John Gielgud
Born
April 14, 1904
Died
May 21, 2000 (96 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
London, England
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH, was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and particularly for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec Guinness likened to a silver trumpet muffled in silk. Gielgud is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Nothing Like a Dame
Self (archive footage)
2018

Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film
Self
2016

Discovering Hamlet
King Hamlet's Ghost (archive footage)
2011

Behind The Scenes of Caligula
2009

Revisiting Brideshead
Self (archive footage)
2005

Catastrophe
The Protagonist
2001

Elizabeth
The Pope
1998

The Tichborne Claimant
Cockburn
1998

Quest for Camelot
Merlin (voice)
1998

Merlin
King Constant · (2 episodes)
1998

Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow
1998

A Dance to the Music of Time
St. John Clarke · (4 episodes)
1997

David
Stimme Gottes
1997

Hamlet
Priam
1996

The Portrait of a Lady
Mr. Touchett
1996

Looking for Richard
Self - Interviewee
1996

The Leopard Son
Narrator
1996

Shine
Cecil Parkes
1996

DragonHeart
King Arthur (voice) (uncredited)
1996

Gulliver's Travels
Professor of Light · (2 episodes)
1996

Haunted
Doctor Doyle
1995
Stick with Me, Kid
Grandpa · (13 episodes)
1995

First Knight
Oswald
1995

The Thomas The Tank Engine Man
Self (Voice)
1995
A Summer Day's Dream
1994

Scarlett
(4 episodes)
1994

Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties
Self · (1 episode)
1993

The Power of One
St. John
1992
The South Bank Show: Noël Coward
Self
1992

Shining Through
Sunflower
1992
Swan Song
Svetlovidov
1992
A Walk Through Prospero's Library
Prospero
1992

The Strauss Dynasty
Drechsler · (6 episodes)
1991

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Self (archive footage)
1991

Performance
Stephen Dawlish · (1 episode)
1991

Prospero's Books
Prospero
1991

A TV Dante (Cantos 9 to 14)
Virgil (voice)
1991

The Best of Friends
Sydney Cockerell
1991

The Strauss Dynasty
Drechsler
1991

Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
Self
1990
Rabbit Ears - The Emperor's New Clothes
Narrator (voice)
1990

A TV Dante
Virgil
1990

Strike It Rich
Herbert Dreuther
1990

Barbablù, Barbablù
Barbablù
1989

Summer's Lease
Haverford Downs · (4 episodes)
1989

Getting It Right
Sir Gordon Munday
1989

A Man for All Seasons
Cardinal Wolsey
1988

War and Remembrance
Aaron Jastrow · (12 episodes)
1988

In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
Self
1988

Arthur 2: On the Rocks
Hobson
1988

Appointment with Death
Colonel Carbury
1988

Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville
British Lord
1987

Quartermaine's Terms
Eddie Loomis
1987

Inspector Morse
Lord Hinksey · (1 episode)
1987

The Canterville Ghost
Sir Simon de Canterville
1986

The Whistle Blower
Sir Adrian Chappie
1986

Theban Plays: Antigone
Tiresias
1986

Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
Tieresias
1986

Time After Time
Jasper Swift
1986

Lovejoy
Lord Wakering · (1 episode)
1986

Plenty
Sir Leonard Darwin
1985

Leave All Fair
John Middleton Murry
1985

Romance on the Orient Express
Theodore Woodward
1985

The Shooting Party
Cornelius Cardew
1985

To Be Hamlet
Self
1985

Screen Two
(1 episode)
1985

Camille
Duke de Charles
1984

Frankenstein
De Lacey
1984

Six Centuries of Verse
Self - Presenter · (16 episodes)
1984

The Far Pavilions
Cavagnari · (2 episodes)
1984

The Master of Ballantrae
Lord Durrisdeer
1984

Scandalous
Uncle Willie
1984

James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate
Self - on the set of 'The Shooting Party' (uncredited)
1984

Wagner
Pfistermeister · (10 episodes)
1983

The Wicked Lady
Hogarth
1983

The Scarlet and the Black
Pope Pius XII
1983

Invitation to the Wedding
1983

Marco Polo
Doge di Venezia · (1 episode)
1982

Gandhi
Lord Irwin
1982

Laurence Olivier: a life
Self
1982
The Critic
Lord Burleigh
1982

Inside the Third Reich
Albert Speer Sr.
1982

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Charmolue
1982

Brideshead Revisited
Edward 'Ned' Ryder · (11 episodes)
1981

Priest of Love
Herbert G. Muskett
1981

Arthur
Hobson
1981

Chariots of Fire
Master of Trinity
1981

Lion of the Desert
Sharif El Gariani
1981

Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery
Marquis of Caterhan
1981

