Did Alec Guiness See Episode 1 before he died?

Does anyone know if Alec Guiness saw episode 1 before he died? Or was his mental state in his old age not good enough to comprehend the movie? If he did see it, and if his mental state was still good enough, did he enjoy episode 1, and was he pleased with Ewan McGregor's performance? Were members of his family pleased with his performance? Do you think Guiness would have been pleased? I personally think Mr. Guineess would have been very pleased.

Mods, Im sorry if there is already a thread on this. If there is, you can lock this.

 

Alec Guiness called SW childish bafoonery in his memoirs....

man he must be rolling in his grave knowing that he will always be knows as Obi Wan Kenobi, and not for his other roles.

 

Are you serious? I must say that as a SW fan that makes me feel very offended and appalled, not to mention a little betrayed. Actually, that makes me so mad that now I DO want them to replace Alec with a digitally aged Ewan McGregor. Naw, just kidding. I wouldnt go that far. It would be way too difficult to do that anyway. But that still ticks me off.

If it makes him feel any better, I loved his performance as Hitler.

 

I really want to see that....he was such a good actor.

I think he got a little loony in his old age

 

Guinness was not an SW fan...

BUT I think he wouldn't have made such a stink about it if it wasn't the biggest hit ever. But when it started overshadowing his other work, and people started coming up to the street and stuff...

He couldn't have minded SW as movies too much, as he signed up for ANH on his own free will and he did ESB and ROTJ for free.



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Wasn't he already dead before '99?

 

Nope. "Not dead... not yet." Died on August 5, 2000.



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I?d like to know whether McGregor ever ?called up? Sir Alec, just to get some pointers? I don?t think he would have, especially with Sir Alec?s dislike of SW. But interested to know,nonetheless. BTW, is Peter Lawford still alive?

Maybe Im derailing this thread! Never mind!

 

Nope openmind, Peter Lawford is dead. He was the first of the Rat Pack to kick the bucket, early 1980's from cancer I believe. Only Joey Bishop is left.

 

Strange that Alec Guinness disliked the Star Wars phenomenon considering he made boatloads of money off it and earned an Oscar nomination for ANH.

 

Yes, but surely it would have been rather cynical of him to like it just because it made money for him?

 

rpeugh: Don´t let it get to you. It doesn´t matter what anyone else thinks of Star Wars. Actors always take jobs they don´t REALLY want, but if they are good actors, they will make a good performance anyway.
It´s the characters we watch, not the actors!

 

Seeing it probably killed him.

 

Alec Guiness hated STAR WARS. He despised the fact that he was forever remembered as Obi-Wan Kenobi instead of for his stand out performances in other films. I read a story once where a child asked for his autograph and fondly told the actor that he watched STAR WARS every week. The actor got down on one knee, looked the child in the eye, and said, "I want you to promise me that you will never watch that wretched movie again." Heck, he may as well have punched the kid in the gut.

Interestingly enough, Alec Guiness was one of Lucas' few supporters on the set of A NEW HOPE. On one occasion, Guiness happened upon some stage hands making disparaging comments about the young director and his movie (yeah, things haven't changed much, have they?) when Guiness jumped to his defense and said, "I think what he's doing is wonderful, very imaginative. You'll see." He was also very upset that his character was killed off so soon into the film. Later, Guiness would try and rewrite history by claiming he begged Lucas to kill his character off because he couldn't stomach the idea of "reciting those aweful lines." Makes you wonder why he came back to reprise his roll for two more films.

When writing THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Lucas contacted Guiness and asked him if he would like to return as Obi-Wan, but before letting him agree, Lucas cautioned him that he could succumb to the Spock effect, the phenomonon that plagued Lenord Nimoy who could never shake his Spock persona no matter what he did (even to the point of writing a book trying to denounce his association with the character.) Despite such warnings, Guiness agreed. Predictably, Guiness and Obi-Wan Kenobi became synonmous, and Guiness grew to rue the day he heard of STAR WARS.

Point is, if he was alive during the time of TPM's release, I imagine he would have been as far away from the theater as possible.

 

I actually think a lot of what you said above has been wildly blown out of all preportion, Durwood. Just because Alec wasn't completely in love with Star Wars, like a few of the other actors who have been involved with the Saga over the years, doesn't mean he completely hated it. Infact I seem to remember that during one of the readings of his autobiography, at the end of it, he said, "And may the Force be with you." What I think is more likely is he had a love/hate relationship with it, like Harrison Ford. But that's going off the point of the thread...

 

I think it was nice of GL to warn him about that. He shouldnt have warned him though. BUt Im sure that even if Guiness had not been in TESB or ROTJ, he would still be synonimous with Obiwan.

Also, Alec, I saw you as Pip's friend in GREAT EXPECTATIONS. YOu were just a teenager. I hope that makes you feel better.

 

I remember seeing Alec Guiness on Letterman a few years back. At the end of the interview Letterman asked him, "would you say the line?"

So Guiness responded, "may the force be with you." The audience cheered.

Letterman looked at him and said, "well that wasn't the line I was looking for." To which Guiness & the audience had a good laugh.

 

And if it makes Leanord Nimoy feel any better, I remember him much more as GALVATRON from TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE than I do as Spock. (Mainly b/c I'm not a Star Trek fan.)

But I dont think Orson Wells would be too happy if I said I remember him more as UNICRON than as his performance in CITEZEN KANE.

 

Well, the positive thing about this is that we can use it as an argument against bashers who say that the prequels are childish and that ANH and ESB "take themselves seriously". Also, we can use it as an argument against people who say that Natalie does not like portraying Amidala and that it shows in her performance of her.

 

Sad this is.

 

Regarding Durwood's story about the kid Alec Guinness made cry --

(1) The "kid" was fourteen.

(2) He did not watch Star Wars every week. He SAW Star Wars every week. In theaters. He'd seen it a hundred times.

(3) He told Sir Alec that he'd do anything he asked.

This isn't some little seven-year-old kid who had a toy taken away. Methinks the kid was a bit nuts.



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"Also, we can use it as an argument against people who say that Natalie does not like portraying Amidala and that it shows in her performance of her."

Err.....forgive me for asking this, rpeugh, but how could you use that in argument against why Natalie doesn't have her heart in the role of Padme? I can't quite see your logic...

 

I think all the SW actors have sort of a love/hate relationship with it. The minor characters seem to love it (Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Kenny Baker etc. etc.) but the major actors, who everybody recognizes...they become so synonymous with SW that they start hating it. They get so sick of not being able to distance themselves from it. Just look at ROTJ...Harrison Ford REALLY didn't want to be there.

 

Ian McDiarmid is a major character that seems to love his role whole-heartedly.


He seems to be one of the only ones, though...

 

Can't really blame Alec Guinness' sometimes spiteful reaction to Star Wars. He has a career that spans over 50 years, and to be mostly remembered for only Star Wars by the MTV Generation probably rubs him the wrong way. And to put up with it for over 20 years. 20 bloody years! That's older than some of the people in this forum, and imagine how many letters, interviews, fans, autographs, requests he's had pushed in his face in that time.

I personally don't mind what he says. I think, and will always think, Alec Guinness was one of the greatest things to ever happen to Star Wars.