Radio 4: Alec Guinness archive

[Nick Armstrong]

Haven't heard all this yet but it's shaping up to be a great programme, judging by the early part

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040h1d7

Some terrific anecdotes from perhaps my favourite actor of all, who would have been 100 earlier this month

[antongould]

Cheers for this Rumpole.....very much looking forward to catching up...

[slarty]

Thanks Caliban. He was also my favourite actor of all.

[Belgrove]

It's a well made and fascinating programme, but one is left none the wiser about the enigmatic subject. The rather authoritarian attitude towards his wife and the sometimes cruel way he treated her was mentioned, and revealed a dark side to the urbane, calm and avuncular persona he portrayed on chat shows. I never saw him on the stage, but his film and TV roles are all exceptional and astonishing for the range of characters and genres in which he played. His portrayal of Smiley is one of the great character studies. Beautiful voice too, his readings of Elliot's poetry never palls.

[amateur51]

It's a well made and fascinating programme, but one is left none the wiser about the enigmatic subject. The rather authoritarian attitude towards his wife and the sometimes cruel way he treated her was mentioned, and revealed a dark side to the urbane, calm and avuncular persona he portrayed on chat shows. I never saw him on the stage, but his film and TV roles are all exceptional and astonishing for the range of characters and genres in which he played. His portrayal of Smiley is one of the great character studies. Beautiful voice too, his readings of Elliot's poetry never palls.

Several nails hit firmly on the head there Belgrove, especially his glorious voice. I saw him a few times in the theatre and the impression it left on me was of his apparent relaxedness that belied a furious control. His creation of Professor Marcus in The Lavender Hill Mob was for me his comic masterpiece.

Cheers for this Cali - looks a real treat!

[Nick Armstrong]

Hope all enjoy.

I loved his tale about having received a great review for a performance he'd never given in a play he'd never heard of, in which he had according to the reviewer been 'almost unrecognisable'...

Yes a man who went out of his way to remain enigmatic, and did so very successfully. How refreshing in the 'tweet us what you're listening to on the loo' generation

[antongould]

Hope all enjoy.

I loved his tale about having received a great review for a performance he'd never given in a play he'd never heard of, in which he had according to the reviewer been 'almost unrecognisable'...

Yes a man who went out of his way to remain enigmatic, and did so very successfully. How refreshing in the 'tweet us what you're listening to on the loo' generation

Haven't heard it yet, but he did once get great reviews for a film he thought he hadn't appeared in - but then realised he had done a cameo for a young director......