John Gielgud, roles and awards

Sir John Gielgud, OM, CH (/ˈɡiːlɡʊd/; 1904–2000) was an English actor and theatre director. He appeared on stage, television and radio and in film in a career that spanned eight decades. Film historian Brian McFarlane, writing for the British Film Institute, wrote of Gielgud that "in terms of the performing arts, it is no exaggeration to say that he towered over the century".

Gielgud in 1936

Gielgud, a member of the theatrical dynasty the Terry family, began working on stage in 1921 before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After completing his studies he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic in the 1930s. He continued working on the stage until 1990 both as a director and actor. Although he made some films early in his career, he did not start working regularly in the medium until he was in his sixties; in the course of just over thirty years between 1964 and 1998 he appeared in over sixty films. He was active on television and radio, appearing in numerous plays and interviews, and was also in demand as a narrator.

Gielgud is one of the few people who have won all four major annual American entertainment awards, these being an Oscar (for Arthur, 1981); an Emmy, (for Summer's Lease, 1991); a Grammy (for Ages of Man, 1979); and Tony Awards (for The Importance of Being Earnest, 1948; Ages of Man, 1959; Big Fish, Little Fish, 1961). He also won BAFTAs, (for Julius Caesar, 1953; Murder on the Orient Express, 1975; special Fellowship award, 1992); Golden Globes, (for Arthur and War and Remembrance, 1988); and a Laurence Olivier Award (Special Award, 1985). He died on 21 May 2000, at the age of 96.

Stage credits

1936 portrait of Gielgud by Carl Van Vechten

Gielgud and Dolly Haas in Crime and Punishment, Broadway, 1947

As actor

This table contains Gielgud's known professional theatrical roles. It also contains the occasions when he both acted and directed. It does not contain those productions where Gielgud was a director but did not appear on stage.

