0:00:18 > 0:00:21Alec Guinness was known as an acting chameleon,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25capable of adapting himself to any part.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29It was in reputation he won after playing a huge range of roles
0:00:29 > 0:00:31in some of the best British films ever made.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Ealing comedies like Lavender Hill Mob and Kind Hearts And Coronets,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38and a run of classics directed by David Lean,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40including Great Expectations,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Oliver Twist, Lawrence Of Arabia,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45and The Bridge On The River Kwai,
0:00:45 > 0:00:49for which he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1957.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53And, two years after that, he was knighted
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and became Sir Alec Guinness.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It was quite a rise.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03And we join him here, in 1973, talking to Tony Bilbow,
0:01:03 > 0:01:08on the Film Extra programme, about how it all started.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12I wonder if we could go right back, Sir Alec, to your childhood.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Your parents weren't actors. What did your father do?
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Well, my father, I never knew.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21I mean, he was out of my life when I was a baby.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24But he was a bank manager.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27No connection with the theatre at all.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29And I really lived on my own
0:01:29 > 0:01:34since I was about 14 or something like that, on and off.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39So, at what point did you realise that you had to be an actor?
0:01:39 > 0:01:45I don't know. I mean, hindsight is very clever.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I consciously knew I wanted to be an actor
0:01:49 > 0:01:52by the time I was 16, that's for sure.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56If I look back now, I think I always was an actor
0:01:56 > 0:02:00from the age of five or six or something.
0:02:00 > 0:02:06I was always in dormitories at school telling stories.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10They'd all fallen fast asleep but I went on telling, you know,
0:02:10 > 0:02:17night-time stories and acting them out madly in my bed in the dark.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19You had no idea why?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I suppose... I think it's a great mistake to...
0:02:22 > 0:02:25I would never go to a psychoanalyst to sort this out for me.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I don't want to know why.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I guess, kind of lonelinesses, and insecurity,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35and insecurity of personality and character,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40and therefore latching on to make-believe, and pretending.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45For me, acting is just "let's pretend". It still is.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48You have to apply, or you learn certain skills,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and then they become too much and you have to try and abandon them.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52But it is "let's pretend",
0:02:52 > 0:02:55and I think anything that goes much beyond that
0:02:55 > 0:02:57becomes pretentious rubbish.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59I don't want them to delve into pop psychology
0:02:59 > 0:03:03but are you, as a generality, happier when you are acting
0:03:03 > 0:03:05than doing anything else?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07I'm happier when I'm rehearsing,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12because then all antennae are out, particularly in the theatre,
0:03:12 > 0:03:18because the rehearsal period then lasts a month, roughly.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Film rehearsals, of course, are inclined to be
0:03:20 > 0:03:24very off-the-cuff and swift.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29But, even then, it seems to me I am at my most alive,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33both in trying to find a character, in the general situation,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35what the whole thing is about,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and an alertness as to where one is, and what one's doing.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Once the acting job has started,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45it's, I suppose in a way, like an office job.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47There's one of the periods in your life
0:03:47 > 0:03:49when I imagine you didn't feel particularly alive
0:03:49 > 0:03:53- was when you left school and went into an advertising agency.- Oh, yes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55- You were a copywriter, weren't you? - I was a copywriter,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58then they took me off that, very kindly, and made me a layout man.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01I was disastrous at that. They put me back to copywriting.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05- What did you have to write? - I wrote...
0:04:05 > 0:04:08boring little ads for Rose's lime juice, one time.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Wilkinson's razor blades.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Philips lamps.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Mullard radio...
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Everything about which I knew nothing.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Did you come up with any original slogans?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Oh, no, me? No. For heaven's sake, no, no.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30I was in offices when original slogans came up.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35I had made very good friends, they were sweet to me there...
0:04:35 > 0:04:39But I earned a pound a week, 30 bob a week by the time I left.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44- Were you worth it?- No! I cost them a lot of money!
0:04:44 > 0:04:50The Daily Mail appeared one morning with a vast, empty space
0:04:50 > 0:04:53which is where my ad should have been!
0:04:53 > 0:04:56What happened then? You decided advertising was not for you?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I was always wanting to be an actor, it was a question of how.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I didn't know any actors, I didn't know how one started.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05And, while I was at the advertising agency,
0:05:05 > 0:05:11I got on to Martita Hunt who became a very great friend of mine,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15because I thought I would try and get into the Royal Academy.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And I had no money.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20And so this meant trying to get a scholarship.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24And so I went to her for hour lessons on my voice,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26and this, that and the other.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I don't think she taught me a thing about anything there
0:05:29 > 0:05:31but she taught me a lot about life.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I mean, she formed my taste in many ways, which was far more valuable.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39And when I arrived at the appointed time at the Royal Academy,
0:05:39 > 0:05:40I was met by a lady who said,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43"What a good thing you haven't come down from Scotland,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45"we're not giving any more scholarships this year."
