Sir Alec Guinness has died at the age of 86.He surely must have been one of the most versatile actors who ever lived.

Here's the story from CNN:

LONDON -- British actor Sir Alec Guinness, whose repertoire in a 66-year career ranged from Shakespeare to "Star Wars," died Saturday in England, a spokesman for the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst said Monday.
The cause of death for Guinness, 86, was not given by the hospital.
Born April 2, 1914 in London, Guinness was an illegitimate child who did not know the name on his birth certificate was Guinness until he was 14.
"I have to admit that my search for a father has been my constant speculation for 50 years," he said.
His father, whose identity he never learned, provided money for private schools, but not university. Guinness worked briefly as an advertising copywriter, spending his salary on theater tickets and surviving on sandwiches and apples given him by friends at work.
 After scraping together the funds for some elementary lessons, he attended the Fay Compton School of Acting. Guinness had some of his first stage roles in actor John Gielgud's plays.
In one of them, Guinness met actress Merula Salaman, whom he married in 1938. They had a son Matthew and remained married, living in a country house in Petersfield, 50 miles southwest of London.
Guinness first made his mark in films in the Ealing Studio comedies of the late 1940s and the 1950s --"The Man in the White Suit," "The Lavender Hill Mob," "The Lady Killers," and in "Kind Hearts and Coronets." In that black comedy he played the entire d'Ascoyne family -- in his words, "eight speaking parts, one non-speaking cameo and a portrait in oils."
Guinness had large, expressive blue eyes and otherwise unremarkable features -- "a player's countenance, designed for whatever might turn up," critic J.C. Trewin said.
"I had countless first impressions of him," playwright Ronald Harwood wrote. "Each time I saw him, in films, later in the theater, I had the uncanny feeling I had never before watched him act."
With "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957 he won an Oscar for his performance as the disciplined, inflexible Col. Nicholson in a World War II Japanese prison camp.
A second Oscar came in 1980, when he was awarded for "advancing the art of screen acting through a host of memorable and distinguished performances."
Guinness had a long film partnership with director David Lean, beginning in 1946 as Herbert Pocket in "Great Expectations," through "Oliver Twist," "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dr. Zhivago," and finally "A Passage to India" in 1984.
His 1977 role as Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced him to a new generation of filmgoers and made him financially secure. "I might never have been heard of again if it hadn't been for 'Star Wars'," he said.
He was seldom recognized in public.
In one of the stories he told about himself, Guinness checked his hat and coat at a restaurant and asked for a claim ticket. "It will not be necessary," the attendant said.
Guinness later retrieved his garments, put his hand in the coat pocket and found a slip of paper on which was written, "Bald with glasses."
In 1985 he told the Guardian newspaper that he hoped by the end of his life to have put everything in order -- "a kind of little bow, tied on life. And I can see myself drifting off into eternity, or nothing, or whatever it may be, with all sorts of bits of loose string hanging out of my pocket. Why didn't I say this or do that, or why didn't I reconcile myself with someone? Or make sure that someone whom I like was all right in every way, either financially or, I don't know..."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

I was privileged to see Sir Alec on the stage twice--once in London and once in New York.He was just marvelous.

I think I loved every movie he was ever in.It's really hard for me to pick a favorite---but, if pressed, I might choose "The Bridge On The River Kwai".But I loved his comedies--particularly "The Lady Killers" and "The Lavender Hill Mob".

He will be missed.

Do you have a favorite Guinness film or role?

I know what you mean, Chels, I liked Sir Alec alot also. As an actor, "versatile" and "brilliant" don´t do him justice. But at the ripe age of 86 he led a full life and now he can rest in peace. I just hope he got to tie his ends up in a bow, as he put it.

In tribute to Alec Guinness:

ALEC GUINNESS

is an anagram of

GENUINE CLASS

Two of Sir Alec's greatest roles were in 1950's "Last Holiday", an ironic tale of a clerk who thinks he's dying and 1958's "The Horse's Mouth"; not only did he play Joyce Cary's rambunctious Gulley Johnson to perfection, but he wrote the screenplay as well! Also, his hilarious turn in "The Captain's Paradise", as a bigamous cruise ship captain, is as memorable. All three roles deserve to be remembered.

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The absolute irony of Mr. Guinness is that he will remembered, by my and subsequent generations, for a role he despised.

Mr. Guinness also brought a legacy to the Star Wars films that they would've lacked without his persona.

Of course since 1977, they have developed their own legacy.

Sir Alec Guinness was truly one of the greats.

I'm shocked to hear that Alec Guiness had passed on. I take it he's the third one...

Nope. DN, look at the date of the initial post!

Goes to show you I don't keep track of the dead!

Now if they had that Elvis Presley died, then I would have known something was up!

May the force be with him
Sir Alec Guiness RIP