Sir Alec Guinness Trivia

1. Where was Sir Alec Guinness born?

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: Marylebone

Guinness was born on 2nd April 1914 at Marylebone, London.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: Sir Laurence Olivier

Olivier's performance was not well received and he was annoyed that Guinness had received the lion's share of attention (and praise) from the critics. Guinness' explanation was quite simple: whenever Olivier entered, the lights came up on him; all Guinness had to do was stay very close to Olivier.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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."

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: James Dean

Dean had just purchased the 1955 silver Porsche which would prove to be his death car when he encountered Guinness, Grace Kelly, and Louis Jourdan. When Dean bragged that the car could do 150 mph, Guinness told him that it looked very dangerous and that he should never set foot in the car; if he did, Guinness warned, he would be dead within a week. Dean laughed off the warning; six days later (Sept. 30) he had his fatal accident. (Ironically, Grace Kelly would also die in an auto accident 26 years later.). Guinness was also once the dinner guest of Princess Diana at a social function; sadly, he had no premonition of her tragic accident.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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."

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 1959

Guinness was knighted in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II; this was one year after his Oscar win for "Bridge on the River Kwai".

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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")

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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".

From Quiz Sir Alec Guinness

Answer: 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.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:04 AM

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