In the last decades of his long and fruitful
life,
Sir John lived in Buckinghamshire with his
partner of nearly 40 years, Martin Hensler, who
died last year. His home was the epitome of
good taste
It was the lyrical quality of his voice
that critics raved about, but as he matured, he began to develop other skills
and to depend less on it. "I've learned through filming to do scenes off
the cuff," he said in a 1994 interview. "And I have learned not to
show off my vocal talents, which were always over-praised when I was
young."
Film was nowhere near the top of Sir John's agenda when he started out, but in
his twilight years, he became increasingly more involved in the medium and, in
1981, won an Oscar for his role as the butler in Arthur with Dudley
Moore. It was a role he had turned down twice because it seemed "rather
smutty, rather common." In the event, he found it great fun.
Sir John reached the top of his profession early, but he was still performing
well into his 90s, reluctant to abandon a world which had "been a
life". Now that it's over, there will be no public ceremony to mark his
passing, since the man who is held as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors
of our time was adamant the final curtain should fall the moment he
died. |
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Following a lifetime at the pinnacle of his
profession
THE FINAL CURTAIN FALLS FOR LEGENDARY ACTOR SIR JOHN GIELGUD
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| The last of the great British acting
legends, Sir John Gielgud, died at his Buckinghamshire home, May 21, at the age
of 96. Something of a theatrical Jack-of-all-trades, Sir John was principally a
man of the stage, wooing audiences alongside his great friends Lord Laurence
Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson, with a voice that was famoulsy described by
Sir Alec Guinness as "a silver trumpet muffled in
silk". |
Being principally a man of the stage, Sir
John
chose his films cautiously and turned down
the role of butler to Dudley Moore in Arthur
twice. Ironically it was the role that would win
him an Oscar for best supporting actor
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