Gielgud's stage credits

Production	Date	Theatre (London, unless otherwise noted)	Role	Notes
Henry V	November 1921	The Old Vic	Herald
King Lear	March 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
Peer Gynt	March – April 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
As You Like It	April 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
Wat Tyler	April 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
Love is the Best Doctor	April 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
The Comedy of Errors	April 1922	The Old Vic	Walk on role
The Wheel	September 1922	New Theatre Oxford, then touring	Lt. Manners
The Masque of Comus	December 1922	Eton College	Younger Brother
The Insect Play	May 1923	Regent Theatre	Felix, the Poet Butterfly
Robert E. Lee	June 1923	Regent Theatre	Aide-de-camp
Charley's Aunt	December 1923	Comedy Theatre	Charles Wykeham
Captain Brassbound's Conversion	January 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Johnson
Mr Pim Passes By	February 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Brian Strange
Love for Love	February 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Valentine
She Stoops to Conquer	February 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Young Marlowe
Monna Vanna	February 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Prinzevalle
Romeo and Juliet	April 1924	RADA Theatre	Count Paris
Romeo and Juliet	May 1924	Regent Theatre	Romeo
The Return Half	October 1924	RADA Theatre	John Sherry
Candida	October 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Eugene Marchbanks
Deirdre of the Sorrows	October 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Naoise
A Collection will be Made	November 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Paul Roget
Everybody's Husband	November 1924	Oxford Playhouse	A Domino
The Cradle Song	November 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Antonio
John Gabriel Borkman	November 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Erhart Borkman
His Widow's Husband	November 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Zurita
Madame Pepita	December 1924	Oxford Playhouse	Augusto
French Leave	December 1924	Charterhouse	Lt. George Graham
A Collection will be Made	January 1925	Oxford Playhouse	Paul Roget
Smith	January 1925	Oxford Playhouse	Algernon Peppercorn
The Cherry Orchard	January 1925	Oxford Playhouse	Peter Trofimov
The Vortex	February 1925	Royalty Theatre	Understudy
The Vortex	March 1925	Comedy Theatre	Nicky Lancaster
The Nature of the Evidence	April 1925	RADA Players	Ted Hewitt
The Orphan	May 1925	Aldwych Theatre	Castalio
The Vortex	May 1925	Little Theatre	Nicky Lancaster
The Cherry Orchard	May 1925	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Peter Trofimov
The High Constable's Wife	June 1925	Garden Theatre	Julien de Boys-Bourredon
The Cherry Orchard	May 1925	Royalty Theatre	Peter Trofimov
The Lady from the Sea	August 1925	Oxford Playhouse	A Stranger
The Man with the Flower in His Mouth	August 1925	Oxford Playhouse	Title role
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	September 1925	Apollo Theatre	Valentine
The Seagull	October 1925	Little Theatre	Constantin Treplyov
Doctor Faustus	October 1925	New Oxford Theatre	Good Angel
Gloriana	December 1925	Little Theatre	Sir John Harrington
L'École des cocottes	December 1926	Prince's Theatre	Robert
Nativity Play	December 1925	Daly's Theatre	Second shepherd
The Tempest	January 1926	Savoy Theatre	Ferdinand	Matinees only
Sons and Fathers	January 1926	RADA Theatre	Richard Southern
Three Sisters	February 1926	Barnes Theatre	Baron Nikolaj Lvovich Tuzenbach
Katerina	March 1926	Barnes Theatre	Georg Stibelev
Hamlet	May 1926	Royal Court Theatre	Rosencrantz
Romeo and Juliet	June 1926	London Coliseum	Romeo	Excerpt only
Henry VI	June 1926	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Richard	Dramatised reading
The Lady of the Camellias	July 1926	Garrick Theatre	Armand Duval
Confession	July 1926	Royal Court Theatre	Wilfred Marley
The Constant Nymph	October 1926	New Theatre	Lewis Dodd
Othello	April 1927	Apollo Theatre	Cassio
The Good Old Days	April 1927	New Theatre	Boulter
The Hectic Present	April 1927	New Theatre	Guest
The Great God Brown	June 1927	Strand Theatre	Dion Anthony
The Constant Nymph	October 1926	King's Theatre	Lewis Dodd
The Patriot	January 1928	Majestic Theatre, New York	Tsarevitch	Broadway debut
Ghosts	March 1928	Wyndham's Theatre	Oswald	Matinees only
Ghosts	April 1928	Arts Theatre	Oswald
Holding out the Apple	June 1928	Globe Theatre	Gerald Marlowe
Prejudice	June 1928	Arts Theatre	Jacob Slovak
The Skull	August 1928	Shaftesbury Theatre	Capt. Allenby
The Lady from Alfaqueque	October 1928	Court Theatre	Felipe Rivas
Out of the Sea	November 1928	Strand Theatre	John Martin
The Seagull	January 1929	Arts Theatre	Constantin Treplyov
Red Rust	February 1929	Little Theatre	Fedor
Hunter's Moon	March 1929	Prince of Wales Theatre	Paul de Tressailles
The Lady with a Lamp	April 1929	Garrick Theatre	Henry Tremayne
Shall We Join the Ladies?	April 1929	Palace Theatre	Capt. Jennings	Matinees only
Red Sunday	June 1929	Arts Theatre	Bronstein
Romeo and Juliet	September 1929	The Old Vic	Romeo
The Merchant of Venice	October 1929	The Old Vic	Antonio
The Imaginary Invalid	October 1929	The Old Vic	Cléante
Romeo and Juliet	October 1929	The Old Vic	Romeo	Special performance
Richard II	November 1929	The Old Vic	Richard II
Douaumont	December 1929	Prince of Wales Theatre	The Prologue
A Midsummer Night's Dream	December 1929	The Old Vic	Oberon
Julius Caesar	January 1930	The Old Vic	Mark Antony
Romeo and Juliet	January 1930	Haymarket Theatre	Romeo	Matinees only
As You Like It	February 1930	The Old Vic	Orlando
Androcles and the Lion	February 1930	The Old Vic	Emperor
Macbeth	March 1930	The Old Vic	Macbeth
The Man with the Flower in His Mouth	April 1930	The Old Vic	Title role
Hamlet	April 1930	The Old Vic	Hamlet
Hamlet	June 1930	Queen's Theatre	Hamlet
The Importance of Being Earnest	July 1930	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	John Worthing
