Arguable the greatest actor of the 20th Century.
Born into an affluent family in 1904, Gielgud worked non stop from 1919 until his death in 2000.
Known for being a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His performances of Hamlet, Lear, and Iago are ranked as the best ever performed. He was a legend at the Old Vic, West End, Oxford, Westminster, Globe, Lyric, Queen's, and the Royal Opera House.
He was an accomplished theatrical director, particularly in the classics.
He was never a fan of cinema and only chose great films to appear in- the silent film Who Is the Man?, The Good Companions, Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent, Julius Caesar, Richard III, Around the World in 80 Days, Becket, Chimes at Midnight, Sebastian, Oh! What a Lovely War, Lost Horizon, Murder on the Orient Express, Les Miserable, Murder by Decree, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, The Elephant Man, Brideshead Revisited, Arthur, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Wagner, The Shooting Party, First Knight, The Portrait of a Lady, Hamlet, Shine, and Elizabeth.
There is simply no bad Gielgud performance.