Alec Guinness was an English actor. He is known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Geheimnisvolle Erbschaft (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in Die Brücke am Kwai (1957), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence von Arabien (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doktor Schiwago (1965), and Professor Godbole in Reise nach Indien (1984). Guinness is really most remembered for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy for which he receive a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. In the 1970s, Guinness made regular television appearances in Britain, including the role of George Smiley in the serialisations of two novels by John le Carré: König, Dame, As, Spion (1979) and Smileys Leute (1982). In 1980 he received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement. Guinness was also one of three British actors, along with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, who made the transition from Shakespearean theatre in England to Hollywood blockbusters immediately after the Second World War. Guinness died on 5 August 2000, from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Pedro Borges