0:05:45 > 0:05:50So I was left with egg on my face, to a degree, and near tears.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55And I ran into a girl whom I used to know as a child,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59within minutes, and wept on her shoulder.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01And she said, "You'd better run down Baker Street
0:06:01 > 0:06:06"to the Fay Compton studio where they are holding auditions this minute."
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And I dashed there, and I was just in time and I got the scholarship.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13You eventually joined John Gielgud's company.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16And then you joined the Old Vic in 1936.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But your film career really started in 1946
0:06:19 > 0:06:22with Great Expectations, didn't it?
0:06:22 > 0:06:25That's right, yes.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30The first film I'd done, apart from appearing for one day
0:06:30 > 0:06:37when I was a student, walking on...an extra, in Evensong.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41And I swore I would never, ever do that again.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44The way they were treated... Oh!
0:06:44 > 0:06:49- What do you mean, the extras?- Yes. And I thought, no, that's not for me.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53And I thought, I will never go into films until,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55if I'm going to be offered something in films,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58it must be something I've already played in the theatre.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And it so happened that I'd done a stage adaptation
0:07:01 > 0:07:05of Great Expectations in which I'd also appeared.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- It was Herbert Pocket, wasn't it? - That's right, yes.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And David Lean and Ronald Neame had seen that and remembered it.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16And then they decided to do the film and they also remembered me
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and, as the war was coming to its close, they...
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Well, it had finished, actually, they contacted me.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27And that was the start of working in films.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31But, even with that success, it's odd, it seems to me,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34that you managed to land the part of Fagin in Oliver Twist,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36because, after all, you were still quite young
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and, in theory, for you to play Fagin was ridiculous.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42That's the only time I've ever gone out after a part.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47I absolutely was determined to play that.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50And David Lean was wonderful. I mean, he listened.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52My thing to him was, at the time,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55when I heard they were going to do Oliver Twist,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57"You'd never think of casting me as Fagin."
0:07:57 > 0:07:59And he said, "Not in a thousand years."
0:07:59 > 0:08:01And I said, "That's where you are wrong.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05"Because you people in films are only interested in types,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09"you're not interested in anyone actually trying to act."
0:08:09 > 0:08:13And I think he was a bit startled, and didn't agree.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16And he said, "Well, I'll give you a test." So, a test was arranged.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18And I got it.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Mind you, your interpretation of the part
0:08:20 > 0:08:23caused a little trouble, I think, in America.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25They were a bit touchy about it, weren't they?
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Yes, the Russians were touchy about it in central Europe,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32because they were determined that it should be called anti-Semitic.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34The word "Jew" was never mentioned in it,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37because there was no question of it being anti-Semitic.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41As indeed Dickens was accused of being anti-Semitic, which he hadn't,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45and then he went and wrote another novel to make a sympathetic...
0:08:45 > 0:08:49I mean, I maintain that the character could have been a Jew, Arab or nothing.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53In the '60s, your film output slowed down.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55You did a lot of stage work,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Ross, Exit The King, Macbeth, Dylan on Broadway.
0:08:59 > 0:09:05Do you think of yourself, first and foremost, as a man of the theatre?
0:09:05 > 0:09:10I think of myself as an actor, yes, I'm sure.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14But I started in the theatre. My early years were the theatre.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And, funnily enough, I've nearly always,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19with the exception I think of one year
0:09:19 > 0:09:23when I did maybe two or two-and-a-half films in,
0:09:23 > 0:09:28I have always managed to do something in the theatre,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32because it's very good, I find, to tackle
0:09:32 > 0:09:36or come face-to-face with a live audience.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39And I also wanted to keep my...
