John Gielgud

John Gielgud is an actor who fetched immense popularity both on stage and screen. He has been ruling the theater and film world for over six decades. Considered to be a pioneer actor in Britain, three generation of his family virtually had dominated the stage world in West. In the early 1930s, John had made his entry in theaters and was even associated with Broadway Theatre. In the year 1922, the actor made his first stage appearance in Neilson-Terry Theater Company and received his first salary.

In the year 1929-31, the actor was associated with Shakespearean dramas on stage and enthralled the viewers. Thus having graduated from the theater world, John Gielgud had his interest in setting up of his own theater company titled ‘ Queen Click to look into! >> Read More... ’s Theater’ in London and presented many comedy shows and earned a huge popularity by staging ‘Hamlet’ drama on stage. He also showcased his own presentation of 'Hamlet' drama which was considered to be one of the best of his era. His popularity set to a decline when he was charged with homosexual offense while he was part of his theater activities, but his friends came to his rescue and relieved him temporarily from such offense.

John Gielgud did not take much interest in cinema. It is said that after his first debut in the film during the year 1924, he remained totally inactive in cinema for a long period. Yet he saw huge success with the release of a movie ‘The Good Companions’ (1933) and again met similar success with another popular movie ‘Julius Caesar’ (1953). John did not take film career as a full-time career till the sixties. Thus he was not a regular film artist till sixties. It was only during the sixties that the actor took his film career a bit seriously.

His first nomination for Academy Awards was for the movie 'Becket', which was a 1964 Anglo-American dramatic film adaptation of the play ‘Becket’ or the ‘Honour of God’. In this movie, he shared screen presence with Richard Burton Richard Burton is a Welsh stage actor who was amon >> Read More... and Peter O'Toole. The actor even is very well known for his dramatic role in movies like ‘ Elizabeth Bio coming soon... >> Read More... ’ (1988) and thus continued to act in over sixty films till 1998. ‘Elizabeth’ was a movie which was directed by Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur Shekhar Kapur is a renowned Indian actor, director >> Read More... which had actress Cate Blanchett She was considered one of the most imperious, insp >> Read More... in the title role of Queen Elizabeth Click to look into! >> Read More... . The film also starred Richard Attenborough, Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant or Fanny Ardant is >> Read More... etc.

The actor won his first Oscar Award for his versatile performance in the movie ‘ Arthur Authur is an English kid’s TV Show that originated >> Read More... ’ which was directed by Steve Gordon. For the movie ‘Arthur’, John received Academy Award for best supporting actor. ‘Arthur’ was followed by a sequel ‘Arthur 2: On The Rocks’ that had lead actors like Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli A star in her particular right, Liza Minnelli, an >> Read More... , and John Gielgud, who reprised their roles once again for the sequel. He is one of the finest actors of Britain who received Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Awards too. He has also appeared on radio and television programs.

His first love was Shakespearean dramas and he excelled in performing the same. Due to his popularity on stage, people had named the ‘Gielgud Theatre’ after him. Some of his highly popular films are ‘Secret Agent’ (1936), ‘The Elephant Man’ (1980) and 'Chariots of Fire' (1981),‘Caligula’ (1979), ‘Gandhi’ (1982) etc. Born on 14 April 1904, the veteran actor had passed away on 21 May 2000 leaving behind his footprints in celluloid world.

Another Version Of This Bio:

Gielgud, born on April 14, 1904, in London to Frank Henry Gielgud and Kate Terry Gielgud, was the third of the four children. In 1912, John went to Hillside Prep. He was excellent in his English and seeing his improvements in the language; the school encouraged him to act in various dramas including Julius Caesar and Merchant of Venice. Though his parents were theatergoers, they did not like their children to get into the cinema field. After leaving Westminster School, John forced his parents to let him take drama classes.

At the age of seventeen, Gielgud joined a private drama school, but the tutor there commented on his physical awkwardness. With the help of his cousin, he got a bit-part role in a play The Wheel. Seeing his talent, one of his colleagues recommended him to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and enhance his skillset from the institution as it has produced several stars in the cinema field. He played in various presentations, but they were not successful. After leaving RADA, he joined the Oxford Playhouse. He acted in several plays for the company.

Though his acting was not a big hit, his voice played a huge role. It gained the attention of BBC radio, and they offered him a chance. Simultaneously, he was also doing the most awaited play The Cherry Orchard. The play was a huge hit and with this, he was lined up for various other premieres. He joined Old Vic and played in several dramas and received mixed responses. In 1932, his interest drew towards directing. He produced and directed several plays with undergraduate students. He also acted in his plays. Most of his production were the works of Shakespeare. He always wanted to direct the works of legendary Shakespeare.

John then focussed on his directing career setting aside his acting. He suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1964, he received an Oscar nomination for playing the role of King of France in Becket. He started working for movies and series rather than plays. In 1981, he played in the film Arthur for which he won an Oscar for Supporting Actor. John’s partner died in 1999, and John died the following year at the age of 96. Some of the honors received by John includes Knight Bachelor (1953), Legion of Honour (1960), Companion of Honour (1977), Order of Merit (1996). He established himself as the President of RADA during 1977 to 1989.