John Gielgud Overview:

Legendary actor, John Gielgud, was born Arthur John Gielgud on Apr 14, 1904 in South Kensington, England. Gielgud died at the age of 96 on May 21, 2000 in Wotton Underwood, England and was laid to rest in Oxford Crematorium Cemetery in Headington, England.

MINI BIO:

Tall, slim, stern-looking British actor who achieved greatest distinction in Shakespearian roles on stage. He appeared briefly as an aesthetic leading man in a few pre-war films, but most post-war parts were cameos that were unworthy both of the actor and his reedily mellifluous voice. Knighted in 1953. Won an Academy Award for Arthur. Also nominated for Becket. The longest film career in the history of the British cinema to date.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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John Gielgud was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning one for Best Supporting Actor for Arthur (as Hobson) in 1981.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1964Best Supporting ActorBecket (1964)King Louis VII of FranceNominated
1981Best Supporting ActorArthur (1981)HobsonWon
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John Gielgud Quotes:

Cassius: Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he hath grown so great?


Cassius: [referring to Julius Caesar] And this man is now become a god.


Benjamin 'Dizzy' Disraeli, aka Lord Beaconsfield- Disraeli: In an autocracy, the leader is the people. Europe is at the mercy of the most ruthless band of autocrats the world has yet seen. I know these dictators, these men of blood and iron, they have one weakness; they are always in a hurry. Their god is power, and its kingdom is on this Earth. They are men without humility and without hearts. The virtues we hold dear they call weaknesses, and what we love they despise. They hold themselves a race apart, divinely ordained to rule the world to the exclusion of all others. That is a form of madness that must eventually destroy the world or be destroyed, it cannot be appeased by soft words or good neighbourliness. All civilised methods of approach to international agreement are signs of weakness to these men. They recognise one argument, and one argument alone - FORCE!


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Best Supporting Actor Oscar 1981





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John Gielgud Facts
His career spanned 76 years.

Gielgud stated in his autobiography that he wanted desperately to be cast as The Chorus in Laurence Olivier's film Henry V (1944). He understood why Olivier did not cast him, as when the two had acted together in Shakespearean repertory in the mid-'30s, Gielgud got the better notices. Blessed with a beautiful voice, Gielgud played Shakespeare traditionally, a style Olivier thought of as too close to song as compared to his own revolutionary colloquial style. When Olivier was more secure, he did cast Gielgud as Clarence in Richard III (1955).

Laurence Olivier, acknowledging Gielgud's mastery of Shakespeare's verse (though he criticized him for making it too much like song), said that Gielgud was possessed of a voice "that wooed the world".

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