Alec Guinness on stage and screen

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE (1914–2000) 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 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). He is also known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy; for the original film, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 50th Academy Awards.

Alec Guinness in 1973, by Allan Warren

Theatre
Stage credits of Guinness[1][2]
Year Production Role Theatre
(London, unless otherwise noted)		 Notes
1934 Libel! Junior Counsel Playhouse Theatre Non-Speaking Role
1934 Queer Cargo Chinese coolie, French Pirate and English Sailor Piccadilly Theatre
1934 Hamlet Osric and Third Player New Theatre
1935 Noé/Noah Wolf New Theatre
1935 Romeo and Juliet Sampson and Apothecary New Theatre
1936 The Seagull Workman then Yakov New Theatre
1936 Love's Labour's Lost Boyet The Old Vic Start of a season with the Old Vic Company; September 1936-April 1937.
1936 As You Like It Le Beau and William The Old Vic
1936 The Witch of Edmonton Old Thorney The Old Vic
1937 Hamlet Osric and Reynaldo The Old Vic
1937 Twelfth Night Sir Andrew Aguecheek The Old Vic
1937 Henry V Exeter The Old Vic
1937 Hamlet Osric, Player Queen and Reynaldo Elsinore Castle, Helsingør, Denmark Put on by the Old Vic Company at Elsinore Castle
1937 Richard II Aumerle and The Groom Queen's Theatre Start of a Season with John Gielgud's Company at the Queen's Theatre, September 1937-May 1938.
1937 The School for Scandal Snake Queen's Theatre
1938 The Three Sisters Fedotik Queen's Theatre
1938 The Merchant of Venice Lorenzo Queen's Theatre
1938 The Doctor's Dilemma Louis Dubedat Richmond Theatre
1938 Trelawny of the 'Wells' Arthur Gower The Old Vic Start of a Season with the Old Vic Company. September to December 1938.
1938 Hamlet Hamlet The Old Vic
1938 The Rivals Bob Acres The Old Vic
1939 Hamlet Hamlet The Old Vic Start of Tour of Europe and Egypt with the Old Vic Company. January to April 1939.
1939 Henry V Chorus The Old Vic Tour
1939 The Rivals Bob Acres The Old Vic Tour
1939 Libel! Emile Flordan The Old Vic Tour
1939 Macbeth Macbeth Sheffield Playhouse, Sheffield
1939 The Ascent of F6 Michael Ransom The Old Vic
1939 Romeo and Juliet Romeo Perth Theatre, Perth, Scotland Part of the first Perth Scottish Theatre Festival
1939 Great Expectations Herbert Pocket Rudolf Steiner Hall Version adapted by Guinness from Charles Dickens novel; Performed by The Actor's Company, a group Guinness had formed with George Devine and Marius Goring.
1940 Cousin Muriel Richard Meilhac Globe Theatre
1940 Saint Joan The Dauphin Palace Theatre
1940 The Tempest Ferdinand The Old Vic
1940 Thunder Rock Charleston Tour of England
1940 Flare Path Fl. Lt. Graham Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, United States Was temporarily released from his war service to perform in this production.
1946 The Brothers Karamazov Mitya Lyric Theatre Adapted by Guinness from Fyodor Dostoevsky.
1946 The Vicious Circle[3] Garcin Arts Theatre
1946 King Lear The Fool New Theatre Start of a Season with the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1946 – May 1947.
1946 An Inspector Calls Eric Birling New Theatre
1946 Cyrano De Bergerac De Guiche New Theatre
1947 The Alchemist Abel Drugger New Theatre
1947 Richard II Richard II New Theatre Start of a Season with the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1947-May 1948.
1947 Saint Joan The Dauphin New Theatre
1948 The Government Inspector Khlestakov New Theatre
1948 Coriolanus Menenius Agrippa New Theatre
1948 Twelfth Night - New Theatre Director only for the Old Vic Company at the New Theatre. September 1948.
1949 The Human Touch Dr. James Simpson Savoy Theatre
1949 The Cocktail Party Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland.
1950 The Cocktail Party Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, USA
1951 Hamlet Hamlet New Theatre This production was also directed by Guinness.
1952 Under the Sycamore Tree The Ant Scientist Aldwych Theatre
1953 Richard III Richard III Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada Start of a Season at the Stratford Festival. July to September 1953.
1953 All's Well That Ends Well King of France Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
1954 The Prisoner The Cardinal Globe Theatre
1954 Hotel Paradiso Boniface Winter Garden Theatre
1960 Ross Aircraftman Ross / T.E. Lawrence Theatre Royal Haymarket Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Best Actor
1963 Exit the King Berenger the First Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and Royal Court Theatre
1964 Dylan Dylan Thomas Plymouth Theatre, New York City, USA Drama League Awards-Distinguished Performance Award; Tony Awards- Best Actor
1966 Incident at Vichy Von Berg Phoenix Theatre
1966 Macbeth Macbeth Royal Court Theatre
1967 Wise Child Jock Masters/Mrs. Artminster Wyndham's Theatre
1968 The Cocktail Party Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, Sussex, Wyndham's Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket Production was also directed by Guinness.
1970 Time out of Mind John Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Surrey.
1971 A Voyage Round My Father Father Theatre Royal Haymarket
1973 Habeas Corpus Dr. Wickstead Lyric Theatre
1975 A Family and a Fortune Dudley Apollo Theatre
1976 Yahoo Dean Swift Queen's Theatre Adapted by Guinness from the works of Jonathan Swift.
1977 The Old Country Hilary Queen's Theatre
1984 Merchant of Venice Shylock Chichester Festival Theatre
1988 A Walk in the Woods Andrey Botvinnik Comedy Theatre