Hamlet	July 1930	Smallhythe	Hamlet	Scene only
Henry IV, Part 1	September 1930	The Old Vic	Hotspur
The Tempest	October 1930	The Old Vic	Prospero
The Jealous Wife	November 1930	The Old Vic	Lord Trinket
Richard II	November 1930	The Old Vic	Richard II
Antony and Cleopatra	November 1930	The Old Vic	Mark Antony
Twelfth Night	January 1931	Sadler's Wells Theatre	Malvolio
The Tempest	February 1931	Sadler's Wells Theatre	Prospero
Arms and the Man	February 1931	The Old Vic	Sergius Saranoff
Much Ado About Nothing	March 1931	The Old Vic	Benedick
King Lear	April 1931	The Old Vic	King Lear
Shakespeare Birthday Festival	April 1931	The Old Vic	Hamlet	Scenes only
The Good Companions	May 1931	His Majesty's Theatre	Inigo Jollifant
Much Ado About Nothing	July 1931	Smallhythe	Benedick	Scenes only
Musical Chairs	November 1931	Arts Theatre	Schindler
The Good Companions	November 1931	Touring	Inigo Jollifant
Musical Chairs	April 1932	Criterion Theatre	Schindler
Shakespeare Birthday Festival	April 1932	The Old Vic	Richard II	Scenes only
Richard of Bordeaux	June 1932	New Theatre	Richard II
Twelfth Night	July 1932	Smallhythe	Orsino	Scenes only
Musical Chairs	December 1932	Golders Green	Schindler
Richard of Bordeaux	July 1933	New Theatre	Richard II	Also co-director
Richard II	July 1933	New Theatre	Richard II	Scenes only
A Kiss for Cinderella	December 1933	New Theatre	The Censor	Matinees only
Richard of Bordeaux	April 1934	Touring	Richard II
The Maitlands	July 1934	Wyndham's Theatre	Roger Maitland
Shakespeare Sonnets	July 1934	Smallhythe	Speaker
Hamlet	November 1934	New Theatre	Hamlet	Also director
Richard of Bordeaux	April 1935	Touring	Richard II
The Player's Masque	May 1935	Drury Lane	Mercury	Jubilee performance
Noah	July 1935	New Theatre	Noah
Hamlet	July 1935	Smallhythe	Hamlet	Scenes only
Romeo and Juliet	October 1935	New Theatre	Mercutio/Romeo	Also director
Romeo and Juliet	April – May 1936	Touring	Romeo	Also director
The Seagull	May 1936	New Theatre	Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin
Hamlet	September 1936	Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto	Hamlet
Hamlet	October 1936	Empire Theatre, New York	Hamlet
Hamlet	October 1936	St James' Theatre, New York	Hamlet
Hamlet	February 1937	Shubert Theatre	Hamlet
He was Born Gay	April 1937	Touring	Mason	Also director
He was Born Gay	May 1937	Queen's Theatre	Mason
Nijinsky Matinee	May 1937	His Majesty's Theatre	Speaker
Richard II	September 1937	Queen's Theatre	Richard II
Richard II	November 1937	Golders Green Theatre	Richard II
The School for Scandal	November 1937	Queen's Theatre	Joseph Surface
King George's Pension Fund Matinee	December 1937	Winter Garden Theatre	Speaker
Three Sisters	January 1938	Queen's Theatre	Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin
The Merchant of Venice	April 1938	Queen's Theatre	Shylock	Also director
Dear Octopus	September 1938	Manchester	Nicholas Randolph
Dear Octopus	September 1938	Queen's Theatre	Nicholas Randolph
The Importance of Being Earnest	January 1939	Globe Theatre	John Worthing	Also director
Shakespeare Birthday Festival	April 1939	The Old Vic	Hamlet
Hamlet	June 1939	Lyceum Theatre	Hamlet	Also director
Hamlet	July 1939	Elsinore	Hamlet	Also director
The Importance of Being Earnest	August 1939	Globe Theatre	John Worthing	Also director
The Importance of Being Earnest	September 1939	Touring	John Worthing	Also director
Shakespeare in Peace and War	October 1939	Touring	Speaker
The Beggar's Opera	March 1940	Haymarket Theatre	Macheath
King Lear	April 1940	The Old Vic	King Lear
The Tempest	May 1940	The Old Vic	Prospero
Fumed Oak	July 1940	Globe/ENSA tour	Henry Gow	Also director
Hands Across the Sea	July 1940	Globe/ENSA tour	Peter Gilpin	Also director
Hard Luck Story	July 1940	Globe/ENSA tour	Old Actor	Also director
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets	August 1940	Edinburgh (ENSA)	Shakespeare	Also director
Dear Brutus	January 1941	Globe Theatre	Will Dearth	Also director
Dear Brutus	June 1941	Touring	Will Dearth	Also director
All Star Concert	December 1941	Royal Albert Hall	Speaker
Macbeth	January 1942	Touring	Macbeth	Also director
Macbeth	July 1942	Piccadilly Theatre	Macbeth	Also director
The Importance of Being Earnest	October 1942	Phoenix Theatre	John Worthing
The Way of the World	November 1942	New Theatre	Mirabell	Special Matinee
ENSA tour revue	December 1942	Gibraltar	Various
The Doctor's Dilemma	January 1943	Haymarket Theatre	Louis Dubedat
Love for Love	January 1943	Touring	Valentine	Also director
Love for Love	January 1943	Phoenix Theatre	Valentine	Also director
Hamlet	July 1944	Touring	Hamlet
Love for Love	August 1944	Touring	Valentine	Also director
The Circle	September 1944	Touring	Arnold Champion-Cheney
The Circle	October 1944	Haymarket Theatre	Arnold Champion-Cheney
Love for Love	October 1944	Haymarket Theatre	Valentine	Also director
Hamlet	October 1944	Haymarket Theatre	Hamlet	Also director
A Midsummer Night's Dream	January 1945	Haymarket Theatre	Oberon
The Duchess of Malfi	April 1945	Touring	Ferdinand
The Duchess of Malfi	April 1945	Haymarket Theatre	Ferdinand
Hamlet	October 1945	Touring: Far East (ENSA)	Hamlet	Also director
Blithe Spirit	October 1945	Touring: Far East (ENSA)	Charles Condomine	Also director
Shakespeare in Peace and War	October 1945	Touring: Far East (ENSA)	Speaker
Crime and Punishment	June 1946	Touring	Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
Crime and Punishment	June 1946	New Theatre	Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
Macbeth	July 1946	Smallhythe	Reader	Reading only
Crime and Punishment	June 1946	Globe Theatre	Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
The Importance of Being Earnest	January 1947	Touring (USA & Canada)	John Worthing	Also director
Love for Love	May 1947	Touring (USA)	Valentine	Also director
Medea	October 1947	Royale Theatre, New York	Valentine	Also director
Crime and Punishment	December 1947	Royale Theatre, New York	Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov
The Return of the Prodigal	December 1948	Globe Theatre	Eustace Jackson
