Alec Guinness de Cuffe

1914 - Born in London, England on the 2nd of April.

1936 - Guinness first worked writing copy for advertising before making his debut at the Albery Theatre at the age of 22.

1937 - He played the role of Aumerle in Richard II and Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice under the direction of John Gielgud.

1938 - He starred in production of Hamlet which won him acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.

1939 - He also appeared as Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet, Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night and Chorus in Henry V, both opposite Laurence Olivier, and Ferdinand in The Tempest, opposite Gielgud as Prospero.

         - He adapted Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations for the stage, playing the part of Herbert Pocket.

1940 - He married the artist, playwright, and actress, Merula Salaman, a British Jew, and they had a son, Matthew Guinness, who later became an actor.

1941 - Alec Guinness served in the Royal Navy throughout World War II, serving first as a seaman and being commissioned the following year.

1952 - Director Ronald Neame cast Guinness in his first romantic lead role, opposite Petula Clark in The Card.

1977 - His role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy, beginning, brought him worldwide recognition by a new generation.

2000 - Died on the 5th of August at the age of 86, from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex.