John Gielgud
- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- April 14, 1904 in London, England
- Died
- May 21, 2000
- Active Years
- 1924–2018 (95 Years)
- Total Credits
- 198 credits in database
Acting Born Apr 14, 1904 Died May 21, 2000 London, England 198 credits
Biography
John Gielgud was an English actor, director, and producer. Born on April 14, 1904, in London, England, he was a descendant of the Terry acting family. Gielgud achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive performance in a production of Hamlet, which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and his warm and expressive voice. Gielgud is one of the few entertainers to have won awards in multiple fields, including the Tony Award. He passed away on May 21, 2000, at the age of 96. Gielgud's acting credits include 185 known titles.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Career overview
John Gielgud was a renowned English actor. He achieved international acclaim early in his career for his portrayal of Hamlet, which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. Gielgud's performances were notable for his beautiful speaking of verse and his warm, expressive voice.
Throughout his career, Gielgud was known for his acting abilities. He was a descendant of the Terry acting family. Gielgud's voice was described by his colleague Sir Alec Guinness as being like a silver trumpet muffled in silk. Gielgud's extensive body of work included numerous performances in film, television, and theater.
Gielgud's acting career spanned many years, with a total of 185 known credits. He was active in the entertainment industry until his death in 2000.
Ask the Vault
Ask anything about John Gielgud.
Frequent co-stars
Ralph Richardson
6 shared titles
Robert Hardy
4 shared titles
Vanessa Redgrave
4 shared titles
Anthony Andrews
4 shared titles
Richard Burton
4 shared titles
Geraldine Fitzgerald
3 shared titles
Michael Hordern
3 shared titles
Celia Johnson
3 shared titles
Helen Mirren
3 shared titles
Anthony Hopkins
3 shared titles
Career timeline
Nothing Like a Dame
Trouser Bar · WriterBoys On Film 15: Time & Tied · WriterPlay On! Shakespeare in Silent Film
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
Discovering Hamlet
Behind The Scenes of Caligula
Revisiting Brideshead
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
Catastrophe
Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance
The Tichborne Claimant
MerlinQuest for CamelotElizabethRachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow
A Dance to the Music of TimeDavid
DragonHeartGulliver's TravelsThe Portrait of a LadyHamletLooking for Richard
First KnightHauntedStick with Me, KidThe Thomas The Tank Engine Man
ScarlettA Summer Day's Dream
Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties
Shining ThroughThe Power of OneA Walk Through Prospero's LibrarySwan Song
PerformanceThe Strauss DynastyThe Strauss DynastyProspero's BooksPreminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
A TV DanteStrike It RichVivien Leigh: Scarlett and BeyondRabbit Ears - The Emperor's New Clothes
Summer's LeaseGetting It RightBarbablù, Barbablù
War and RemembranceAppointment with DeathArthur 2: On the RocksA Man for All SeasonsIn from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
Inspector MorseFunny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional VaudevilleQuartermaine's Terms
LovejoyThe Canterville GhostThe Whistle BlowerTheban Plays: AntigoneTime After Time
Screen TwoScreen TwoPlentyTo Be HamletRomance on the Orient Express
The Far PavilionsSix Centuries of VerseCamilleThe Master of BallantraeScandalous
The Wicked LadyThe Scarlet and the BlackWagnerInvitation to the Wedding
Marco PoloGandhiThe Hunchback of Notre DameInside the Third ReichLaurence Olivier: a life
Brideshead RevisitedArthurChariots of FireLion of the DesertSphinx
The Elephant ManWhy Didn't They Ask Evans?The ConductorThe Formula
Tales of the UnexpectedTales of the UnexpectedCaligulaMurder by DecreeThe Human Factor
Full Filmography
198 titles- Nothing Like a Dame (2018) as Self (archive footage)
- Trouser Bar (2016) Writer
- Boys On Film 15: Time & Tied (2016) Writer
- Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film (2016) as Self
- Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014) as Hogarth (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Discovering Hamlet (2011) as King Hamlet's Ghost (archive footage)
- Behind The Scenes of Caligula (2009)
- Revisiting Brideshead (2005) as Self (archive footage)
- Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film (2003) as Self - The Protagonist ("Catastrophe")
- Catastrophe (2001) as The Protagonist
- Vivien Leigh: A Delicate Balance (2000) as Self
- The Tichborne Claimant (1999) as Cockburn
- Merlin (1998) as King Constant
- Quest for Camelot (1998) as Merlin (voice)
- Elizabeth (1998) as The Pope
- Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow (1998)
- A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) as St. John Clarke
- David (1997) as Stimme Gottes
- DragonHeart (1996) as King Arthur (voice) (uncredited)
- Gulliver's Travels (1996) as Professor of Light
- The Portrait of a Lady (1996) as Mr. Touchett
- Hamlet (1996) as Priam
- Looking for Richard (1996) as Self - Interviewee
- Shine (1996) as Cecil Parkes
- The Leopard Son (1996) as Narrator
- First Knight (1995) as Oswald
- Haunted (1995) as Dr Henry Doyle
- Stick with Me, Kid (1995) as Grandpa
- The Thomas The Tank Engine Man (1995) as Self (Voice)
- Scarlett (1994) as Pierre Robillard
- A Summer Day's Dream (1994)
- Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties (1993) as Self