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Many actors who go into films have been in the stage,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and the long years go by,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47and then they get a chance to go into theatre again
0:09:47 > 0:09:51and they become petrified at facing an audience
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and shy away from it and get very frightened.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58And I was determined that that shouldn't happen to me.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04And, on the whole, I am happier in the theatre,
0:10:04 > 0:10:10not from any other reason than in the theatre you are your own boss.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14If something has to be cut, a scene has to go off,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16your lines or a speech or something,
0:10:16 > 0:10:21then you can mould your performance around that gap.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Or if something extra goes in, whatever the case may be.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30Whereas, acting for the films, which has its other delights,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33if something goes, you cannot adjust your performance
0:10:33 > 0:10:34if it's snipped at the end.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I've seen performances of myself on the screen
0:10:38 > 0:10:42in which the end has been put at the beginning, and vice versa.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44And, if I knew that had been going to happen,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47I would have performed differently throughout.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50And so I feel I'm not my own boss when filming,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53whereas I am in the theatre.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Four years later, Guinness's latest film had, to his surprise,
0:10:58 > 0:11:04just become one of the biggest box office hits of all time - Star Wars.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07It meant an appearance on Parkinson
0:11:07 > 0:11:09where the conversation opened with an examination
0:11:09 > 0:11:14of his whole approach to the art of acting.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17How would you go about, it's a thing that always fascinates me
0:11:17 > 0:11:19when I talk to actors, particularly great actors,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21about how you build a part, about what comes first
0:11:21 > 0:11:24in building up a character, this sort of thing.
0:11:24 > 0:11:25I always find, too, by the way,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28that actors don't like being asked this question very much.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And I can tell by your face that you're not savouring it either.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35No... Well, I don't know.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I don't know how one...
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Obviously one's imagination
0:11:39 > 0:11:44and what the author has presented one on a script are vitally important.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49If I get stuck... Actually, that Lavender Hill Mob part,
0:11:49 > 0:11:55we've just seen that, I based on two things.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01I went to the zoo and in the rodent house, in the small rodents,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06I saw some little, round-eyed, nervousy little character,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09rather sort of fluffy.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13And I thought, maybe that's... Maybe something on those lines.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And then I realised that a bank clerk at my bank looked very much like it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19LAUGHTER
0:12:19 > 0:12:21So I settled on the bank clerk's voice.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Two clips, both with no Rs, I'm playing in, with Fagan and that.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33So that was very much a bit of observation, and tilted up, no end.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38But, when I have got stuck, I have very often gone to the zoo
0:12:38 > 0:12:42- and see if some animal would give me some clue.- Really? Why the zoo?
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Well, the only place where you can find strange animals around!
0:12:46 > 0:12:47RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER
0:12:47 > 0:12:51When I did Richard III in Canada, I'd spent a lot of time,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55I searched around, I thought, an eagle, maybe?
0:12:55 > 0:12:58And, no, I'm not really a kind of an eagle type.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03And then I found a creature called the unsociable vulture.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05LAUGHTER
0:13:05 > 0:13:10I used to visit it, oh, every two or three days,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12it got to know me, he was very kind of full of...
0:13:12 > 0:13:14RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Quite a sociable chap, actually!
0:13:16 > 0:13:17LAUGHTER
0:13:17 > 0:13:20What were you getting from the unsociable vulture, Sir Alec,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22that you could possibly use on stage?
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Oh, some, I don't know what, some, something little,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29a little something at the back of my mind,
0:13:29 > 0:13:35or indeed maybe a walk or a mannerism or something like that.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37I mean, could you demonstrate, say,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40a notion you had once had with a bird or something,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42to show me exactly what you mean?
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Well, I think I first got the idea
0:13:46 > 0:13:49that animals might be helpful in my possession before the war
0:13:49 > 0:13:53in the Cairo Zoo - I was on tour playing Hamlet.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55And there was a bird there called a shoebill.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57- Is it all right if I stand up?- Sure.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Because I don't think I can do this any more.
0:14:02 > 0:14:09It stands about that high, and it's grey, very soberly pale grey.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13And it doesn't like being watched, that appealed to me no end.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16It likes to watch other people.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19And it has a very, very big beak,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22rather like a shape of some enormous shoe, great, big, grey thing there
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and a little eye up there.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26And I first spotted it,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30it was standing on one foot with a kind of little tail out.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I can barely stand up like that...
0:14:33 > 0:14:36And kind of eyeing one.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40And I noticed that whenever I turned away, it moved.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But it would never move while I was watching it.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45You have to sort of pretend,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48every time I say, "now", you have to turn away and look back.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51So, he was standing looking at me, one would say, "now",
0:14:51 > 0:14:54you turn away. You turn back, and one leg would be...
0:14:54 > 0:14:57LAUGHTER
0:14:59 > 0:15:01One would say, "now".
0:15:01 > 0:15:04LAUGHTER
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And, "now". He'd turn the other way.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08LAUGHTER
0:15:08 > 0:15:11APPLAUSE
0:15:18 > 0:15:22So, how did you use that in the part of Hamlet?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Oh, I didn't play Hamlet like that!
0:15:25 > 0:15:27I did have a disastrous Hamlet later on,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30but it wasn't through doing a bird!
