Alec Guinness

Star Wars Stories Harrison Ford said that Alec helped him find an apartment to stay at when he arrived in England to film the first Star Wars film. George Lucas said Alec was very patient and helpful to him during the filming of the first Star Wars (1977), even to the point of getting the other actors to work more seriously. Alec reportedly answered one Star Wars fan's boast that he'd seen the first movie over a hundred times, with a nod and the words "Promise me you'll never watch it again." The boy was stunned, but his mother thanked Guinness. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher, have always spoken very fondly of Alec, praising him as being a very professional actor who was always respectful to the people he worked with. Despite popular belief, Alec NEVER uttered the line "May the force be with you" in ANY of the Star Wars films (the closest he came was "the force will be with you"). Alec disliked his role as "Obi-Wan Kenobi" in the Star Wars movies, and even claimed that he persuaded George Lucas to kill off the character as a way to limit his involvement in the films. He also claimed to have thrown away all of his Star Wars-related fan mail unopened. Ewan McGregor was not the only actor in the Star Wars prequels to study Alec's performances. The voice for the character "Watto" was modeled after Alec's performance as Fagin in Oliver Twist.

Theatre Work Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Dylan, Converstions at Night, Richard III (1953, during the inaugural season of Stratford Festival's tent theatre), King Lear, Importance Of Being Ernest, The Prisoner, Twelfth Night and in An Inspector Calls (1946), with Sir Ralph Richardson. Broadway Flare Path (1942-1943), The Cocktail Party and Dylan (1964). Final theatre appearance It was at the Comedy Theatre in London on May 30 1989, in a production called A Walk in the Woods, where he played a Russian diplomat.

Alec was offered the role of Lieutenant Colonel Barrow in Tunes of Glory. However, he said he would only accept the job if he played the role of Jock Sinclair, as he had played characters like Barrow too many times. Alec then suggested John Mills for the part of Barrow.