The Lady's Not for Burning	May 1949	Globe Theatre	Thomas Mendip	Also director
Henry IV	July 1949	Smallhythe	Hotspur	Scene only
Gala: Richard of Bordeaux	November 1949	London Coliseum	Richard II
Measure for Measure	March 1950	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Angelo
Julius Caesar	May 1950	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Cassius
Much Ado About Nothing	June 1950	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Benedick	Also director
King Lear	July 1950	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	King Lear	Also co-director
The Lady's Not for Burning	October 1950	Shubert Theatre	Thomas Mendip	Also director
The Lady's Not for Burning	November 1950	Royale Theatre, New York	Thomas Mendip	Also director
The Winter's Tale	June 1951	Phoenix Theatre	Leontes
Ellen Terry Anniversary Performance	July 1951	Smallhythe	Speaker
The Winter's Tale	August 1951	Touring	Leontes
Salute to Ivor Novello	October 1951	London Coliseum	Speaker
Much Ado About Nothing	January 1952	Phoenix Theatre	Benedick	Also director
Richard II	December 1952	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Richard II
The Way of the World	February 1953	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Mirabell	Also director
Venice Preserv'd	May 1953	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Jaffeir
Richard II	July 1953	Royal, Bulawayo	Richard II	Also director
A Day by the Sea	November 1953	Haymarket Theatre	Julian Anson	Also director
King Lear	June 1955	Touring	Lear
Much Ado About Nothing	July 1955	Palace Theatre	Benedick	Also director
King Lear	July 1955	Palace Theatre	Lear
Much Ado About Nothing & King Lear	July 1955	Touring (Europe)	Benedick & Lear	Also director (Much Ado only)
King Lear	November 1955	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Lear
Much Ado About Nothing	December 1955	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Benedick	Also director
Much Ado About Nothing	July 1956	Smallhythe	Benedick	Scene only
Nude with Violin	October 1956	Touring	Sebastien	Also co-director
Nude with Violin	November 1956	Globe Theatre	Sebastien	Also co-director
The Ages of Man	December 1956	Royal Festival Hall	Speaker
The Tempest	August 1957	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Prospero
The Ages of Man	August 1957	Touring	Speaker
The Tempest	December 1957	Drury Lane	Prospero
The Potting Shed	February 1958	Globe Theatre	James Callifer
Henry VIII	May 1958	The Old Vic, then touring	Cardinal Wolsey
The Ages of Man	September 1958	Touring (America and Europe)	Speaker
The Ages of Man	June 1959	Queen's Theatre	Speaker
The Ages of Man	April 1960	Haymarket Theatre	Speaker
The Last Joke	September 1960	Phoenix Theatre	Prince Cavanati
The Ages of Man	September 1961	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Speaker
Othello	October 1961	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Othello
The Cherry Orchard	December 1961	Memorial Theatre, Stratford	Leonid Andreieveitch Gaev
The Cherry Orchard	December 1961	Aldwych Theatre	Leonid Andreieveitch Gaev
The Ages of Man	April 1962	Touring	Speaker
The School for Scandal	October 1962	Haymarket Theatre	Joseph Surface	Also director
The School for Scandal	November 1962	Touring (USA)	Joseph Surface	Also director
The Ages of Man	January 1963	Majestic Theatre, New York	Speaker
The Ages of Man	April 1963	Lyceum Theatre, New York	Speaker
The Ides of March	July 1963	Touring	Caesar	Also co-director
The Ides of March	August 1963	Haymarket Theatre	Caesar	Also co-director
The Ages of Man	December 1963	Touring (Australia & New Zealand)	Speaker
Hamlet	February 1964	O'Keefe Centre, Toronto	Voice of Ghost	Also director
Homage of Shakespeare	March 1964	New York/Princeton	Speaker
Hamlet	March 1964	Shubert Theatre	Voice of Ghost	Also director
The Ages of Man	April 1964	Touring (UK & Europe)	Speaker
Hamlet	July 1964	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York	Voice of Ghost	Also director
Tiny Alice	December 1964	Billy Rose Theatre, New York	Julian
The Ages of Man	March 1965	White House	Reader
Ivanov	August 1965	Touring	Nikolai Ivanov	Also director
Ivanov	September 1965	Phoenix Theatre	Nikolai Ivanov	Also director
Ivanov	March 1966	Shubert Theatre	Nikolai Ivanov	Also director
The Ages of Man	October 1966	Norway	Speaker
Men, Women and Shakespeare	November 1966	Touring (international)	Speaker
Oedipus Rex	16 March 1967	Royal Festival Hall	Narrator
The Ages of Man	June 1967	Ankara, Turkey	Speaker
Tartuffe	November 1967	The Old Vic, then touring	Orgon
Oedipus	March 1968	The Old Vic, then touring	Oedipus
Forty Years On	October 1968	Apollo Theatre	Headmaster
A Talent to Amuse	December 1969	Phoenix Theatre	Speaker
The Battle of Shrivings	February 1970	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Sir Gideon Petrie
Home	June 1970	Royal Court Theatre	Harry
Home	July 1970	Apollo Theatre	Harry
Home	November 1970	Morosco Theatre	Harry
Caesar and Cleopatra	July 1971	Chichester	Caesar
Veterans	March 1972	Royal Court Theatre	Sir Geoffrey Kendle
The Tempest	March 1974	The Old Vic	Prospero
Tribute To The Lady	May 1974	The Old Vic	Hamlet
Bingo	August 1974	Royal Court Theatre	William Shakespeare
No Man's Land	April 1975	The Old Vic	Spooner
No Man's Land	July 1975	Wyndham's Theatre	Spooner
Tribute To The Lady	February 1976	The Old Vic	Hamlet
No Man's Land	April 1976	Lyttelton, Royal National Theatre	Spooner
No Man's Land	November 1976	Longacre Theatre, New York	Spooner
Julius Caesar	March 1977	Olivier, Royal National Theatre	Caesar
Volpone	April 1977	Olivier, Royal National Theatre	Sir Politic Would-Be
Half-Life	November 1977	Cottesloe, Royal National Theatre	Sir Noël Cunliffe
Half-Life	March 1978	Duke of York's Theatre	Sir Noël Cunliffe
Half-Life	January 1979	Touring	Sir Noël Cunliffe
Gala Performance	February 1984	Duke of York's Theatre	Speaker
Old Vic Tribute Dinner	May 1984	Marriott Hotel	Speaker
The Best of Friends	January 1988	Apollo Theatre	Sir Sydney Cockerell
A Tale of Two Cities	March 1988	Royalty Theatre	Voice only
Royal Birthday Gala	July 1990	London Palladium	Compère

