'Sir Arthur John Gielgud',
OM,
CH (
14 April,
1904 –
21 May 2000), known as 'Sir John Gielgud', was an
Emmy,
Grammy,
Tony and
Academy Award-winning
English theatre and film
actor. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest English actors in history.
Career
'Arthur John Gielgud' was born in
South 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 stages
After
Westminster School, where he gained a King's 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 McClintic's 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 Irving's
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 Gielgud's own direction. In his later years, Gielgud would play the Ghost of Hamlet's Father in productions of the play, first to
Richard Burton's 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 Gielgud's
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. Olivier's 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 Gielgud's direction and developed a wary relationship with Gielgud which resulted in Olivier turning down Gielgud's request to play the Chorus in Olivier's film of ''
Henry V'' and later doing his best to block Gielgud from appearing at the
Royal National Theatre when Olivier was its director.
[1].
Queen's Theatre season
Gielgud had an enormous influence on the development of English Theatre when he produced a season of plays at the
Queen's 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 Gielgud's performance as Vershinin, coupled with his successes in ''
The Seagull'' (1929 and 1936), ''
The Cherry Orchard'' (1954), and ''
Ivanov'' (1965) establishing
Chekhov's acceptance on the English-speaking stage.
Shakespearean legacy
It would always be, however, 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 ''
Prospero's 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 Winter's Tale'' (1951), and
Cardinal Wolsey in ''
Henry VII'' (1959) (although his 1960 performance as
Othello was not a success).
His crowning achievement was ''
Ages of Man,'' his one-man recital of Shakespearean excerpts which he performed throughout the 1950s and 1960s, winning a
Tony Award for the
Broadway production, a
Grammy Award for his recording of the piece, and an
Emmy Award for producer
David Susskind for the 1966 telecast on
CBS. Gielgud made his final
Shakespearean appearance on stage in 1977 in the title role of
John Schlesinger's production of ''
Julius Caesar'' at the
Royal National Theatre. Among his non-Shakespearean Renaissance roles, his Ferdinand in
John Webster's ''
The Duchess of Malfi'' was well-known.
Later stage work
As he aged, Gielgud began to adapt more to changing fashions in the theatre, appearing in plays by
Edward Albee (''
Tiny Alice''),
Alan Bennett (''
Forty Years On''),
Charles Wood (''
Veterans''),
Edward Bond (''
Bingo'', in which Gielgud played
William Shakespeare), David Storey (''
Home''), and
Harold Pinter (''
No Man's Land''), the latter two in partnership with his old friend
Ralph Richardson, but he drew the line at being offered the role of Hamm in
Beckett's ''
Endgame,'' saying that the play offered "nothing but loneliness and despair."
[2] It looked as though Gielgud would retire from the stage after appearing in ''
Half-Life'' at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1978, but he made a successful comeback in 1988 in
Hugh Whitmore's play ''
The Best of Friends'' as museum curator
Sydney Cockerell.
Film work
''Prospero's Books''
Although he began to appear in British films as early as 1924, making his debut in the
silent movie ''Who Is the Man?'', he would not make an impact in the medium until the last decades of his life. His early film roles were sporadic and included
Benjamin Disraeli in ''The Prime Minister'' (1940), Cassius in ''
Julius Caesar'' (1953),
BAFTA Award for Best British Actor),
George, Duke of Clarence to Olivier's ''
Richard III'' (1955), and
Henry IV to
Orson Welles'
Falstaff in ''
Chimes at Midnight'' (1966). But he lost his aversion to filming in the late 1960s, and by the 1980s and 1990s he had thrown himself into the medium with a vengeance, so much so that it was jokingly said that he was prepared to do almost anything for his art. He won an
Academy Award for his supporting role as a sardonic butler in the 1981 comedy ''
Arthur'', starring
Dudley Moore, a
New York Film Critics Circle Award for ''
Providence'' (1977), a
BAFTA Award for ''
Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and his performances in ''
The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1968), ''
The Elephant Man'' (1981), and ''
Shine'' (1996) were critically acclaimed. In 1991, Gielgud was able to satisfy his life's ambition by immortalizing his
Prospero on screen in the film ''
Prospero's Books.''
