John Gielgud
British actor and theatre director (1904-2000)
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John Gielgud was a highly influential British actor and theatre director who had a career spanning nearly a century, from the early 1900s until his death in 2000. He is considered one of the greatest classical actors of the 20th century, particularly celebrated for his work in Shakespeare and his contributions to British theatre and film.
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Person
- Born
- 1904-04-14
- Died
- 2000-05-21
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · London, England
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH, was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and particularly for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec…
Known for
- Nothing Like a Dame — Self (archive footage)2018
- Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film — Self2016
- Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films — Hogarth (archive footage) (uncredited)2014
- Discovering Hamlet — King Hamlet's Ghost (archive footage)2011
- Behind The Scenes of Caligula2009
- Revisiting Brideshead — Self (archive footage)2005
- Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film — Self - The Protagonist ("Catastrophe")2003
- Catastrophe — The Protagonist2001
Article
Gielgud as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, 1959
Sir Arthur John Gielgud (/ˈɡiːlɡʊd/ GHEEL-guud; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of Shakespeare in 1929–31.
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1904 births2000 deaths20th-century English male actors20th-century Lithuanian nobility20th-century Polish nobilityActors awarded knighthoodsActors from Aylesbury ValeActors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaAlumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtAudiobook narratorsBAFTA fellowsBest British Actor BAFTA Award winners