John Gielgud

Biography

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH, was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and particularly for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec Guinness likened to a silver trumpet muffled in silk. Gielgud is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Known For

Great Performances

Play for Today

Tales of the Unexpected

Tales of the Unexpected

BBC Play of the Month

BBC Play of the Month

BBC Play of the Month

BBC Play of the Month

All Movies (141)

• Nothing Like a Dame2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film2016 · as Self
• Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films2014 · as Hogarth (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Discovering Hamlet2011 · as King Hamlet's Ghost (archive footage)
• Behind The Scenes of Caligula2009
• Revisiting Brideshead2005 · as Self (archive footage)
• Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film2003 · as Self - The Protagonist ("Catastrophe")
• Catastrophe2001 · as The Protagonist
• The Tichborne Claimant1999 · as Cockburn
• Elizabeth1998 · as The Pope
• Quest for Camelot1998 · as Merlin (voice)
• Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow1998
• David1997 · as Stimme Gottes
• Hamlet1996 · as Priam
• The Portrait of a Lady1996 · as Mr. Touchett
• Looking for Richard1996 · as Self - Interviewee
• The Leopard Son1996 · as Narrator
• Shine1996 · as Cecil Parkes
• DragonHeart1996 · as King Arthur (voice) (uncredited)
• Haunted1995 · as Dr Henry Doyle
• First Knight1995 · as Oswald
• The Thomas The Tank Engine Man1995 · as Self (Voice)
• A Summer Day's Dream1994
• The Power of One1992 · as St. John
• Shining Through1992 · as Sunflower
• Swan Song1992 · as Svetlovidov
• A Walk Through Prospero's Library1992 · as Prospero
• Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker1991 · as Self (archive footage)
• Prospero's Books1991 · as Prospero
• A TV Dante (Cantos 9 to 14)1991 · as Virgil (voice)
• The Best of Friends1991 · as Sydney Cockerell
• The Strauss Dynasty1991 · as Drechsler
• Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond1990 · as Self
• Rabbit Ears - The Emperor's New Clothes1990 · as Narrator (voice)
• A TV Dante1990 · as Virgil
• Strike It Rich1990 · as Herbert Dreuther
• Barbablù, Barbablù1989 · as Barbablù
• Getting It Right1989 · as Sir Gordon Munday
• A Man for All Seasons1988 · as Cardinal Wolsey
• In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton1988 · as Self
• Arthur 2: On the Rocks1988 · as Hobson
• Appointment with Death1988 · as Colonel Carbury
• Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville1987 · as British Lord
• Quartermaine's Terms1987 · as Eddie Loomis
• The Canterville Ghost1986 · as Sir Simon de Canterville
• The Whistle Blower1986 · as Sir Adrian Chappie
• Theban Plays: Antigone1986 · as Tiresias
• Theban Plays: Oedipus the King1986 · as Tieresias
• Time After Time1986 · as Jasper Swift
• Plenty1985 · as Sir Leonard Darwin
• Leave All Fair1985 · as John Middleton Murry
• Romance on the Orient Express1985 · as Theodore Woodward
• The Shooting Party1985 · as Cornelius Cardew
• To Be Hamlet1985 · as Self
• Camille1984 · as Duke de Charles
• Frankenstein1984 · as De Lacey
• The Master of Ballantrae1984 · as Lord Durrisdeer
• Scandalous1984 · as Uncle Willie
• James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate1984 · as Self - on the set of 'The Shooting Party' (uncredited)
• The Wicked Lady1983 · as Hogarth
• The Scarlet and the Black1983 · as Pope Pius XII
• Invitation to the Wedding1983
• Gandhi1982 · as Lord Irwin
• Laurence Olivier: a life1982 · as Self
• The Critic1982 · as Lord Burleigh
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame1982 · as Charmolue
• Priest of Love1981 · as Herbert G. Muskett
• Arthur1981 · as Hobson
• Chariots of Fire1981 · as Master of Trinity
• Lion of the Desert1981 · as Sharif El Gariani
• Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery1981 · as Marquis of Caterhan
• Sphinx1981 · as Abdu-Hamdi
• The Formula1980 · as Dr. Abraham Esau
• The Elephant Man1980 · as Carr Gomm
• Why Didn't They Ask Evans?1980 · as Reverend Jones
• The Conductor1980 · as John Lasocki
• The Human Factor1979 · as Brigadier Tomlinson
• Caligula1979 · as Nerva
• Murder by Decree1979 · as Prime Minister
• Les Misérables1978 · as Gillenormand
• Richard II1978 · as John of Gaunt
• Romeo and Juliet1978 · as Chorus
• No Man's Land1978 · as Spooner
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man1977 · as The Preacher
• Heartbreak House1977 · as Captain Shotover
• The Grand Inquisitor1977 · as Inquisitor
• Joseph Andrews1977 · as The Doctor
• Providence1977 · as Clive Langham
• Peter Pan1976 · as Narrator
• The Picture of Dorian Gray1976 · as Lord Henry Wotton
• Aces High1976 · as Headmaster
• Galileo1975 · as The Old Cardinal
• Murder on the Orient Express1974 · as Mr. Beddoes
• 11 Harrowhouse1974 · as Meecham
• Frankenstein: The True Story1974 · as Chief Constable
• Gold1974 · as Farrell
• Lost Horizon1973 · as Chang
• William: The Life, Works and Times of William Shakespeare1973 · as Various
• Probe1972 · as Harold L. Streeter
• Eagle in a Cage1972 · as Lord Sissal
• Home1972 · as Harry
• Hamlet1970 · as The Ghost
• Julius Caesar1970 · as Julius Caesar
• Oh! What a Lovely War1969 · as Count Leopold Von Berchtold
• The Shoes of the Fisherman1968 · as The Elder Pope
• The Love Song of Barney Kempinski1968 · as Rich Man
• Assignment to Kill1968 · as Curt Valayan
• The Charge of the Light Brigade1968 · as Lord Raglan
• From Chekhov with Love1968 · as Anton Chekhov
• Sebastian1968 · as Head of Intelligence
• October Revolution1967 · as Narrator (voice)
• Romeo and Juliet1967 · as Chorus
• Alice in Wonderland1966 · as Mock Turtle
• The Mayfly and the Frog1966 · as Gabriel Quantara
• Ivanov1966 · as Nikolai ivanov
• Ages of Man1966
• Chimes at Midnight1965 · as Henry IV
• The Loved One1965 · as Sir Francis Hinsley
• Hamlet1964 · as Ghost (voice)
• Becket1964 · as King Louis VII of France
• To Die in Madrid1963 · as Narrator (English version) (voice)
• The Cherry Orchard1962 · as Gaev
• The Immortal Land1958
• Saint Joan1957 · as Earl of Warwick
• The Barretts of Wimpole Street1957 · as Edward Moulton-Barrett
• Around the World in 80 Days1956 · as Foster
• Richard III1955 · as George, Duke of Clarence
• ITV Opening Night at the Guildhall1955 · as John Worthing, JP
• Romeo and Juliet1954 · as Chorus
• Hamlet: The Actor's View1954 · as Self
• Julius Caesar1953 · as Cassius
• Ariel’s Song / Full Fathom Five1953 · as Narrator
• A Diary for Timothy1945 · as Hamlet
• An Airman's Letter to His Mother1941 · as Narrator
• The Prime Minister1941 · as Disraeli
• Heredity in Man1937 · as Self
• Secret Agent1936 · as Richard Ashenden / Edgar Brodie
• The Good Companions1933 · as Inigo Jollifant
• Insult1932 · as Henri Dubois
• The Clue of the New Pin1929 · as Rex Trasmere
• Who Is the Man?1924 · as Daniel

