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Arthur John Gielgud, 96, died Sunday at his home near Aylesbury in Bucking-hamshire west of London. His death is the end of an era in theatre; his peers included Sir Ralph Richardson, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Sir Laurence Olivier.
His third biographer, Sheridan Morley -- Gielgud outlived the first two -- has said that the actor has no place in the history of the 20th century British theatre because, "John Gielgud is the history of the 20th century British theatre."
Once declared the greatest actor/director -- ever -- in the world of theatre, Gielgud was born on April 14, 1904, in London. Called "Jack" as a young man, he was the third of four children. Though Gielgud's grandparents were Polish, the family was originally Lithuanian; the Counts Gielgud held castle Zamek Gielgud until the revolution in 1831.
STAGE DESIGNER FIRST DREAM
Gielgud's father was a stockbroker. On his mother's side he was related to stage great Ellen Terry and renowned stage designer Gordon Craig. Gielgud claims he originally wanted to become a stage designer but turned to acting to please his parents.
Gielgud won a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his professional debut in 1921 in Shakespeare's Henry V. He had one line.
His first major London role was in 1925 in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. It was in 1930 that he acted the first of his many Hamlets, a part he played more than 500 times -- and the part that first brought him to Toronto, in 1936.
(Of course, Gielgud was here directing Richard Burton in Hamlet in 1964 and part of the media brouhaha as Burton and Elizabeth Taylor put on their own version of Romeo And Juliet for the public.)
TORONTO A PLACE IN HIS HEART
Gielgud had a long, friendly relationship with Toronto. In the late '50s he appeared here and at Stratford with Ages Of Man, a one-man Shakespearean reading. He appeared many times at the Royal Alex, starring in Half-Life in 1978, and he and Ralph Richardson brought No Man's Land to town in 1976. Gielgud did a lot of TV work here, and even made an appearance on SCTV.
Mind you, he was fired as the director of Irene when he was here in 1973, and was replaced by Gower Champion.
Ironically, in the late '60s, he spoke to University of Toronto students and told them he would probably retire from theatre, as there were so few roles left he could play.
Although Gielgud made his film debut in 1924 in Who Is The Man?, he first found fame at the movies in Shakespearean drama, starring in Julius Caesar and Richard III in the '50s. He starred in dozens of movies, including Murder On The Orient Express, Plenty, Portrait Of A Lady, Charge Of The Light Brigade, Chariots Of Fire, Prospero's Books, Shine, The Whistle Blower, Gandhi, Invitation To The Wedding and many more -- including Bob Guccione's infamous Caligula.
He won a best supporting Oscar in 1981 as the patient and tender minder of Dudley Moore, his drunken playboy employer, in Arthur.
Gielgud also had a healthy career on TV, where he starred in such acclaimed productions as Brideshead Revisited. He continued to act right up to the end, including a role in Elizabeth two years ago. His agent, Paul Lyon-Maris, said yesterday, "He was still hard at work a month ago, filming a Samuel Beckett play called Catastrophe in London."
Gielgud, who claimed he got his distinctive, clipped speech by imitating the vocal delivery of Aldous Huxley, whom he met at Oxford, financed his own retirement by doing TV commercials for Paul Masson wines. He bought his house in Buckinghamshire and lived there with Martin Hensler, the gardener and landscape architect who was Gielgud's companion for over 40 years.
Hensler died last year. Gielgud was forthcoming but quiet about being homosexual and was often urged by gay rights activist Sir Ian McKellen to be more "out."
As for living to great old age, Gielgud said he never dieted or exercised, "smoked furiously," and enjoyed drinking wine.
Knighted in 1953, Gielgud also received the Order Of Merit from HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 1966, an exclusive decoration for achievement topped only in the Orders of Chivalry by the Order of the Garter.
He refused any acting job that required more than a few days work. He feared he'd die on the job, "And then they'd give (the role) to Michael Dinison and I couldn't bear it."
He had no religious beliefs and did not believe in an afterlife. "But," he told the Sunday Times a few years ago, "I'm fully prepared to be suitably surprised if it's all true."
-- with files from Sun wire services