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John Gielgud
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Height
5' 11"
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Trivia
Has been arguably called the century's greatest "Hamlet".
(December 1996) Made member of 'Order of Merit' by Queen Elizabeth for exeptional contributions to arts.
Received his title Sir in 1953 for his performing skills
Great nephew of celebrated stage actress Ellen Terry.
1 June 2000: Cremated in Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
(1999) Longtime lover Martin Hensler, 30 years younger, dies.
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Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
One of the greatest actors of the century, who has become one of the most prolific film stars in recent memory. He debuted on stage at the Old Vic in London in 1921, with one line in "Henry V" ("Here is the number of the slaughter's French"), and went on to become a virtuoso Shakespearean actor, noted for his supremely beautiful voice. He played Romeo, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony, and a young Hamlet in 1930 that was referred to as "the high-water mark of English Shakespearean acting in our time." He did comedy and directed as well, and toured with "Hamlet" and "Blithe Spirit" during World War 2. Though he had debuted in the film Who Is the Man? (1924) and had starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936) and The Prime Minister (1941), he did not take movie work seriously until the 1950s, when he appeared as Cassius in Julius Caesar (1953), and lent his expertise to the endeavor. His presence, according to film historian David Shipman, "set the tone of the production." That same year, he was knighted for his service to the arts in England.
While still performing and directing for the stage in England and the U.S. (winning a Tony Award for directing the play "Big Fish, Little Fish"), he was memorable on-screen in Richard III (1955, opposite Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson), Becket (1964, an Oscarnominated turn as King Louis VII), The Loved One (1965, a delicious blackcomedy performance), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), and Providence (1977). But it was his Oscar-winning comic performance as Dudley Moore's acid-tongued manservant in Arthur (1981) that resulted in widespread recognition from the moviegoing masses. He has since added his regal presence to such films as Chariots of Fire (1981), Gandhi (1982), The Shooting Party, Plenty (both 1985), The Whistle Blower (1987), the controversial Prospero's Books (1991), Shining Through and The Power of One (both 1992). That same year he starred in a short subject for director Kenneth Branagh called Swan Song, based on a Chekhov playlet about an aged actor. He has also acted in many TV films and miniseries, most notably "Brideshead Revisited," "War and Remembrance," and "Summer's Lease," for which he won an Emmy. He has written several books, including the memoirs "Early Stages" (1939) and "An Actor and His Times" (1979). |  |
