Guinness, << GIHN ihs, >> Alec (1914-2000), was a famous English stage and motion-picture actor. Guinness was a member of the great generation of British actors that included Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, and John Gielgud. Guinness won the Academy Award as best actor for his performance in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).
Guinness was born on April 2, 1914, in London. His real name is Alec Guinness de Cuffe. He made his stage debut in 1934 and appeared in many classical roles with the Old Vic Theatre from 1936 to 1939. Guinness made his motion-picture debut in Great Expectations (1946). He gained fame for playing eight roles in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).
Guinness’s other major films include Oliver Twist (1948), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Ladykillers (1955), The Horse’s Mouth (1958), Tunes of Glory (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr. Zhivago (1965), The Comedians (1967), Star Wars (1977), A Passage to India (1984), and Little Dorrit (1988). He also wrote three volumes of autobiography, Blessings in Disguise (1986), My Name Escapes Me: The Diary of a Retiring Actor (1996), and A Positively Final Appearance (1999). Queen Elizabeth II knighted Guinness in 1959, and he became known as Sir Alec Guinness. He died on Aug. 5, 2000.
