While working in advertising, he studied at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, debuting on stage in 1934 and played classic theatre with the Old Vic from 1936. In 1941 he entered the Royal navy as a seaman and was commissioned the next year. Beyond an extra part in Evensong, his film career began after World War II with his portrayal of Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations. A string of films, mostly comedies, showed off his ability to look different in every role -- eight of them, including a woman, in one movie alone, Kind Hearts and Coronets. His best known recent work was as the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope trilogy. He earned a best actor Oscar and Golden Globe in The Bridge on the River Kwai and an Honorary Academy Award (1980) for "advancing the art of screen acting through a host of memorable and distinguished performances". Academy nominations have included The Lavender Hill Mob (actor); The Horse's Mouth (screenplay); Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (supporting) and Little Dorrit (supporting). He was knighted in 1959 for his accomplishments in theatre and film.


Little Dorrit (1988): £ 180,000
Star Wars (1977): $150,000 + 2% of profits
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951): £ 6,000
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949): £ 6,000

Reportedly hated working on Star Wars (1977) so much, Guinness claims that Obi-Wan's death was his idea as a means to limit his involvement in the film. Guinness also claims to throw away all Star Wars related fan mail without even opening it. He was one of the last surviving members of a great generation of UK actors, which included Sir Laurence Olivier , Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson . Created a Companion of Honour in 1994. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959. Despite popular belief he NEVER uttered the line 'May the force be with you' in ANY of the Star Wars films (the closest he came was 'the force will be with you'). The qualities he claimed to most admire in an actor were "simplicity, purity, clarity of line." His widow, Merula, died on October 17 2000, just two months after her husband. His films were studied by Ewan McGregor in preparation for his role as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) to ensure accuracy in everything from his accent to the pacing of his words. Was a Grammy nominee in 1964, in the Spoken Word category, for the album "Alec Guinness: A Personal Choice" (RCA Victor Red Seal: 1964), on which he read a selection of his favorite poems. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Special Award in 1989 (1988 season) for his outstanding contributions to West End Theatre. Has been succeeded in two of his roles by actors from Trainspotting (1996). Guinness portrayed Adolf Hitler in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). Robert Carlyle portrayed Adolf Hitler in Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV), while Ewan McGregor succeeded him in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ewan McGregor was not the only actor in the Star Wars prequels to study his performances. The voice for the character Watto was modeled after Guinness's performance as Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948). Reportedly answered one "Star Wars" fan's boast that he'd seen the first movie over a hundred times, with a nod and the words "Promise me you'll never watch it again." The boy was stunned, but his mother thanked Guinness. A heavy smoker for most of his life, he finally managed to give up the habit in his last years. George Lucas said Guinness was very patient and helpful to him during the filming of the first Star Wars (1977) , even to the point of getting the other actors to work more seriously. Won Broadway's 1964 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Dylan", in which he played the title character, poet Dylan Thomas. He is buried in Petersfield Cemetery, Hampshire. Despite being two of Britain's most distinguished actors of their generation, he appeared in only two films with John Mills: Great Expectations (1946) and Tunes of Glory (1960). Celebrated his 62nd birthday during the filming of Star Wars (1977) in Tunisia, where the Tatooine scenes were filmed. In certain prints of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a film in which he won the Oscar for Best Actor, his last name is misspelled "Guiness." Went bald on top, and according to his "Time" Magazine cover story of 21 April 1958, he was embarrassed by it but chose not to wear a hairpiece in private life. He told the "Time" writer that he had shaved the top of his head as a young man in his first professional acting engagement, playing a coolie. It never grew back properly after that, he lamented. Was the subject of a cover story in "Time" magazine for the week of April 21, 1958, shortly after he won the Best Actor Oscar for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Had his first speaking role on the professional stage in the melodrama "Queer Cargo" (he did not appear in the film). At the age of 20, the tyro actor played a Chinese coolie in the first act, a French pirate in Act 2 and a British sailor in Act 3, a foreshadowing of the shape-shifting he would do in his cinema career, where he once played as many as eight roles in a single film (Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)). His name is an anagram of "genuine class". Guinness was a member of the Old Vic group organized by John Gielgud in the early '30s, which also included, among others, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quayle, and Peggy Ashcroft. Played the role of Osric in John Gielgud's theatrical production of Hamlet in 1934. In Laurence Olivier's 1948 film version, this role was played by Peter Cushing, with whom Guinness appeared years later in Star Wars (1977). The film was also Cushing's first collaboration with future Star Wars cast member Christopher Lee. According to playwright Neil Simon, Alec was reading the script for Star Wars (1977) while on set filming Murder by Death (1976) and commented that "Star Wars" may be a "good one". During his service in the Navy, he commanded a landing craft invading Sicily and Elba, and helped to supply soldiers in Yugoslavia.