Gielgud, Sir John
Gielgud, Sir John (1904–2000),British actor and director of great fame. In a career of 75 years he appeared in countless productions internationally in theatre, film, radio, and television, and was deluged with awards and honours, including a knighthood in 1953. Along with Laurence Olivier, Gielgud became synonymous with high standards and conscientiousness in acting. His remarkable voice, which he put to powerful effect in Shakespeare, was nonetheless a point of controversy because he often used it with rhetorical flourishes that recalled earlier models of elocution. Olivier complained that Gielgud was vocally out of touch with the modern age; Gielgud later recognized the justice of this view, yet well into the 1950s and 1960s could be heard singing Shakespeare's lines on stage, particularly in platform recitals like The Ages of Man (1958). The grand-nephew of Ellen Terry, Gielgud's Shakespearian fame began at the Old Vic in 1929...
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