|
Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
|
 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Guinness, Alec
Marylebone. Guinness was born on 2nd April 1914 at Marylebone, London.
| Guinness applied for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1933. To which legendary actor did he turn to for advice at the outset of his career? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Sir John Gielgud. Unusually for one so shy and unsure of himself, Guinness impulsively approached the already famous and celebrated Gielgud for advice. Gielgud referred him to the great actress Martita Hunt (who would later costar with Guinness as Miss Havisham in "Great Expectations"). Hunt tried to discourage him from an acting career, but he eventually won her over.
| Which two Dickens roles did Guinness memorably portray in film versions directed by David Lean? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Fagin in "Oliver Twist" and Herbert Pocket in "Great Expectations". In addition to these, Guinness played William Dorrit in the 1987 film version of "Little Dorrit" and the ghost of Jacob Marley in the 1970 film "Scrooge", a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Albert Finney.
| What was notable about Guinness' performance in the 1949 film "Kind Hearts and Coronets"? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
He portrays eight different characters, including a woman.. This extraordinary black comedy concerns one Mazzini (Dennis Price), the son of an aristocratic mother whose family, the D'Ascoynes, reject her when she marries an Italian opera singer. When the D'Ascoyne's refuse even to permit her burial in the family plot, Mazzini vows revenge. He schemes to eliminate them all and succeed to the dukedom. All eight of the D'Ascoynes, including a woman (Lady Agatha; a suffragette) are played brilliantly by Guinness (at one point he plays his own father). If you see only one Guinness film in your life, this should be the one.
| Guinness starred with Stanley Holloway in the delightful 1948 comedy "The Lavender Hill Mob." What hair-raising near-miss befell both men during filming? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
They nearly fell off the Eiffel tower.. In his 1996 memoir "My Name Escapes Me", Guinness states that "Ealing studios never succeeded in killing me in spite of some quite good tries." At one point, he and Holloway were at the top of the Eiffel Tower and were supposed to run from the police down a spiral staircase. Part of the way down, Guinness realized to his horror that the staircase ended abruptly three feet ahead of him and immediately sat down (it was apparently still under construction; there was a sign on the trap door leading to the staircase reading "Workmen Only"). When the directors yelled at him to run further down, he called up "Further down is eternity!" He adds, with understandable bitterness "No one had checked up on the staircase and no one apologized; that wasn't Ealing policy."
Catholicism. In 1954 Guinness played the title role in the film "Father Brown", based on Gilbert K. Chesterton's books about a fictional detective-priest. After filming one day he was headed toward a bar, still in costume, when a small boy grabbed his hand and began chattering away in French. Guinness let the child lead him to his home, where they bid each other "Bon jour" before the boy disappeared into the house. Guinness was moved and impressed by the innate trust that the clerical garb had inspired in the child. At about this time, his own 11 year-old son Matthew became paralyzed from the waist down. Guinness found himself wandering into the local church and praying, which eventually led to his taking instruction in the Catholic faith, to which he converted in 1955.
| Which famous and tragic poet did Guinness portray onstage in a 1964 Broadway play? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Dylan Thomas. The 1964 play "Dylan" dealt with the final months of the alcoholic poet's life. His performance won him the Antoinette Perry award that year.
| What is the (highly unusual) name of Sir Alec's wife, to whom he was married for 62 years until his death in 2000? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Merula. Guinness was married to playwright and artist Merula Salaman for 62 years until his death in August 2000. They met when Guinness was appearing in a production of Gielgud's "Noah" and married in 1938.
| In his 1996 memoir, Guinness describes a loving service which his wife often performed for him; what was it? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
She would place a small vase of flowers on his desk.. Merula would do this each week. In his 1996 memoir, Guinness writes "I rarely see her do this; her loving gestures are nearly always a surprise."
| Sir Alec delivered the eulogy at Sir Laurence Olivier's 1989 memorial service? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
t. Though their personal relationship had been far from idyllic, Guinness spoke with great eloquence of Olivier's formidable achievements.
| In what year did Sir Alec receive his knighthood? (Hint: it was the same year as another momentous event in his career) | Sir Alec Guinness
|
1958. Guinness was knighted in 1958 by Queen Elizabeth II; this was also the year of his Oscar win for "Bridge on the River Kwai"
| What infamous historical figure did Guinness portray in a 1973 film? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Adolf Hitler. Guinness portrayed Hitler in "Hitler; the Last Ten Days", detailing the German dictator's final days in the bunker. Other (less notorious) historical personages Guinness has portrayed are Prince Faisal (in "Lawrence of Arabia"), Marcus Aurelius (in "The Fall of the Roman Empire"), King Charles I (in "Cromwell"), and Benjamin Disraeli (in "The Mudlark")
| Guinness received an honorary award from the Motion Picture Academy in 1980. Did he ever receive an Academy Award? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
Yes. He won an Academy Award for his role as an obsessed colonel in David Lean's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957. He was previously nominated as Best Actor in 1951 for his role in "The Lavender Hill Mob". He had also received Best Supporting Actor nominations for his roles in "Star Wars" (1978) and "Little Dorrit" (1989), as well as an Oscar for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for the 1958 film "The Horse's Mouth".
3. Although his character Obi Wan Kenobi died in the first "Star Wars" installment, he reappears as a spiritual presence in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi"
| Sir Alec Guinness died in 2000 at the age of 86. What did he leave his wife after his death? | Sir Alec Guinness
|
A letter. A man of somewhat mercurial temperament in his private life, Guinness frequently agonised over his occasional bouts of bad temper. He had left Merula a letter to be read after his death emphasizing his deep love and affection and expressing regret for any pain he had caused her.
|
Fun Trivia | 
Quizzes | 
Games
| 
People | 
Services | 
Help | 
Me
