Alec Guinness

Born: 2nd April 1914
Where: London, England
Died: 5th August 2000

After finishing school in 1932, Guinness began working as an apprentice copywriter in a London advertising agency.

His desire to act soon won him over and in 1933 he auditioned for and won a modest scholarship to the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, debuting on stage in 1934 in Queer Cargo and later in Hamlet.

By the time World War II began and Guinness enlisted in the Royal Navy, he had appeared in over 20 major stage productions and had worked with such acting heavyweights as Sir John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, and Edith Evans.

Guinness' film career began with his portrayal of Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations followed by his role as Fagin in Oliver Twist.

He earned a best actor Oscar and Golden Globe in The Bridge on the River Kwai and received another Oscar nomination the next year, this time as a screenwriter, for the satirical film The Horse's Mouth. Other Academy nominations have included The Lavender Hill Mob, Star Wars and Little Dorrit.

He reached a whole new generation of film audiences with his role as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi in the blockbuster hit Star Wars, and reprised the role in the film's equally successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Guiness reportedly hated working on Star Wars so much that he claims Obi-Wan's death was his idea as a means to limit his involvement in the film.

He was Awarded a CBE in 1955 and four years later he was knighted for his accomplishments in theatre and film. He also received an Honorary Academy Award for 'advancing the art of screen acting through a host of memorable and distinguished performances'.

Guinness played John Le Carré's master spy George Smiley in a pair of acclaimed 1980s TV miniseries, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People.