As director

Gielgud as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, 1959

Gielgud and Margaret Leighton in Much Ado About Nothing.

This table contains Gielgud's stage work as a director. It does not include those productions in which he also appeared, which are shown in the table above.

Gielgud's director credits

Production	Date	Theatre (London, unless otherwise noted)
Romeo and Juliet	February 1932	New Theatre Oxford
Romeo and Juliet	March 1932	New Theatre
Strange Orchestra	September 1932	St Martin's Theatre
The Merchant of Venice	December 1932	The Old Vic
The Merchant of Venice	February 1933	Sadler's Wells Theatre
La voix humaine	July 1933	Ambassadors Theatre
Musical Chairs	August 1933	His Majesty's Theatre
Sheppey	September 1933	Wyndham's Theatre
Spring 1600	January 1934	Shaftesbury Theatre
Queen of Scots	June 1934	New Theatre
The Old Ladies	April 1935	New Theatre
Punch Cartoons	November 1935	His Majesty's Theatre
Spring Meeting	May 1938	Ambassadors Theatre
Spring Meeting	July 1938	Piccadilly Theatre
Scandal in Assyria	April 1939	Globe Theatre
Spring Meeting	May 1939	Brighton
The Beggar's Opera	March 1940	Haymarket Theatre
Ducks and Drakes	November 1941	Apollo Theatre
Nursery Slopes	July 1943	Touring
Landscape (Nursery Slopes)	October 1943	Westminster Theatre
The Cradle Song	January 1944	Apollo Theatre
The Last of Summer	June 1944	Lyric Theatre
Lady Windermere's Fan	August 1945	Haymarket Theatre
Lady Windermere's Fan	April 1947	His Majesty's Theatre
The Glass Menagerie	July 1948	Haymarket Theatre
Medea	September 1948	Globe Theatre
The Heiress	February 1949	Haymarket Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing	April 1949	Memorial Theatre, Stratford
Treasure Hunt	September 1949	Apollo Theatre
The Boy With a Cart	January 1950	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
Shall We Join the Ladies	January 1950	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
Indian Summer	December 1951	Criterion Theatre
Macbeth	March 1952	Memorial Theatre, Stratford
Charley's Aunt	December 1953	Touring
Charley's Aunt	November 1953	Haymarket Theatre
The Cherry Orchard	May 1954	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
Twelfth Night	April 1955	Memorial Theatre, Stratford
The Chalk Garden	April 1956	Haymarket Theatre
The Trojans	June 1957	Royal Opera House
Variation on a Theme	March 1958	Touring
Variation on a Theme	April 1958	Globe Theatre
Five Finger Exercise	July 1958	Comedy Theatre
The Complaisant Lover	June 1959	Globe Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing	September 1959	Boston/New York
Five Finger Exercise	December 1959	Music Box Theatre, New York
A Midsummer Night's Dream	February 1961	Royal Opera House
Big Fish, Little Fish	March 1961	ANITA Theatre, New York
Dazzling Prospect	June 1961	Globe Theatre
The School for Scandal	April 1962	Haymarket Theatre
Halfway Up the Tree	November 1967	Queen's Theatre
Don Giovanni	August 1968	London Coliseum
All Over	March 1971	Martin Beck Theatre, New York
Private Lives	September 1972	Queen's Theatre
The Constant Wife	September 1973	Albery Theatre
Private Lives	September 1974	46th Street Theatre
The Constant Wife	December 1974	Shubert Theatre, New York
The Gay Lord Quex	June 1975	Albery Theatre

Radio plays

Gielgud in 1973, by Allan Warren

Gielgud in 1936

Gielgud took part in numerous radio broadcasts in his career, including interviews, poetry readings and talks about the theatre and acting. The following is a list of plays in which he was involved.