0:15:30 > 0:15:34It gave me the idea that maybe I would get some sort of amusing
0:15:34 > 0:15:39kind of movement or something from it. I'm very devoted to animals.
0:15:39 > 0:15:45- You are?- Yes, indeed. I love watching them. In Ceylon later...
0:15:45 > 0:15:50- May I tell a little animal story? - Please, do. Please, do.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I loved the elephants one saw around.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58And one afternoon, I went down to watch a lot of elephants working,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02pushing great tree trunks down into the river,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05which was a very fast river.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And all the elephants except one,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14rolled these big trees down into the river
0:16:14 > 0:16:18with that part of their nose.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Kind of pushing and rolling very successfully,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23very skilfully and very soberly.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27They'd push, and the tree would get into the water
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and, gradually, get shifted away by the current.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34But there was one enormous rogue elephant there,
0:16:34 > 0:16:35with a chain around his tummy
0:16:35 > 0:16:38which meant that he'd probably killed someone.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41He was a very wise, huge, old fellow.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Um...
0:16:43 > 0:16:46He had great big, floppy ears going round.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49And, he didn't do this at all.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54He pushed it as if it was a pencil.
0:16:54 > 0:17:00He kind of got his nose and pushed it the difficult way towards the water.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05And I thought, "Why?" Then one or people said, "Watch that elephant."
0:17:05 > 0:17:09And some of the film crew were going, "Oh, silly old so-and-so.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13"Why doesn't he just roll it like the others so it goes down?"
0:17:13 > 0:17:18And it was as if he heard them. Because he, um...
0:17:18 > 0:17:24He was very, very slow in all his movements,
0:17:24 > 0:17:29the way he kind of came and pushed this huge tree.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33And the little eye took us all in.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36And he thinks, "You think I'm a fool, don't you?"
0:17:36 > 0:17:40And he very, very slowly,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43moved, left it,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48moved round and as he just got back,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51he gave us all a tiny, wicked look,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55and flipped it with his back foot into the river.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59APPLAUSE
0:18:05 > 0:18:09- What a lovely story! - I adored the elephant.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11You were telling me earlier,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15that you had a parrot once that you tried to teach how to act?
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Oh, I didn't teach it how to act. It was a splendid actor!
0:18:18 > 0:18:25I tried to teach it a Hamlet soliloquy. We didn't get very far.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27He was a South African grey.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I was very fond of him. He's dead now, alas, poor old thing.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35He's gone to a feathered world elsewhere, about four years ago.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40But he used to get as far as...
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Sorry, I didn't teach him the accent or the tone,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46I did it quite straight.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49But he finally used to say,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I?
0:18:52 > 0:18:56"Is it not monstrous that this parrot - yah-yah-yah!"
0:18:56 > 0:19:01LAUGHTER
0:19:01 > 0:19:04- Was this a pet? - Oh, yes, indeed, yes. Yes, indeed.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06What kind of pets do you keep?
0:19:06 > 0:19:11After my time in Ceylon, when I was doing Bridge On The River Kwai,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15I took to tropical birds for a bit, for a few years.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18I haven't got them now, because there were always tragedies
0:19:18 > 0:19:21when I was away and I couldn't bear it any more.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25At the moment, I've only got two dogs, and a cat and three goats.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- Three goats?- Yes.- You mention watching and observing animals,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33And you've got the idea for a walk from an animal.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36In fact, you've been on record as saying
0:19:36 > 0:19:39that you only get start getting into a part when you get a walk.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41- Is that right? - Yes, I think so.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44I don't sort of feel happy
0:19:44 > 0:19:49until I'm doing it from the ground upwards, so to speak.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55This used to be very self-consciously done when I was a student.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57It really came because I had no money to spend.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I could allow myself sixpence a week, and there was no entertainment.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04I used to spend that sixpence a week on going to the gallery at the Old Vic.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08The rest of the time was following people in the street.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11You know? Surreptitiously, of course.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And, I used to follow people, and watch their walks.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17And I felt I got to know something about them.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- And I used to imitate their walks behind them.- Really?
0:20:20 > 0:20:24And I began to feel, at least I know the mood that they're in
0:20:24 > 0:20:28or what their ailments are, or whatever it might be.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And that kind of got rather stuck.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34I don't do it now, I don't...
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I very seldom nowadays,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40out of laziness,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45consciously observe what someone's doing.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47I've lived on that store for many years,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I should store again, I suppose.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53I suppose when you're in a part, you draw something from the back of your mind
0:20:53 > 0:20:56that you observed some time ago, the way somebody moved or something?
0:20:56 > 0:21:00I think it's got to become - for me, anyway -
0:21:00 > 0:21:02it's got to become unconscious again.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04There was a time when I used consciously think,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07"I remember seeing that man do that."
