I tried to be a superstar, I'd be a laughing stock." He was characteristically humble about his Oscar-winning performance as the colonel in The Bridge on the River Kwai, saying: "I don't look back on it as a great performance."
Guinness, whose repertoire stretched from Shakespeare to "Star Wars", died late on Saturday after being taken to hospital on Thursday, a spokesman for King Edward VII Hospital in West Sussex, southern England, said on Monday.
The hospital would not confirm the cause of death, but Guinness had suffered from ill health for several years and had undergone cataract surgery to restore his vision, which was badly affected by chronic glaucoma.
Winner of an Oscar for his role in the classic 1957 war movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, the reluctant star of blockbusters including Lawrence of Arabia was remembered as one of Britain's greatest and most versatile thespians.
"He was one of the all-time greats of both stage and screen professionally," said Ronald Neame, who produced the actor's first film, Great Expectations, released in 1946.
"The wonderful thing about Guinness was he became the part he was playing, he was like a chameleon, he would change colors." No Fan of "Star Wars" Role Director George Lucas, who brought the veteran's magic to younger audiences by casting him as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 1977 epic Star Wars, praised Guinness as "one of the most talented and respected actors of his generation".
But, as Guinness once told a British magazine, the role and "those bloody awful lines" were not among his favorites.
"I shrivel up every time someone mentions Star Wars to me," Guinness added, scorning the film despite the fact his percentage of the box-office takings made him a fortune.
Sir John Mills, 92, who played opposite Guinness in Great Expectations, recalled a hardworking, humble man who simply viewed acting as a job for which he was well paid.
"He was a great character actor, the best we've ever had I think," Mills said.
"It was a job to him, and how he worked at it. He was meticulous." The Daily Telegraph reflected on the words of fellow actor Peter Ustinov in its headline, describing Guinness as "the outstanding poet of anonymity".
Born in London in 1914, his first professional appearance was a walk-on part in Libel in 1933. In 1938, he played Hamlet in modern dress at London's Old Vic Theater.
After serving with the Royal Navy during World War II, he rejoined the Old Vic in 1946.
After Oliver Twist in 1948 came a series of Ealing studio comedies that included the internationally popular Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), with Guinness as a mousy clerk turned bank robber.
Guinness, who was knighted in 1960, was renowned for his reluctance to take on the role of a superstar.
"You can only be your own personality and I am just happy to be an actor," he said. "If I tried to swan around, I wouldn't know how to behave. If I tried to be a superstar, I'd be a laughing stock." He was characteristically humble about his Oscar-winning performance as the colonel in The Bridge on the River Kwai, saying: "I don't look back on it as a great performance."