Radio plays of Gielgud

Play	Year
The Man with the Flower in His Mouth	1929
The Tempest	1931
Will Shakespeare	1931
Othello	1932
Hamlet	1932
The Tempest	1933
He was Born Gay	1937
The School for Scandal	1937
Present Laughter	1937
The Importance of Being Earnest	1939
Hamlet	1939
Hamlet	1940
The Laughing Woman	1940
The Importance of Being Earnest	1940
Prince of Bohemia	1941
King Lear	1941
The Return of Mr Oakroyd	1941
Richard of Bordeaux	1941
The Great Ship	1943
Suicide Club	1943
The Family Reunion	1948
Hamlet	1948
The Tempest	1948
Measure for Measure	1950
The Importance of Being Earnest	1951
The Cross and the Arrow	1951
King Lear	1951
Helena	1951
Richard of Bordeaux	1952
The Tempest	1953
Ivanov	1954
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	1954
Henry VIII	1954
Scheherazade	1955
Present Laughter	1956
The Browning Version	1957
Oedipus at Colonus	1959
The Way of the World	1960
Richard II	1961
Arms and the Man	1961
King Lear	1967
Forty Years On	1973
Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven	1975
Henry V	1976
Much Ado About Nothing	1976
Henry VIII	1977
The Winter's Tale	1981
Passing Time	1983
The Tempest	1989
Between Ourselves	1990
Tales My Father Taught Me	1990
The Best of Friends	1991
Hamlet	1992
Romeo and Juliet	1993
Laughter in the Shadow of Trees	1994
King Lear	1994

Filmography

Publicity still of Gielgud for Julius Caesar (1953)

Gielgud (right) with Peter Ustinov in Appointment with Death (1988)

Filmography of Gielgud

Film	Year	Role	Ref.
Who Is the Man?	1924	Daniel
The Clue of the New Pin	1929	Rex Trasmere
Insult	1932	Henri Dubois
The Good Companions	1933	Inigo Jollifant
Secret Agent	1936	Richard Ashenden/Edgar Brodie
The Prime Minister	1941	Benjamin Disraeli
An Airman's Letter to His Mother	1941	Narrator
Unfinished Journey	1944	Commentator
Julius Caesar	1953	Cassius
Romeo and Juliet	1954	The Prologue
Richard III	1955	George, Duke of Clarence
Around the World in 80 Days	1956	Foster
Saint Joan	1957	Earl of Warwick
The Barretts of Wimpole Street	1957	Edward Moulton-Barrett
Becket	1964	King Louis VII
Hamlet	1964	Voice of the Ghost
The Loved One	1965	Sir Francis Hinsley
Chimes at Midnight	1965	King Henry IV
Assignment to Kill	1967	Curt Valayan
Revolution D'Octobre	1967	Narrator
The Shoes of the Fisherman	1968	Pope Pius XIII
Sebastian	1968	Head of Intelligence
The Charge of the Light Brigade	1968	Lord Raglan
Oh! What a Lovely War	1969	Count Leopold von Berchtold
Julius Caesar	1970	Julius Caesar
Eagle in a Cage	1972	Lord Sissal
Lost Horizon	1973	Chang
11 Harrowhouse	1974	Meecham
Murder on the Orient Express	1974	Beddoes
Gold	1974	Farrell
Galileo	1975	Cardinal
Aces High	1976	Headmaster
Caesar and Cleopatra	1976	Caesar
Joseph Andrews	1976	Doctor
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man	1977	Preacher
Providence	1977	Clive Langham
Richard II	1978	John of Gaunt
Les Misérables	1978	Monsieur Gillenormand – Marius' grandfather
Murder by Decree	1978	Lord Salisbury
Caligula	1979	Nerva
The Human Factor	1979	Brigadier Tomlinson
The Orchestra Conductor	1980	Jan Lasocki
The Elephant Man	1980	Carr Gomm
Sphinx	1980	Abdu Hamdi
The Formula	1980	Dr. Abraham Esau
Lion of the Desert	1981	Sharif El Gariani
Arthur	1981	Hobson
Priest of Love	1981	Herbert G. Muskett
Chariots of Fire	1981	Master of Trinity
Gandhi	1982	Lord Irwin
Buddenbrooks	1982	Narrator
Scandalous	1983	Uncle Willie
The Wicked Lady	1983	Hogarth
The Scarlet and the Black	1983	Pope Pius XII
Invitation to the Wedding	1983	Clyde Ormiston
Wagner	1983	Pfistermeister
The Shooting Party	1984	Cornelius Cardew
Plenty	1985	Sir Leonard Darwin
Romance on the Orient Express	1985	Charles Woodward
Leave All Fair	1985	John M. Murray
The Canterville Ghost	1985	Sir Simon de Canterville
The Whistle Blower	1986	Sir Adrian Chapple
Barbablú, Barbablú	1987	Bluebeard
Appointment with Death	1988	Colonel Carbury
Arthur 2: On the Rocks	1988	Hobson
Getting it Right	1989	Sir Gordon Munday
Prospero's Books	1991	Prospero
Shining Through	1992	Konrad Friedrichs, "Sunflower"
Swan Song	1992	Svetlovidov
The Power of One	1992	Headmaster St. John
First Knight	1995	Oswald
Haunted	1995	Dr. Doyle
Dragonheart	1996	voice of King Arthur
The Portrait of a Lady	1996	Mr. Touchett
The Leopard Son	1996	Narrator
Hamlet	1996	Priam
Shine	1996	Professor Cecil Parkes
Elizabeth	1998	The Pope
Quest for Camelot	1998	voice of Merlin
Sergei Rachmaninov: Memories	1999	Narrator
Catastrophe	2000	Protagonist

