Celebrity Deathwatch: Sir John Gielgud, British Actor, 96

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/22/gielgud.obit.01/index.html

British actor Sir John Gielgud dead at age 96

May 22, 2000
Web posted at: 9:31 a.m. EDT (1331 GMT)

LONDON -- British actor Sir John Gielgud, who held his place alongside
Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson as Britain's leading actors, has died
at age 96, his family said on Monday.

Gielgud was perhaps best known to American audiences for his portrayal of
the butler Hobson opposite Dudley Moore's spoiled, drunken playboy in the
movie "Arthur." Gielgud's work as the sharp-witted character earned him his
only Oscar in 1981.

The actor was born in 1904 in London. He made his first appearance at
London's Old Vic Theatre in 1921 and was knighted in 1953 in the midst of a
successful stage and film career.

Gielgud was known for his elegant bearing and silken voice.

"I have been extraordinarily lucky," Gielgud told The Associated Press in a
1991 interview.

>From classics to comedy
Gielgud won wide fame for his Shakespearean roles in the theater. He first
played "Hamlet" at age 26 and performed as "Prospero" in his own old age.

Other film roles included a master spy in Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 thriller
"The Secret Agent," opposite Peter Lorre.

Gielgud received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his
portrayal of the king of France in the 1964 film version of Jean Anouilh's
"Becket."

His refined manner made him a gentleman's gentleman in "Murder on the Orient
Express."

In the early 1980s he appeared in "The Elephant Man" and "Chariots of Fire."

Ironically, the actor had to be coaxed into taking the role in "Arthur" that
brought him the Oscar.

A working retirement
Gielgud's last years were spent at his country home in England. He retired
from the stage in 1988, but he continued acting in select films.

In "Prospero's Books," shot in 1991, the actor performed in his first nude
scene at the age of 86.

In 1996, he appeared in "Shine," "Portrait of a Lady," the television
miniseries "Gulliver's Travels," and in Kenneth Branagh's version of
"Hamlet."

Speaking of his long career, Gielgud once said of acting, "It's my whole
life. It's all I can do."

Correspondent Dennis Michael, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed
to this report.

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