0:21:07 > 0:21:10As probably I did in The Lavender Hill Mob film.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14But it's best if you've forgotten and comes up again
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and you don't know where it's come from.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19What about that famous walk in River Kwai, you mentioned the film,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22when you'd been put in that awful isolation thing,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25You had that extraordinary staggering, lurching walk
0:21:25 > 0:21:27across the parade ground when they let you go.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32- Where did that come from? - Well, that's a very personal one.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36But it's true, because it shows the very funny process
0:21:36 > 0:21:39that goes on with an actor, maybe.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41My son had polio when he was about 12
0:21:41 > 0:21:43and was paralysed from the waist down.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47He's fine now, he plays rugger
0:21:47 > 0:21:51and rushes around and does whatever he wants.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53But when he was recovering...
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Um, walking again a bit,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59it was obviously a very stiff, strange walk.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02And I had a little cine-camera,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and I remember when he was first walking, taking shots of this.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07And then when one saw on the screen,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11my wife and I persuaded ourselves that he was fine,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14he was walking fine. But, obviously, deep down inside, one thought,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18"Oh, God, he's going to limp for life," or something of that nature.
0:22:19 > 0:22:26And, years later, when it came to doing that scene on The River Kwai,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30I found myself doing the identical walk
0:22:30 > 0:22:37that I had on that little cine-camera from five, six years previously.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39I'd entirely forgotten. I didn't know I was doing it.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43It was only when I saw myself on the screen, I thought,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46"Where on Earth did that curious,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48"slightly lurchy, bent walk come from?"
0:22:48 > 0:22:52- It was the same as I have on the cine-camera.- Quite extraordinary.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54What about the great film stars that you've met
0:22:54 > 0:22:55in your long career in the movies?
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Who were the ones that you remember most vividly?
0:22:59 > 0:23:04That's difficult, "most vividly", they've all been fairly vivid!
0:23:04 > 0:23:07HE CHUCKLES
0:23:07 > 0:23:10One's met a great number.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14When I first went to Hollywood...
0:23:16 > 0:23:19An unlikely story, but true.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23There was a party at the... whatever the hotel was...
0:23:23 > 0:23:28It was the Beverly Hills Hotel, I think. Enormous party.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31I hadn't been asked, and it was being given by John Wayne.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36And he suddenly heard that I was in the hotel and very kindly,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38about midnight phoned up and said,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42"Come on down, put on a black tie and come on down."
0:23:42 > 0:23:45So, I was thrilled and went down to this great gathering.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50And it was the first time I met Betty Bacall who I was very chummy with,
0:23:50 > 0:23:56and I was talking to her and she was ravishing and marvellous,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00when a well-known Hollywood agent came up and dragged her and said,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04"You mustn't be seen talkin' to that limey, come on."
0:24:04 > 0:24:06And I was so furious,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09I've only clocked anyone ever in my life and I clocked him.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12LAUGHTER
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And I flew out in a rage.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Back up, ripped off my black tie,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21back into bed, and you know, crossly done.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Ashamed of myself, but also very angry with this chap,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29and the phone went again, and it was John Wayne again saying,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31"Come on down again, you got to make it up."
0:24:33 > 0:24:36So, down I went,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38on with the black tie again,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and thought, "I'll behave very well."
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And by then, it had become something of a scandal
0:24:44 > 0:24:46and a lot of people had gathered around.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49And he said, "I want you to shake hands with this man."
0:24:49 > 0:24:50He's dead now.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51HE CHUCKLES
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Not through my blow!
0:24:53 > 0:24:55LAUGHTER
0:24:55 > 0:24:59And so we solemnly shook hands again,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02rather coldly, but solemnly.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06And there was a lot of applause for that whereupon I clocked him again!
0:25:06 > 0:25:11LAUGHTER
0:25:11 > 0:25:14So, while shaking hands, you pulled him...?
0:25:14 > 0:25:16It was something he said again,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18I don't know what it was, but it drove me mad.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21HE CHUCKLES
0:25:21 > 0:25:24But John Wayne was marvellous about it. He was very comforting.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28From someone, I got a huge box of cigars the next day, I don't know who it was.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Probably everybody in the room had been wanting to do what you did!
0:25:31 > 0:25:34I think that was what was behind it.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36You also met Dean, didn't you? James Dean.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39My very first night in Hollywood, I met James Dean.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42It was a very, very odd occurrence.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47I'd arrived off the plane, they took a long time in those days,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49about 16 hours' flight.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55And, um... I'd been met by Grace Kelly, and various people,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58but I found that I was alone for myself for the evening.
