A member of a generation of British actors that included Sir Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, Sir... (Learn more)
Top Projects: Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, The Bridge on the... (View All)
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Alec Guinness’s Milestones
| 1934 | Film acting debut in "Evensong" |
|---|---|
| 1934 | Stage acting debut as walk-on |
| 1939 | Played Herbert Pocket in stage production of "Great Expectations" which he also adapted |
| 1941 - 1945 | Served in Royal Navy during WWII; Enlisted as able seaman; commissioned as lieutenant the following year |
| 1942 | Given leave for New York stage debut on Broadway in "Flare Path", a propaganda play |
| 1946 | Returned to films in David Lean's "Great Expectations"; began acting steadily in features |
| 1948 | Drew attention as Fagin in Lean's "Oliver Twist" |
| 1949 | Played eight parts, including a woman, in Robert Hammer's "Kind Hearts and Coronets" |
| 1951 | Nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for Charles Crichton's "The Lavender Hill Mob" |
| 1951 | Portrayed the inventor in Alexander Mackendrick's "The Man in the White Suit" |
| 1953 | Starred as the captain with two wives in different ports in "Captain's Paradise" |
| 1957 | Won Best Actor Oscar for his thoughtful rendering of an English bureaucrat soldier in Lean's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" |
| 1959 | Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II |
| 1959 | Scripted adaptation of Joyce Carey's "The Horse's Mouth"; also delivered a superb, monstrous rendering of lead character Gully Jimson; received Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 1962 | Reunited with Lean for "Lawrence of Arabia" |
| 1964 | Played Marcus Aurelius in Anthony Mann's "The Fall of the Roman Empire" |
| 1965 | Reteamed with Lean as Zhivago's brother in "Dr. Zhivago" |
| 1970 | Portrayed Charles I in Ken Hughes' "Comwell" |
| 1972 | Appeared as Pope in Franco Zeffirelli's "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" |
| 1973 | Cast as Hitler in Ennio de Concini's "The Last Ten Days" |
| 1977 | Played Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars"; received Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor; also given 2-1/4 percent of the profits by director George Lucas |
| 1979 | Created role of John LeCarre's George Smiley in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" on BBC (aired in USA on PBS' "Great Performances" in 1980) |
| 1982 | Reprised Smiley in "Smiley's People" |
| 1984 | Final collaboration with Lean, played an Indian professor in the screen adaptation of E M Forester's "A Passage to India" |
| 1985 | Published first volume of memoirs, "Blessings in Disguise" |
| 1985 | Received Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for role of William Dorrit in "Little Dorrit" |
| 1991 | Appeared as the chief clerk in Steven Soderbergh's fantasy thriller "Kafka" |
| 1993 | Co-starred with Leo McKern, Jeanne Moreau and Lauren Bacall in the BBC production "A Foriegn Field" (aired in USA on PBS in 1994) |
| 1997 | Published second memoir, "My Name Escapes Me" |
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