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1934 Evensong Uncredited extra
1946 Great Expectations Herbert Pocket as an adult
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
1949 A Run for Your Money Whimple
1950 Last Holiday George Bird
1950 The Mudlark Benjamin Disraeli
1951 The Lavender Hill Mob Henry Holland
1951 The Man in the White Suit Sidney Stratton
1952 The Card Edward Henry 'Denry' Machin
1953 The Square Mile Narrator Short subject
1953 The Captain's Paradise Capt. Henry St. James
1953 Malta Story Flight Lieutenant Peter Ross RAF
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
1955 Baker's Dozen The Major Television film
1955 The Ladykillers Professor Marcus
1956 The Swan Prince Albert
1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai Col. Nicholson
1957 Barnacle Bill Captain William Horatio Ambrose
1958 The Horse's Mouth Gulley Jimson
1959 The Scapegoat John Barratt/Jacques De Gue
1959 The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks Jebal Deeks Television film
1959 Our Man in Havana Jim Wormold
1960 Tunes of Glory Maj. Jock Sinclair, D.S.O., M.M. Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1961 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 Lieutenant General Yevgraf Andreyevich Zhivago
1966 Hotel Paradiso Benedict Boniface
1966 The Quiller Memorandum Pol
1967 The Comedians in Africa Himself Short subject
Uncredited
1967 The Comedians Major H.O. Jones Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
1969 Conversation at Night The Executioner Television film
1970 Twelfth Night Malvolio Television film
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
1974 The Gift of Friendship Jocelyn Broome Television film
1976 Caesar and Cleopatra Julius Caesar Television film
1976 Murder by Death Jamesir Bensonmum
1977 Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi
1979 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy George Smiley 7 episodes
1980 The Empire Strikes Back Obi-Wan Kenobi
1980 Raise the Titanic John Bigalow
1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy Earl of Dorincourt Television film
1982 Smiley's People George Smiley 6 episodes
1983 Lovesick Sigmund Freud
1983 Return of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi
1984 A Passage to India Professor Godbole
1984 Edwin Sir Fennimore Truscott Television film
1987 Monsignor Quixote Monsignor Quixote Television film
Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
1987 Little Dorrit William Dorrit
1988 A Handful of Dust Mr. Todd
1991 Kafka The Chief Clerk
1992 Tales from Hollywood Heinrich Mann Television film
1993 A Foreign Field Amos Television film
1994 Mute Witness The Reaper
1996 Eskimo Day James Television film
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Obi-Wan Kenobi Archival audio
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Obi-Wan Kenobi Archival audio

Notes and references
  1. Taylor 2000, pp. 185–190.
  2. O'Connor 2002, pp. 409–418.
  3. "Vicious Circle – cast and crew". theatricalia.com.

Sources
  • O'Connor, Garry (2002). Alec Guinness: The Unknown. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-07340-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Taylor, John Russell (2000). Alec Guinness: A Celebration. London: Pavilion. ISBN 1-86205-501-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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