0:25:58 > 0:26:05A woman I knew phoned up and said, "Let me take you out to dinner,"
0:26:05 > 0:26:10And we went to various places and she was wearing trousers
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and they wouldn't let her in any of the smart Hollywood restaurants.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19That was in 1952, '54, something like that.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22However, we finally went to a little Italian dive
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and that was full, so one got turned away.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28I said, "I honestly don't mind just a hamburger anyway."
0:26:28 > 0:26:29I was hungry by then.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Then I heard feet running down the street and it was James Dean.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38He said, "I was in that restaurant and you couldn't get a table.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42"My name's James Dean." He said, "Will you come and join me?"
0:26:42 > 0:26:45So, we said, yes, very kind of him.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Then, going back into the restaurant, he said, "Before we go in,
0:26:48 > 0:26:53"I must show you something. I've just got a new car."
0:26:53 > 0:26:58And, there the courtyard of this little restaurant was a...
0:26:58 > 0:27:02I don't know what the car was, some little silver, very smart thing,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06all done up in cellophane with a bunch of roses tied to its bonnet.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12And I said, "How fast can you drive in this?"
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And he said, "I can do 150 in it." And I said, "Have you driven it?"
0:27:16 > 0:27:19He said, "No, I've never been in it at all."
0:27:19 > 0:27:23And some strange thing came over me, some almost different voice,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27and I said, "I won't join your table unless you want me to,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29"but I must say something.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33"Please, do not get into that car, because if you do..."
0:27:33 > 0:27:37And I looked at my watch. I said, "If you get into that car at all,
0:27:37 > 0:27:43"it's now Thursday," whatever the date was, ten o'clock at night.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46"And by ten o'clock at night, next Thursday, you'll be dead,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50"if you get into that car." It was nonsense.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53So, one had dinner, we had a charming dinner.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57And he was dead the following Thursday afternoon, in that car.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- Extraordinary. - It was one of those odd things.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06- Has that ever happened to you before?- No, I'm glad to say.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10It was a very, very odd, spooky experience.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14I liked him very much, I would love to have known him more.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Let's talk about the latest aspect of your career?
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Which is quite extraordinary.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24All these years in movies, and all of a sudden, you've hit the jackpot
0:28:24 > 0:28:28with a thing called Star Wars which I saw last week.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32I think it's super, it's marvellous escapism. It'll clean up.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37How did you come to be involved with a piece of science fiction like that?
0:28:37 > 0:28:39It arrived as a script.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43I was just finishing a picture in Hollywood with another day to go.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46The script arrived on my dressing table,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50and I heard that it had been delivered by George Lucas.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52And I thought, "That's rather impressive."
0:28:52 > 0:28:57Because he's an up-and-coming, very respected young director.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And then when I opened it and found a science fiction,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03I thought, "Oh, crumbs! This is simply not for me."
0:29:05 > 0:29:07And then, I started reading it.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10It seemed to me the dialogue was pretty ropey,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13but I had to go on turning the page.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15That's an essential in any script.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20You've got to know what happens next, or what's going to be said next.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25And I went on reading and I thought, "No, I like this.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28"If only we can get some of the dialogue altered."
0:29:28 > 0:29:31And then I met him, we got on very well,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and I found myself doing it, that's all.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37- It's made more money than any other movie ever made.- So I'm told. Yes.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40And you got yourself part of the action? 2.5%, isn't it?
0:29:40 > 0:29:44- No, no, not quite that. - What is it?
0:29:44 > 0:29:46LAUGHTER
0:29:46 > 0:29:48Sir Alec, how much is it?
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Well, you want that story?
0:29:50 > 0:29:54I tried to keep this dark, I don't know where this all sprang from!
0:29:54 > 0:29:57I think it was the Evening Standard to blame for this.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00I had a contract.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02My agent said, "I've asked for 2% of whatever..."
0:30:02 > 0:30:06because we didn't think it would make any... I've never had...
0:30:06 > 0:30:08I've had a percentage on a film before,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and they lose money like mad if I have a percentage.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14I said, "Oh, fine. All right, 2%."
0:30:15 > 0:30:19And the day before the film opened in San Francisco,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22George Lucas phoned me and said...
0:30:24 > 0:30:29He's like Alan Bennett, he's very diffident and very shy and quiet,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and he has a funny little voice.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36And he said, "I think the movie is kind of going to be all right."
0:30:36 > 0:30:41I said, "I'm glad, George." He said, "The press quite like it."
0:30:41 > 0:30:45I said, "Good." He said, "We're pleased with...
