Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (/ˈɡiË lÉ¡ÊŠd/; 14 April 1904 â€" 21
May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career
spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he
was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for
much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical
dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of
his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and
in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an
exponent of Shakespeare in 1929â€"31.During the 1930s Gielgud was a
stage star in the West End and on Broadway, appearing in new works and
classics. He began a parallel career as a director, and set up his own
company at the Queen's Theatre, London. He was regarded by many as the
finest Hamlet of his era, and was also known for high comedy roles
such as John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest. In the 1950s
Gielgud feared that his career was threatened when he was convicted
and fined for a homosexual offence, but his colleagues and the public
supported him loyally. When avant-garde plays began to supersede
traditional West End productions in the later 1950s he found no new
suitable stage roles, and for several years he was best known in the
theatre for his one-man Shakespeare show Ages of Man. From the late
1960s he found new plays that suited him, by authors including Alan
Bennett, David Storey and Harold Pinter.During the first half of his
career, Gielgud did not take the cinema seriously. Though he made his
first film in 1924, and had successes with The Good Companions (1933)
and Julius Caesar (1953), he did not begin a regular film career until
his sixties. Gielgud appeared in more than sixty films between Becket
(1964), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for
playing Louis VII of France, and Elizabeth (1998). As the acid-tongued
Hobson in Arthur (1981) he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor. His film work further earned him a Golden Globe Award and two
BAFTAs.
May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career
spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he
was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for
much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical
dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of
his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and
in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an
exponent of Shakespeare in 1929â€"31.During the 1930s Gielgud was a
stage star in the West End and on Broadway, appearing in new works and
classics. He began a parallel career as a director, and set up his own
company at the Queen's Theatre, London. He was regarded by many as the
finest Hamlet of his era, and was also known for high comedy roles
such as John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest. In the 1950s
Gielgud feared that his career was threatened when he was convicted
and fined for a homosexual offence, but his colleagues and the public
supported him loyally. When avant-garde plays began to supersede
traditional West End productions in the later 1950s he found no new
suitable stage roles, and for several years he was best known in the
theatre for his one-man Shakespeare show Ages of Man. From the late
1960s he found new plays that suited him, by authors including Alan
Bennett, David Storey and Harold Pinter.During the first half of his
career, Gielgud did not take the cinema seriously. Though he made his
first film in 1924, and had successes with The Good Companions (1933)
and Julius Caesar (1953), he did not begin a regular film career until
his sixties. Gielgud appeared in more than sixty films between Becket
(1964), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for
playing Louis VII of France, and Elizabeth (1998). As the acid-tongued
Hobson in Arthur (1981) he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor. His film work further earned him a Golden Globe Award and two
BAFTAs.
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