John Gielgud movies

He is generally regarded as one of the great English actors in history.
Arthur John Gielgud was born in Kensington in London to a Protestant mother, Kate Terry, and a Catholic father Frank Gielgud 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 a pioneering influence in BBC Radio.Early stagesAfter Westminster School, where he gained a Kings Scholarship, Gielgud trained at RADA and had his initial success as a stage actor in classical roles, first winning stardom during a successful two seasons at the Old Vic Theatre from 1929 to 1931 where his performances as Richard II and Hamlet were particularly acclaimed, the latter being the first Old Vic production to be transferred to the West End for a run.

He returned to the role of Hamlet in a famous production under his own direction in 1934 at the New Theatre in the West End, was hailed as a Broadway star in Guthrie McClintics production in which Lillian Gish played Ophelia in 1936 (and which was assisted by a rival staging starring Leslie Howard that opened shortly afterwards and failed badly by comparison), a 1939 production that Gielgud again directed that was the last play performed at Henry Irvings Orpheum Theatre and was later taken to Elsinore Castle in Denmark (the actual setting of the play), a 1944 production directed by George Rylands and finally a 1945 production that toured the Far East under Gielguds own direction. In his later years, Gielgud would play the Ghost of Hamlets Father in productions of the play, first to Richard Burtons Melancholy Dane on the Broadway stage which Gielgud directed in 1964, and then on television with Richard Chamberlain and finally in a radio production starring Gielguds protégé Kenneth Branagh.Gielgud had triumphs in many other plays, notably his greatest popular success Richard of Bordeaux (1933) (a romantic version of the story of Richard II), The Importance of Being Earnest which he first performed at the Lyric, Hammersmith in 1930 and would remain in his repertory until 1947, and a legendary production of Romeo and Juliet (1935) which Gielgud directed and alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with a young Laurence Olivier in his first professional Shakespearean leading role. Oliviers performance won him an engagement as the leading man of the Old Vic Theatre the following season starting his career as a classical actor, but he was said to have resented Gielguds direction and developed a wary relationship with Gielgud which resulted in Olivier turning down Gielguds request to play the Chorus in Oliviers film of Henry V and later doing his best to block Gielgud from appearing at the Royal National Theatre when Olivier was its directorJonathan Croall, Gielgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000,Continuum, 2001.Queens Theatre SeasonGielgud had an enormous influence on the development of English Theatre when he produced a season of plays at the Queens Theatre in 1937/38, presenting Richard II, The School for Scandal, The Three Sisters, and The Merchant of Venice with a permanent company (that included Michael Redgrave and Alec Guinness) that would shape the development of such theatrical institutions as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Gielgud acted in all four productions and directed the two Shakespeare plays, while Tyrone Guthrie directed The School for Scandal and Michael Saint-Denis staged The Three Sisters. The greatest success of the season was the production of The Three Sisters, with Gielguds performance as Vershinin, coupled with his successes in The Seagull (1929 and 1936), The Cherry Orchard (1954), and Ivanov (1965) establishing Chekhovs acceptance on the English-speaking stage.Shakespearean Legacyin 1934.]]But it would always be for his Shakespearean work that Gielgud would be best known. In addition to Hamlet which he played over 500 times in six productions, he gave definitive performances of his favorite role of Prospero in The Tempest in four productions (as well as the 1991 film Prosperos Books), Richard II in three productions, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing which he first played in 1930 and revived throughout the 1950s, Macbeth and Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream twice, Romeo three times, King Lear four times (as well as taking on the part for a final time in a radio broadcast at the age of 90), in addition to triumphs as Malvolio in Twelfth Night (1931), Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1937), Angelo in Measure for Measure (1950), Cassius in Julius Caesar (1950) (which he immortalized in the 1953 film), Leontes in The Winters Tale (1951), and Cardinal Wolsey in Henry VII (1959) (although his 1960 performance as Othello was not a success).

John Gielgud Movies

All movies starring John Gielgud.

• Arthur
• Becket
• Caligola
• Chariots of Fire
• Elizabeth
• First Knight
• Gandhi
• Merlin
• Murder on the Orient Express