Television

Gielgud, photographed by Allan Warren in 1973

Gielgud (left) as Joseph Surface, and Ralph Richardson as Sir Peter Teazle, The School for Scandal, 1962

Television appearances of Gielgud

Programme	Date	Channel	Role
A Day by the Sea	31 March 1959	ITV	Julian Anson
DuPont Show of the Month: "The Browning Version"	23 April 1959	CBS (USA)	Andrew Crocker-Harris
The Cherry Orchard	13 April 1962	BBC TV	Leonid Andreyevich Gaev
Play of the Week: "The Rehearsal"	1 January 1963	ITV	The Count
The Wednesday Play: "The Mayfly and the Frog"	21 December 1966	BBC One	Gabriel Quantara
Alice in Wonderland	28 December 1966	BBC One	Mock Turtle
Play of the Month: "Romeo and Juliet"	3 December 1967	BBC One	Chorus
Star Performance: "From Chekhov with Love"	14 June 1968	ITV	Anton Chekhov
Play of the Month: "Saint Joan"	1 September 1968	BBC One	The Inquisitor
Omnibus: "The Actor's Changing Face"	25 May 1969	BBC One	Participant
Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Hamlet"	17 November 1970	NBC (USA)	Voice of the Ghost
Carol Channing's Mad English Tea Party	1971
Hassan	1971		Harun al-Rashid
Play for Today: "Home"	6 January 1972	BBC One	Harry
Probe	21 February 1972	NBC (USA)	Streeter
This is Noël Coward	2 April 1973		Narrator
Menace: "Deliver us from Evil"	3 May 1973	BBC One	Frederick William Densham
Frankenstein: The True Story	30 November 1973	NBC (USA)	Chief Constable
Edward the Seventh	6 – 30 May 1975	ITV	Benjamin Disraeli
Shades of Greene: "Special Duties"	23 September 1975	ITV	Mr Ferraro
The Gift of the Magna Carter	1976
Play of the Month: "The Picture of Dorian Gray"	19 September 1976	BBC One	Lord Henry Wotton
Personality and Learning: "The Grand Inquisitor"	10 April 1977	BBC	The Grand Inquisitor
Play of the Month: "Heartbreak House"	19 May 1977	BBC One	Captain Shotover
Night of 100 Stars	5 June 1977	ITV
Omnibus: "Pure Radio"	3 November 1977	BBC One
No Man's Land	3 October 1978	ITV	Spooner
Tales of the Unexpected: "Neck"	28 April 1979	ITV	Jelks
Soul of a Nation	5 January 1980	BBC	Narrator
The English Garden (eight episodes)	1980	ITV	Presenter
Every Night Something Atrocious	1980	ITV
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?	30 March 1980	ITV	Reverend Thomas Jones
The British Greats: "Jack Hawkins"	30 March 1980	ITV	Interviewee
Tales of the Unexpected: "Parson's Pleasure"	30 November 1980	ITV	Cyril Boggis
Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery	8 March 1981	ITV	Marquis of Caterham
Omnibus: "Parrots, Bees, Ducks and Finches"	7 April 1981	BBC One
Paperbacks	29 April 1981	BBC	Interviewee
Brideshead Revisited	12 October – 24 November 1981	ITV	Edward Ryder
Marco Polo	1982		Doge of Venice
Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Hunchback of Notre Dame"	4 February 1982	NBC (USA)
Inside the Third Reich	9 May 1982	ABC Television (USA)	Albert Speer Sr
Play of the Month: "The Critic"	23 August 1982	BBC One	Lord Burleigh
The South Bank Show: "Laurence Olivier – A Life"	17 October 1982	ITV
Omnibus: "Old Vic"	30 October 1983	BBC One
The Far Pavilions	3 – 5 January 1984	Channel 4	Cavagnari
All the World's a Stage: Makers of Magic	29 January 1984	BBC
The Master of Ballantrae	16 April – 7 May 1984	ITV	Lord Durrisdeer
Ingrid	7 March 1984		Narrator
Six Centuries of Verse	2 May – 9 December 1984	ITV	Presenter
Camille	11 December 1984		The Duke
Frankenstein	27 December 1984	ITV	De Lacey
Olivier: A Kingdom for a Stage	22 February 1985	BBC
Screen Two: "Time After Time"	26 January 1986	BBC Two	Jasper Swift
The Theban Plays by Sophocles: "Oedipus the King"	16 September 1986	BBC	Teiresias
The Theban Plays by Sophocles: "Antigone"	19 September 1986	BBC	Teiresias
Screen Two: "Quartermaine's Terms"	29 March 1987	BBC	Eddie Loomis
A Man for All Seasons	7 December 1988		Cardinal Wolsey
Money Talks	11 January 1993		Dreuther
The South Bank Show: "Hamlet"	2 April 1989	ITV
War and Remembrance	3 – 24 September 1989	ITV	Aaron Jastrow
Summer's Lease	1 – 22 November 1989	BBC One	Haverford Downs
The South Bank Show: "Hindemith – A Pilgrim's Progress"	15 April 1990	ITV	Narrator
War and Remembrance	10 – 17 June 1990	ITV	Aaron Jastrow
A TV Dante	29 July – 1 August 1990	Channel 4	Virgil
The Best of Friends	28 December 1991	Channel 4	Sir Sydney Cockerell
The South Bank Show: "Noel Coward: A Profile"	3 January 1992	ITV
Inspector Morse: "The Twilight of the Gods"	20 January 1993	ITV	Lord Hincksey
Lovejoy: "The Lost Colony"	27 December 1993	BBC One
Under the Hammer: "The Fatal Attribution"	10 January 1994	ITV	Hugo Lunt
The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: "Hand In Glove"	10 January 1994	BBC One	Percival Pyke Period
Scarlett	13 November 1994	CBS (USA)	Pierre Robillard
Performance: A Summer Day's Dream	26 November 1994	BBC	Stephen Dawlish
Haunted	19 February 1997		Dr. Doyle
Gulliver's Travels	7 April 1996	Channel 4	Professor of Sunlight
A Dance to the Music of Time	9 October 1997	Channel 4	St. John Clarke
The Tichborne Claimant	1998		Lord Chief Justice Cockburn
Merlin	26 April 1998	NBC (USA)	King Constant

