Sir John Gielgud

by John Gielgud

"Sir John Gielgud, best known to American audiences for his beloved, Academy Award-winning turn in 1982's smash comedy Arthur, was one of the foremost talents of twentieth-century theatre and cinema. A peerless actor, he was also one of the most celebrated stage directors of the twentieth century, and one of the preeminent Shakespearean interpreters of his time, second perhaps only to his good friend Sir Laurence Olivier." "Over the course of his legendary career, which spanned eight decades, Gielgud reached a vast and varied audience, as attested by his status as one of only ten people to have won all four of America's top entertainment awards - a Academy Award, a Tony, an Emmy, and a Grammy. From his London stage debut in 1921, when he was only seventeen, through such highly successful later-day films as Gandhi, Shine, and Elizabeth, Gielgud never failed to make an indelible impression." "What is not so widely known as his storied accomplishments on stage and screen is that Gielgud w