All TV Shows (51)

• Merlin1998 · as King Constant
• A Dance to the Music of Time1997 · as St. John Clarke
• Gulliver's Travels1996 · as Professor of Light
• Stick with Me, Kid1995 · as Grandpa
• Scarlett1994 · as Pierre Robillard
• Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties1993 · as Self
• The Strauss Dynasty1991 · as Drechsler
• Performance1991 · as Stephen Dawlish
• Summer's Lease1989 · as Haverford Downs
• War and Remembrance1988 · as Aaron Jastrow
• Inspector Morse1987 · as Lord Hinksey
• Lovejoy1986 · as Lord Wakering
• Screen Two1985 · as Eddie Loomis
• Screen Two1985 · as Jasper Swift
• Six Centuries of Verse1984 · as Self - Presenter
• The Far Pavilions1984 · as Cavagnari
• Wagner1983 · as Pfistermeister
• Marco Polo1982 · as Doge di Venezia
• Inside the Third Reich1982 · as Albert Speer Sr.
• Brideshead Revisited1981 · as Edward 'Ned' Ryder
• Tales of the Unexpected1979 · as Jelks
• Tales of the Unexpected1979 · as Cyril Boggis
• The BBC Television Shakespeare1978 · as Chorus
• The BBC Television Shakespeare1978 · as John of Gaunt
• Second City Television1976 · as Self
• QB VII1974 · as Clinton-Meek
• Frankenstein: The True Story1973 · as Chief Constable
• ABC Afterschool Special1972 · as Various Roles
• Film '721971 · as Self
• Great Performances1971 · as Self
• Play for Today1970 · as Harry
• Menace1970 · as Frederick William Densham
• The Dick Cavett Show1968 · as Self - Guest
• Omnibus1967 · as Self
• ABC Stage 671966 · as Rich Man
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Chorus
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as The Inquisitor
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Charles II
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Lord Henry 'Harry' Wotton
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Capt. Shotover
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Lord Burleigh
• Thirty-Minute Theatre1965 · as The Writer
• The Wednesday Play1964 · as Gabriel Quantara
• The Big Party1959 · as Self
• The Bell Telephone Hour1959 · as Self
• Tonight Starring Jack Paar1957 · as Self
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as The Ghost
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Charmolue
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Lord Durrisdeer
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Duke
• The Ed Sullivan Show1948 · as Self