Awards and honours

Edmond O'Brien (Casca, left) and Gielgud (Cassius) in Julius Caesar (1953), for which Gielgud won a BAFTA for Best British Actor.

Awards and honours presented to Gielgud

Film or Production	Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
The Importance of Being Earnest	1948	Tony Award	Outstanding Foreign Company	Won
Julius Caesar	1954	BAFTA Film Award	Best British Actor	Won
Ages of Man	1959	Tony Award	Special Award	Won
Ages of Man	1959	Grammy Award	Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording	Nominated
Hamlet	1960	Grammy Award	Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording	Nominated
Big Fish, Little Fish	1961	Tony Award	Director (Dramatic)	Won
The School for Scandal	1963	Tony Award	Director (Dramatic)	Nominated
Becket	1964	Academy Award	Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
Ages of Man, Volume 2 (One Man in His Time) Part Two – Shakespeare	1964	Grammy Award	Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording	Nominated
Tiny Alice	1965	Tony Award	Actor (Dramatic)	Nominated
Home	1970	Evening Standard Award	Best Actor	Won
Home	1971	Tony Award	Actor (Dramatic)	Nominated
No Man's Land	1975	Evening Standard Award	Best Actor	Won
Murder on the Orient Express	1975	BAFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Won
Providence	1977	New York Film Critics Circle Award	Best Actor	Won
Ages of Man – Recordings from Shakespeare	1979	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording	Won
Arthur	1981	New York Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actor	Won
Arthur	1981	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Actor	Won
Arthur	1981	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor	Won
Arthur	1982	Academy Award	Actor in a Supporting Role	Won
Brideshead Revisited	1982	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special	Nominated
	1982	Evening Standard Award	Special Award for Lifetime Achievement	Won
No Man's Land	1982	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording	Nominated
Brideshead Revisited	1982	BAFTA Television Award	Best Actor in Television	Nominated
Arthur	1982	BAFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats	1983	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording	Nominated
The Master of Ballantrae	1985	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special	Nominated
	1985	Laurence Olivier Award	Special Award	Won
Romance on the Orient Express	1985	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special	Nominated
Plenty and The Shooting Party	1985	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Actor	Won
Gulliver	1986	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording	Nominated
Plenty	1986	BAFTA Film Award	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
A Christmas Carol	1988	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording	Nominated
War and Remembrance	1988	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Won
War and Remembrance	1989	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special	Nominated
Sir John Gielgud Reads Alice in Wonderland	1989	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording	Nominated
War and Remembrance	1989	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Nominated
Summer's Lease	1990	BAFTA Television Award	Best Actor	Nominated
Summer's Lease	1991	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie	Won
The Emperor's New Clothes	1991	Grammy Award	Best Album for Children	Nominated
	1992	BAFTA Film Award	Fellowship	Won
Shine	1997	BAFTA Film Award	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Brandreth, Gyles (1994). John Gielgud, A Celebration. London: Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-85793-287-4.
• Croall, Jonathan (2000). Gielgud – A Theatrical Life, 1904–2000. London: Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-74560-6.
• Croall, Jonathan (2011). John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star. London: A & C Black. ISBN 978-1-4081-3106-0.
• Herbert, Ian (1978). Who's Who in the Theatre: a Biographical Record of the Contemporary Stage. London: Pitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-273-01195-8.
• Morley, Sheridan (2001). John G – The Authorised Biography of John Gielgud. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-36803-9.
• Morley, Sheridan; Sharp, Robert (2004). "Gielgud, Sir (Arthur) John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74146. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Somlyo, Roy (2001). The Tony Award: a complete listing of winners and nominees of the American Theatre Wing's Tony Award with a history of the American Theatre Wing. London: Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-325-00294-1.
• Who Was Who. London: A & C Black. 2012. (subscription required)

External links

• John Gielgud at British Film Institute
• John Gielgud at the BFI's Screenonline
• John Gielgud at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Gielgud at IMDb
• John Gielgud at the TCM Movie Database
• John Gielgud Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine on Pathé News