[3]
Television also developed as one of the focal points of his career, with Gielgud giving a particularly notable performance in ''
Brideshead Revisited'' (1981). He won an
Emmy Award for ''
Summer's Lease'' (1989) and televised his stage performances of ''
A Day by the Sea'' (1957), ''Home'' (1970), ''
No Man's Land'' (1976) and his final theatre role in ''
The Best of Friends'' as
Sydney Cockerell in the 1991 Masterpiece Theatre Production, along with
Patrick McGoohan and Dame
Wendy Hiller. In 1983, he made his only onscreen appearance with both
Laurence Olivier and
Ralph Richardson in a television miniseries about composer
Richard Wagner. In 1996 he played a wizard in the TV adaptation of ''
Gulliver's Travels''. Gielgud and
Ralph Richardson were the first guest stars on ''
Second City Television''. Playing themselves, they were in Toronto during their tour of
Harold Pinter's ''
No Man's Land''. According to
Dave Thomas, in his book, '', their sketch stank and the actors gave a bad performance. Gielgud's final television performance was on film in ''
Merlin'' in 1998, his final television studio appearance having been in ''A Summer Day's Dream'' recorded in 1994 for the
BBC 2 ''Performance'' series.
[4]
Gielgud was one of the few people
who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award.
Gielgud's final onscreen appearance in a major release motion picture was as Pope Paul IV in ''
Elizabeth'' which was released in 1998. His final acting performance was in a film adaptation of
Samuel Beckett's short play ''
Catastrophe'', opposite longtime collaborator
Harold Pinter and directed by American playwright
David Mamet; Gielgud died mere weeks after production was completed at the age of 96 of natural causes.
Origins and personal life
Polish-Lithuanian origin
Gielgud's
Catholic father of
Lithuanian-
Polish szlachta descent, Franciszek Giełgud was born 1880. The original Lithuanian form of the name was ''Gelgaudas'', the Gelgaudai was an old Lithuanian family
Giełgud coat of arms, originating from the town of
Gelgaudiškis in
Marijampolė County,
Lithuania. Sir John's grandfather was Adam Giełgud (1834-1920), married with Leontyna Aniela Aszperger. Adam Giełgud's father's, Jan Giełgud, mother was Countness Eleonora Tyszkiewicz-Łohojski,
Leliwa coat of arms. As a descendant of
Tyszkiewicz (lit. Tiškevičius) counts he was related to many famous and great Polish and Lithuanian people, include actress
Beata Tyszkiewicz and also to many .
Personal life
Gielgud was convicted of "persistently importuning for immoral purposes" (
cottaging) in a
Chelsea mews in 1953. Instead of being rejected by the public, he received a standing ovation at his next stage appearance. Biographer
Sheridan Morley writes that while Gielgud never denied being gay, he always tried to be discreet about it and felt humiliated by the ordeal. Some speculate that it helped to bring to public attention a crusade to decriminalise homosexuality in England and Wales. Longtime lover Martin Hensler, 30 years his junior, died just a few months before Sir John did in 2000. He only publicly acknowledged Hensler as his partner in 1988, in the programme notes for Best of Friends which was his final stage performance.
[5][6] Despite going to Hollywood to appear alongside
Marlon Brando in ''
Julius Caesar'' in early 1950s, Gielgud would avoid Hollywood for over a decade for fear of being denied entry because of the arrest.
Awards and honours
★ He was
knighted in the 1953
coronation honours, became a
Companion of Honour in 1977, and was admitted to the
Order of Merit in 1996.
★ In 1982 he received an
Evening Standard Special Award
★ The Globe Theatre in London was renamed the
Gielgud Theatre in 1994 in his honour.
