Sir John Gielgud

Sir Arthur John Gielgud OM CH 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000 Known As Sir John Gielgud Was An English Theatre And Film Actor Regarded By Many As One Of The Greatest British Actors In History. Arthur John Gielgud Was Born In Kensington In London To A Protestant Mother Kate Terry And A Catholic Father Frank Gielgud Who Was Of Polish Or Lithuanian Descent And Was Raised A Protestant. Gielgud Had A Head Start In The Theatrical Profession Being A Great Nephew Of Dame Ellen Terry. His Elder Brother Was Val Gielgud Who Was One Of The Most Pioneering And Influential Leaders Of BBC Radio. After Westminster School Where He Gained A King's Scholarship He Trained At RADA And Had His Initial Success As A Stage Actor In Classical Roles. He Starred And Directed In Many Royal Shakespeare Company Productions At Stratford-Upon-Avon. His Hamlet Of 1936 Was Particularly Admired And Widely Acclaimed. In His Later Years Gielgud Would Play The Ghost Of Hamlet's Father In Productions Of The Play First To Richard Burton's Melancholy Dane On The Broadway Stage And Then On Television With Richard Chamberlain. Although He Began To Appear In British Films As Early As The 1930s He Would Not Make An Impact In The Medium Until The Last Decades Of His Life. His Film Roles Included Benjamin Disraeli In The Prime Minister 1940 Cassius In Julius Caesar 1953 And George Duke Of Clarence To Laurence Olivier's Richard III 1955 . Unlike Olivier He Remained Primarily A Stage Actor And So The Rivalry Between Them Was Minimal. As He Aged Gielgud Began To Adapt More To Changing Fashions In The Theatre Appearing In Plays By David Storey Home Charles Wood Veterans Edward Bond Bingo And Harold Pinter No Man's Land . In The 1980s And 1990s It Was Jokingly Said That He Was Prepared To Do Almost Anything For His Art. He Won An Academy Award For His Supporting Role As A Sardonic Butler In The 1981 Comedy Arthur Starring Dudley Moore And His Performance In Shine 1996 Was Critically Acclaimed. Gielgud Was Also One Of The Few People Who Has Won An Emmy A Grammy An Oscar And A Tony Award. He Was Convicted Of Lewd Behaviour Cottaging In 1953. Instead Of Being Rejected By The Public He Got A Standing Ovation At His Next Stage Appearance. Biographer Sheridan Morley Writes That While Gielgud Never Denied Being Gay Gielgud Always Tried To Be Discreet About It And Felt Humliated By The Ordeal. Some Speculate That It Helped To Bring To Public Attention A Crusade To Decriminalise Homosexuality In England And Wales. Longtime Lover Martin Hensler 30 Years His Junior Died Just A Few Months Before Sir John Did In 2000. He Only Publicly Acknowledged Hensler As His Partner In 1988 In The Programme Note For Best Of Friends Play Which Was His Final Stage Performance. Despite Going To Hollywood To Appear Alongside Marlon Brando In Julius Caesar In Early 1950s Gielgud Would Avoid Hollywood For Over A Decade For Fear Of Being Denied Entry Because Of The Arrest. Gielgud And Ralph Richardson Were The First Guest Stars On Second City Television. Playing Themselves They Were In Toronto During Their Tour Of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. According To Dave Thomas In His Book SCTV Behind The Scenes Their Sketch Stunk And The Actors Gave A Bad Performance. Gielgud's Final Onscreen Appearance In A Major Release Motion Picture Was As Pope Paul IV In Elizabeth Which Was Released In 1998. His Final Acting Performance Was In A Film Adaptation Of Samuel Beckett's Short Play Catastrophe Opposite Longtime Collaborator Harold Pinter And Directed By American Playwright David Mamet Gielgud Died Mere Weeks After Production Was Completed At The Age Of 96 Of Natural Causes. The Globe Theatre In London Was Renamed The Gielgud Theatre In 1994 In His Honour. Grammy Awards 1959 Nominated For Best Documentary Or Spoken Word Recording For Ages Of Man 1960 Nominated For Best Documentary Or Spoken Word Recording For Hamlet With Richard Burton Hume Cronyn Alfred Drake George Voskovec Eileen Herlie William Redfield And George Ross 1964 Nominated For Best Documentary Or Spoken Word Recording For Ages Of Man Volume 2 One Man In His Time Part Two - Shakespeare 1979 Winner For Best Spoken Word Documentary Or Drama Recording For Ages Of Man - Recordings From Shakespeare 1982 Nominated For Best Spoken Word Documentary Or Drama Recording For No Man's Land With Ralph Richardson 1983 Nominated For Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording For Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats With Irene Worth 1986 Nominated For Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording For Gulliver 1988 Nominated For Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording For A Christmas Carol 1989 Nominated For Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording For Sir John Gielgud Reads Alice In Wonderland 1991 Nominated For Best Album For Children For The Emperor's New Clothes With Mark Isham read less