h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If I have time I'll get around to this later unless anyone else want's to do it in the meantime.

Knight of the theatre and Shakespearian great Sir John Gielgud dies at his home is Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire on 21 May 2000. He had always said he wished to die on stage in the middle of a good performance but old age finally forced him to quite acting and claimed him in his sleep. His career on the stage began at the age of 21 when he played a herald in 'Henry V'. He went on to play the lead and be recognised as the greatest 'Hamlet' of his time. His film performances include many of his Shakespear roles as well as appearing in 'Elizabeth', he won an Oscar for best supporting actor, in 1981, for his performance, against type, as the uncouth butler in 'Arthur'. His last TV performance was in 'Merlin' in April 1999 having appeared in amongst others 'Brideshead Revisited' along with Sir Laurence Olivier, his great compatriot, contempory and foil on stage and screen. In 1994 the Globe Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue London paid him the rare tribute of being renamed the Giegud.

He never married but in 1974 abandoned the clamour of London for the manor where he died which he shared with Martin Hesler he companion since shortly after the war.

Another giant of stage and screen departs. Adieu, adieu...

JTG

A great man - who gave Alec Guinness a push-start to his career and kindly arranged a meeting between myself and eminent Cambridge don Professor Rylands, who'd directed Gielgud's last stage Hamlet in 1947.

We have his voice from radio and film, but you can't preserve a stage performance satisfactorily and so Time had taken his Lear, Hamlets and Prosperos.

One of the strangest Prosperos I've ever seen was portrayed by Sir John in Peter Greenaway's classic (sort of) 1991 film, 'Prosperos Books', which featured a dauntless Gielgud unperturbed by more nudity then the bard ever dreamt of. Actually, Prospero is brilliantly played in a very strange context.

JTG

Indeed it was. He was constantly perfecting his Shakepear reading as long as he was performing, there was a great repeat of the 90th birthday documentary the other night. It brought back fond memories.