Laurence Olivier Awards
★ 1985: Special Award
Academy Awards
★ 1964: Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, for ''
Becket''
★ 1981: Winner for
Best Supporting Actor, for ''
Arthur''
Emmy Awards
★ 1982: Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special, for ''
Brideshead Revisited''
★ 1984: Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special, for ''
The Master of Ballantrae''
★ 1985: Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special, for ''
Romance on the Orient Express''
★ 1989: Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special, for ''
War and Remembrance''
★ 1991: Winner for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, for ''
Summer's Lease''
Tony Awards
★ 1948: Winner for Outstanding Foreign Company, ''
The Importance of Being Earnest''
★ 1959: Winner, Special Award, for contribution to theatre for his extraordinary insight into the writings of Shakespeare as demonstrated in his one-man show, ''
Ages of Man''
★ 1961: Winner for Best Director (Dramatic), for ''
Big Fish, Little Fish''
★ 1963: Nominated for Best Director (Dramatic), for ''
The School for Scandal''
★ 1965: Nominated for
Best Actor (Dramatic), for ''
Tiny Alice''
★ 1971: Nominated for Best Actor (Dramatic), for ''
Home''
Grammy Awards
★ 1959: Nominated for Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording, for ''
Ages of Man''
★ 1960: Nominated for Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording, for ''
Hamlet'' with
Richard Burton,
Hume Cronyn,
Alfred Drake,
George Voskovec,
Eileen Herlie,
William Redfield and
George Ross
★ 1964: Nominated for Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording, for ''
Ages of Man, Volume 2 (One Man in His Time) Part Two - Shakespeare''
★ 1979: Winner for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording, for ''
Ages of Man - Recordings from Shakespeare''
★ 1982: Nominated for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording, for ''
No Man's Land'' with
Ralph Richardson
★ 1983: Nominated for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording, for ''
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' with
Irene Worth
★ 1986: Nominated for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording, for ''
Gulliver''
★ 1988: Nominated for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording, for ''
A Christmas Carol''
★ 1989: Nominated for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording, for ''
Sir John Gielgud Reads Alice in Wonderland''
★ 1991: Nominated for Best Album for Children, for ''
The Emperor's New Clothes'' with
Mark Isham
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
★ 1977: Best Actor, for ''
Providence''
★ 1981: Best Supporting Actor, for ''
Arthur''
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
★ 1981: Best Supporting Actor, for ''
Arthur''
★ 1985: Best Supporting Actor, for ''
Plenty''
There is also the '
Sir John Gielgud Award' for "Excellence in the Dramatic Arts" presented by the US-based Shakespeare Guild. Past winners include
Ian McKellen,
Kenneth Branagh,
Kevin Kline and
Judi Dench
Other interests
Sir John Gielgud believed that animals should not be exploited. He was particularly fond of birds and joined
PETA's campaign against the
foie gras industry in the early 1990s, narrating PETA's video exposé of the force-feeding of geese and ducks. Many chefs and restaurateurs who saw that video dropped foie gras from their menus. Sir John received PETA’s Humanitarian of the Year Award twice, in 1994 and 1999.
He also authored several books, including his memoirs in ''
An Actor and His Time'', ''
Early Stages'' and ''
Distinguished Company''. He also co-wrote, with John Miller, ''
Acting Shakespeare''.
Selected filmography
★ ''
Secret Agent'' (1936)
★ ''
Julius Caesar'' (1953)
★ ''
Richard III'' (1955)
★ ''
Around the World in Eighty Days'' (1956)
★ ''
Saint Joan'' (1957)
★ ''
The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1957)
★ ''
Becket'' (1964)
★ ''
Chimes at Midnight'' (1965)
★ ''
The Loved One'' (1965)
★ ''
The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1968)
★ ''
Oh! What a Lovely War'' (1969)
★ ''
Julius Caesar'' (1970)
★ ''
Lost Horizon'' (1973)
★ '' (1973)
★ ''
11 Harrowhouse'' (1974)
★ ''
Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974)
★ ''
Providence'' (1977)
★ ''
Caligula'' (1979)
★ ''
The Elephant Man'' (1980)
★ ''
The Formula'' (1980)
★ ''
Lion of the Desert'' (1981)
★ ''
Arthur'' (1981)
★ ''
Chariots of Fire'' (1981)
★ ''
Gandhi'' (1982)
★ ''
Wagner'' (1983)
★ ''
The Wicked Lady'' (1983)
★ ''
The Master of Ballantrae'' (1984)
★ ''
The Far Pavilions'' (1984)
★ ''
Plenty'' (1985)
★ ''
The Whistle Blower'' (1986)
★ ''
Appointment with Death'' (1988)
★ '' (1988)
★ ''
Getting it Right'' (1989)
★ ''
Prospero's Books'' (1991)
★ ''
Shining Through'' (1992)
★ ''
Scarlett'' (1994)
★ ''
First Knight'' (1995)
★ ''
Hamlet'' (1996)
★ ''
Shine'' (1996)
★ ''
Merlin'' (1998)
★ ''
Elizabeth'' (1998)
★ ''
Catastrophe'' (2000)
References
1. Jonathan Croall, ''Gielgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000'',Continuum, 2001
2. Sheridan Morley, ''John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography'', Simon and Shuster (2002) p. 311
3. ''Sir John Gielgud: A Life in Letters'', Arcade Publishing (2004)
4. ''A Summer Day's Dream'' BBC Programme Catalogue
5. Stage: John Gielgud Stars in London Play Frank Rich
6. Gielgud, 83, comes out, , , , Gay Times,
See also
★
List of people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award
External links
★
★
★
★
Gielgud Archive in the British Library Manuscripts Collections
★
University of Bristol Theatre Collection,
University of Bristol
Further reading
★ Young, Jordan R. (1989). ''Acting Solo: The Art of One-Person Shows''. Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing Co.
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