0:30:45 > 0:30:48"We're very grateful for the little alterations you suggested,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51"and so we'd like to offer you another half percent."
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Thereby making it two and a half.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58I said, "All right, that's marvellous. Thank you very much."
0:30:58 > 0:31:02And a matter of a few weeks later, in fact, the day I saw the film,
0:31:02 > 0:31:03I've just seen it the once.
0:31:03 > 0:31:09The producer, who again is a charming, delightful chap, I said,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13"About this little extra something you were kindly offering,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16"I wonder if we could have something in writing,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20"just so that my agent and so on believes this.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23And he said, "Oh, about the quarter percent, yes!"
0:31:23 > 0:31:26LAUGHTER
0:31:27 > 0:31:29No fool they!
0:31:29 > 0:31:32So it's 2.25%.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37All right, let's then have a look at Star Wars. There's a clip here.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40I couldn't begin to precis or lead up to this clip.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Don't ask me either!
0:31:42 > 0:31:44If you don't know, nobody does.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47But anyway, you play a sort of guru figure. Here you are.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51I have something here for you.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53R2-D2 CHIRPS
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59But your uncle wouldn't allow it.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan
0:32:01 > 0:32:05on some damn, fool idealistic crusade, like your father did.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Sir, if you'll not be needing me,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09- I'll close down for a while. - Sure, go ahead.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15- What is it? - Your father's lightsaber.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22Not as clumsy or random as a blaster.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24An elegant weapon...
0:32:24 > 0:32:27for a more...civilised age.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31For over 1,000 generations, the Jedi Knights
0:32:31 > 0:32:35were the guardians of peace and justice of the Old Republic.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40Before the dark times, before the Empire.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45How did my father die?
0:32:47 > 0:32:49A young Jedi named Darth Vader,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01He betrayed and murdered your father.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Now, the Jedi are all but extinct.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10The Force?
0:33:11 > 0:33:14The Force is what gives a Jedi his powers.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17It's an energy field created by all living things.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21It surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24R2-D2 CHIRPS
0:33:24 > 0:33:29APPLAUSE
0:33:34 > 0:33:38You said you saw the film. What's the fascination to you, do you think?
0:33:38 > 0:33:41- I think a marvellous, healthy innocence.- Yes.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Great pace, wonderful to look at,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48full of guts. Nothing unpleasant.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52I mean, people go, bang-bang, and people fall over and are dead.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56But no horrors, no sleazy sex.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00In fact, no sex at all, if it comes to that.
0:34:00 > 0:34:05And a sort of wonderful freshness about it. Like a wonderful fresh air.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09When I came out in the cinema into Tottenham Court Road, I thought,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14"Oh, God, London is sort of gritty and dirty and full of rubbish."
0:34:14 > 0:34:17- This had all been so invigorating. - That's absolutely right, actually.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19It's one of the films I've come out of recently
0:34:19 > 0:34:22where I've felt happy and uplifted when I came out. I enjoyed myself.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25That's all. People are going to read too much into it.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28It's simple stuff for all ages. It's great fun.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30- Are they doing that now with you? - Doing what?
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Reading more into it? The guru figure you portray.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I get pretty strange letters, I don't mind telling you!
0:34:35 > 0:34:38- I can imagine, actually. - Oh, no, surely.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40"My wife and I have got problems,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43"would you come over and live with us for a few months?"
0:34:43 > 0:34:47LAUGHTER
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Yes, you could have yourself a fine time!
0:34:49 > 0:34:52LAUGHTER
0:34:52 > 0:34:57The success of Star Wars meant Guinness never had to work again.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01And he grew increasingly selective about the roles he accepted.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05He won huge praise for his portrayal of George Smiley
0:35:05 > 0:35:12in the BBC series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People.
0:35:12 > 0:35:13He also started writing
0:35:13 > 0:35:17what became an acclaimed series of autobiographies.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19And then, in 1988,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22he was nominated for an Oscar for another Dickens role.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25A six-hour version of Little Dorrit
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that he discussed in this interview with Barry Norman.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Sir Alec, were you in any way daunted,
0:35:32 > 0:35:34when you were asked to play Dorrit,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38to learn that the film was going to run for six hours?
0:35:38 > 0:35:42I thought it was an absolutely astonishing, foolhardy job.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45I'm not daunted from my own point of view, but I thought,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49"How the heck are they going to do a film
0:35:49 > 0:35:53"which is in two parts, for that amount of time?"
0:35:53 > 0:35:54But they've brought it off.
0:35:55 > 0:36:01What about the character of Dorrit that you play?
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Presumably, you don't just take a part because it's offered to you.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07There must be something there that attracted you to that role?