Sphinx
Abdu-Hamdi
1981

The Formula
Dr. Abraham Esau
1980

The Elephant Man
Carr Gomm
1980

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Reverend Jones
1980

The Conductor
John Lasocki
1980

The Human Factor
Brigadier Tomlinson
1979

Caligula
Nerva
1979

Tales of the Unexpected
Jelks · (1 episode)
1979

Tales of the Unexpected
Cyril Boggis · (1 episode)
1979

Murder by Decree
Prime Minister
1979

Les Misérables
Gillenormand
1978

Richard II
John of Gaunt
1978

Romeo and Juliet
Chorus
1978

The BBC Television Shakespeare
Chorus · (1 episode)
1978

The BBC Television Shakespeare
John of Gaunt · (1 episode)
1978

No Man's Land
Spooner
1978

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Preacher
1977

Heartbreak House
Captain Shotover
1977
The Grand Inquisitor
Inquisitor
1977

Joseph Andrews
The Doctor
1977

Providence
Clive Langham
1977

Peter Pan
Narrator
1976

Second City Television
Self · (1 episode)
1976

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Lord Henry Wotton
1976

Aces High
Headmaster
1976

Galileo
The Old Cardinal
1975

Murder on the Orient Express
Mr. Beddoes
1974

11 Harrowhouse
Meecham
1974

Frankenstein: The True Story
Chief Constable
1974

Gold
Farrell
1974

QB VII
Clinton-Meek · (2 episodes)
1974

Frankenstein: The True Story
Chief Constable · (2 episodes)
1973

Lost Horizon
Chang
1973

William: The Life, Works and Times of William Shakespeare
Various
1973

ABC Afterschool Special
Various Roles · (1 episode)
1972

Probe
Harold L. Streeter
1972

Eagle in a Cage
Lord Sissal
1972

Home
Harry
1972

Great Performances
Self · (3 episodes)
1971

Play for Today
Harry · (1 episode)
1970

Menace
(1 episode)
1970

Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
1970

Oh! What a Lovely War
Count Leopold Von Berchtold
1969

The Shoes of the Fisherman
The Elder Pope
1968

The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
1968

The Love Song of Barney Kempinski
Rich Man
1968

Assignment to Kill
Curt Valayan
1968

The Charge of the Light Brigade
Lord Raglan
1968

Sebastian
Head of Intelligence
1968

Omnibus
Self · (3 episodes)
1967

October Revolution
Narrator (voice)
1967

Romeo and Juliet
Chorus
1967

Alice in Wonderland
Mock Turtle
1966
The Mayfly and the Frog
Gabriel Quantara
1966

ABC Stage 67
Rich Man · (1 episode)
1966

Ivanov
Nikolai ivanov
1966

Ages of Man
1966

Chimes at Midnight
Henry IV
1965

BBC Play of the Month
Chorus · (1 episode)
1965

BBC Play of the Month
The Inquisitor · (1 episode)
1965

BBC Play of the Month
Charles II · (1 episode)
1965

BBC Play of the Month
Lord Henry 'Harry' Wotton · (1 episode)
1965

BBC Play of the Month
Capt. Shotover · (1 episode)
1965

BBC Play of the Month
Lord Burleigh · (1 episode)
1965

The Loved One
Sir Francis Hinsley
1965

The Wednesday Play
Gabriel Quantara · (1 episode)
1964

Hamlet from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Ghost (voice)
1964

Becket
King Louis VII of France
1964

To Die in Madrid
Narrator (English version) (voice)
1963

The Cherry Orchard
Gaev
1962
The Big Party
Self · (1 episode)
1959
The Bell Telephone Hour
Self · (1 episode)
1959
The Immortal Land
1958
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self · (1 episode)
1957

Saint Joan
Earl of Warwick
1957

The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Edward Moulton-Barrett
1957

Around the World in Eighty Days
Foster
1956

Richard III
George, Duke of Clarence
1955
ITV Opening Night at the Guildhall
John Worthing, JP
1955

Romeo and Juliet
Chorus
1954

Hamlet: The Actor's View
Self
1954

Julius Caesar
Cassius
1953

Ariel’s Song / Full Fathom Five
Narrator
1953

Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Ghost · (1 episode)
1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame
Charmolue · (1 episode)
1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame
Lord Durrisdeer · (1 episode)
1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame
Duke · (1 episode)
1951

The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (2 episodes)
1948

A Diary for Timothy
Hamlet
1945
An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Narrator
1941

The Prime Minister
Disraeli
1941

Heredity in Man
Self
1937

Secret Agent
Richard Ashenden / Edgar Brodie
1936

The Good Companions
Inigo Jollifant
1933

Insult
Henri Dubois
1932
The Clue of the New Pin
Rex Trasmere
1929
Who Is the Man?
Daniel
1924