Alec Guinness

Born in London, 1914, Alec Guinness began his working life as an advertising copywriter before enrolling at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, debuting on stage in 1936. His illustrious film career began with Great Expectations in 1946, and progressed through a series of Ealing classics to an Oscar-winning turn in The Bridge On The River Kwai in 1957. Knighted in 1959, he became most famous as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.