Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Diaries of Sir Alec Guinness bought by the British Library

 

Robert de
Thursday 07 February 2013 15:31 GMT
Comments
Kind Hearts and Coronets with Alec Guinness
and Dennis Price
Kind Hearts and Coronets with Alec Guinness and Dennis Price

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Hundreds of letters and diaries belonging to Sir Alec Guinness will be made available to the public after they were bought by the British Library.

The archive, which stretches from the actor's death in 2000 back to the 1930s, includes more than 900 letters and around 100 volumes of diaries and will be accessible from next year.

It includes a diary entry written after the death of Laurence Olivier and an account of a premonition of death he had the day before his boat went down in a storm during the Second World War.

Sir Alec's career saw him find fame in the theatre before a string of memorable roles in Ealing comedies including The Lavender Hill Mob and Kind Hearts and Coronets.

He won a best actor Oscar in 1957 for his role as the commanding officer in The Bridge on the River Kwai and played the spy George Smiley in the television version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, but he is best known for his role as Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films.

The library, in central London, already holds archives from other acting greats including Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in