0:36:07 > 0:36:11Well, flattered, first of all, to be asked to do it.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Then thought I'd better read the novel, which I've never done.
0:36:14 > 0:36:20And there is a feckless, vain, silly, but kindly, man,
0:36:20 > 0:36:26full of foolish schemes and a great folie de grandeur
0:36:26 > 0:36:28when he comes out of prison.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34I could see little shades of myself here and there in that, perhaps.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Anyway, I thought it was worth making a stab at.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43What parts of yourself did you find in that list of adjectives,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46none of which is terribly complimentary?
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Um, oh...
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Wrong decisions, stupidities,
0:36:53 > 0:36:58sometimes thinking, "Things are going to turn out wonderfully well" when they're not.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Just not thinking things through.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04See to my cuff, Amy, if you please?
0:37:04 > 0:37:06How long you've been!
0:37:07 > 0:37:14You're a good girl, you're a very good girl. My favourite child.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16It's not very hot.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Were there any letters?
0:37:19 > 0:37:21No, Father.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23What am I to do if that letter doesn't come?
0:37:23 > 0:37:26What am I to do? Fettered as I am!
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Are you quite sure there were no letters?
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Can't someone carry the hot water for you?
0:37:32 > 0:37:33It's not heavy.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40My daughter shouldn't be seen carrying hot water.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46You watched that with a blank face.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50Were you unimpressed or do you just not like seeing yourself on screen?
0:37:50 > 0:37:53I don't like seeing myself on screen,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55but I'm afraid under the blank face,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59I had an admiration, not for myself, let me hasten to add, but for Dickens.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06And the wonderful variety of thoughts you get through that.
0:38:06 > 0:38:12The vanity, the petulance, the snobbism, the selfishness.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17All there in every sentence.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20Would it be true to say that the part, the film part,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23that brought you first strongly to the public attention,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26was again a Dickens? It was Oliver Twist in Fagin.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Now, I believe that you had fight very hard to get that role.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33I don't know if I had to fight.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37I approached David Lean, saying,
0:38:37 > 0:38:40"I would love to play Fagin,"
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and I was what, 34-35, something like that.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47And he obviously thought it was a bit mad as an idea.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52SLAMMING
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Why are you awake?!
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Speak up, boy, quick!
0:38:56 > 0:38:58I couldn't sleep any longer, sir.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00- What have you seen?! - Nothing, sir.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03You were not awake an hour ago.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06- No, no, indeed, sir.- Are you sure?
0:39:06 > 0:39:07Yes, sir.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11There, there, my dear.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14I only tried to frighten you.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Did you see any of those pretty things, dear?
0:39:19 > 0:39:21What you think of that one?
0:39:24 > 0:39:26Howard Davies is splendid!
0:39:26 > 0:39:28BOTH CHUCKLE
0:39:28 > 0:39:31I don't know, it's a bit theatrical, isn't it?
0:39:31 > 0:39:33After Kind Hearts And Coronets,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36which came very soon after Oliver Twist,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39you were given this name of "the man with 1,000 faces".
0:39:39 > 0:39:42It took you a long time to live that down, didn't it?
0:39:42 > 0:39:45That was a publicity stunt which has dogged me,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48not all my life, but for so many years.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51There is one further question I must ask you, Sir Alec.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55You're wearing what looks like designer stubble, now,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59I imagine you're not vying with Mickey Rourke for a part in a film. Could you explain?
0:39:59 > 0:40:03No, this is kind of a week-old, or something like that.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07It's got another couple of weeks to go before I go to Venezuela,
0:40:07 > 0:40:12on location for Evelyn Waugh's A Handful Of Dust.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14There's quite a nice tie-up, isn't there, between A Handful Of Dust
0:40:14 > 0:40:18and the film we started discussing this evening, Little Dorrit.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Yes, it's pure coincidence.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24But the last line that I have to say,
0:40:24 > 0:40:29it's in Evelyn Waugh's novel, in A Handful Of Dust,
0:40:29 > 0:40:33is to the young man who's reading Dickens to me,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36I say, "Let us read Little Dorrit again."
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Lovely from my point of you.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44The following year, Guinness received a fellowship from BAFTA.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49He carried on working occasionally into the 1990s
0:40:49 > 0:40:51and died in West Sussex in the year 2000, aged 86.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57The obituaries called him,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01"The most versatile actor of the 20th century,"
0:41:01 > 0:41:03and quoted his response when he was asked,
0:41:03 > 0:41:07what would he be doing if he hadn't become an actor? His answer?
0:41:07 > 0:41:12"I don't know what else I could do, but pretend to be an actor."
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd