A report on John Gielgud, Alec Guinness and West End theatre
After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of Shakespeare in 1929–31.
- John GielgudTwo years later, at the age of 22, he played the role of Osric in Hamlet in the West End and joined the Old Vic.
- Alec GuinnessHe was one of the greatest British actors who, along with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, made the transition from theatre to films after the Second World War.
- Alec GuinnessA number of other actors made their West End debut prior to the Second World War, including John Gielgud, Alec Guinness and Vivien Leigh.
- West End theatreMorley writes that junior members of the cast such as Alec Guinness and Frith Banbury would gather in the wings every night "to watch what they seemed intuitively already to know was to be the Hamlet of their time".
- John Gielgud1 related topic with Alpha
Laurence Olivier
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Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century.
In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives, and he appeared in his first film.
Among the actors whom Olivier joined in late 1936 were Edith Evans, Ruth Gordon, Alec Guinness and Michael Redgrave.