- Shining Through (1992) as Sunflower
- The Power of One (1992) as St. John
- A Walk Through Prospero's Library (1992) as Prospero
- Swan Song (1992) as Svetlovidov
- Performance (1991) as Stephen Dawlish
- The Strauss Dynasty (1991) as Drechsler
- The Strauss Dynasty (1991) as Drechsler
- Prospero's Books (1991) as Prospero
- Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991) as Self (archive footage)
- The Best of Friends (1991) as Sydney Cockerell
- A TV Dante (Cantos 9 to 14) (1991) as Virgil (voice)
- A TV Dante (1990) as Virgil
- Strike It Rich (1990) as Herbert Dreuther
- Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond (1990) as Self
- Rabbit Ears - The Emperor's New Clothes (1990) as Narrator (voice)
- Summer's Lease (1989) as Haverford Downs
- Getting It Right (1989) as Sir Gordon Munday
- Barbablù, Barbablù (1989) as Barbablù
- War and Remembrance (1988) as Aaron Jastrow
- Appointment with Death (1988) as Colonel Carbury
- Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) as Hobson
- A Man for All Seasons (1988) as Cardinal Wolsey
- In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton (1988) as Self
- Inspector Morse (1987) as Lord Hinksey
- Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville (1987) as British Lord
- Quartermaine's Terms (1987) as Eddie Loomis
- Lovejoy (1986) as Lord Wakering
- The Canterville Ghost (1986) as Sir Simon de Canterville
- The Whistle Blower (1986) as Sir Adrian Chappie
- Theban Plays: Antigone (1986) as Tiresias
- Time After Time (1986) as Jasper Swift
- Theban Plays: Oedipus the King (1986) as Tieresias
- Screen Two (1985) as Eddie Loomis
- Screen Two (1985) as Jasper Swift
- Plenty (1985) as Sir Leonard Darwin
- To Be Hamlet (1985) as Self
- Romance on the Orient Express (1985) as Theodore Woodward
- The Shooting Party (1985) as Cornelius Cardew
- Leave All Fair (1985) as John Middleton Murry
- The Far Pavilions (1984) as Cavagnari
- Six Centuries of Verse (1984) as Self - Presenter
- Camille (1984) as Duke de Charles
- The Master of Ballantrae (1984) as Lord Durrisdeer
- Scandalous (1984) as Uncle Willie
- Frankenstein (1984) as De Lacey
- James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate (1984) as Self - on the set of 'The Shooting Party' (uncredited)
- The Wicked Lady (1983) as Hogarth
- The Scarlet and the Black (1983) as Pope Pius XII
- Wagner (1983) as Pfistermeister
- Invitation to the Wedding (1983)
- Marco Polo (1982) as Doge di Venezia
- Gandhi (1982) as Lord Irwin
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) as Charmolue
- Inside the Third Reich (1982) as Albert Speer Sr.
- Laurence Olivier: a life (1982) as Self
- The Critic (1982) as Lord Burleigh
- Brideshead Revisited (1981) as Edward 'Ned' Ryder
- Arthur (1981) as Hobson
- Chariots of Fire (1981) as Master of Trinity
- Lion of the Desert (1981) as Sharif El Gariani
- Sphinx (1981) as Abdu-Hamdi
- Priest of Love (1981) as Herbert G. Muskett
- Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery (1981) as Marquis of Caterhan
- The Elephant Man (1980) as Carr Gomm
- Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980) as Reverend Jones
- The Conductor (1980) as John Lasocki
- The Formula (1980) as Dr. Abraham Esau
- Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as Jelks
- Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as Cyril Boggis
- Caligula (1979) as Nerva
- Murder by Decree (1979) as Prime Minister
- The Human Factor (1979) as Brigadier Tomlinson
- The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978) as Chorus
- The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978) as John of Gaunt
- Les Misérables (1978) as Gillenormand
- No Man's Land (1978) as Spooner
- Romeo and Juliet (1978) as Chorus
- Richard II (1978) as John of Gaunt
- Providence (1977) as Clive Langham
- Joseph Andrews (1977) as The Doctor
- Heartbreak House (1977) as Captain Shotover
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977) as The Preacher
- The Grand Inquisitor (1977) as Inquisitor
- Second City Television (1976) as Self
- Aces High (1976) as Headmaster
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976) as Lord Henry Wotton
- Peter Pan (1976) as Narrator
- Galileo (1975) as The Old Cardinal
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974) as Mr. Beddoes
- Gold (1974) as Farrell
- QB VII (1974) as Clinton-Meek
- Frankenstein: The True Story (1974) as Chief Constable
- 11 Harrowhouse (1974) as Meecham
- Lost Horizon (1973) as Chang
- Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) as Chief Constable
- William: The Life, Works and Times of William Shakespeare (1973) as Various
- ABC Afterschool Special (1972) as Various Roles
- Home (1972) as Harry
- Eagle in a Cage (1972) as Lord Sissal
- Probe (1972) as Harold L. Streeter
- Great Performances (1971) as Self
- Film '72 (1971) as Self
- Play for Today (1970) as Harry
- Menace (1970) as Frederick William Densham
- Julius Caesar (1970) as Julius Caesar
- Hamlet (1970) as The Ghost
- Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) as Count Leopold Von Berchtold
- The Dick Cavett Show (1968) as Self - Guest
- The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) as Lord Raglan
- The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) as The Elder Pope
- Assignment to Kill (1968) as Curt Valayan
- Sebastian (1968) as Head of Intelligence
- From Chekhov with Love (1968) as Anton Chekhov
- The Love Song of Barney Kempinski (1968) as Rich Man
- Omnibus (1967) as Self
- Romeo and Juliet (1967) as Chorus
- October Revolution (1967) as Narrator (voice)
- ABC Stage 67 (1966) as Rich Man
- Ivanov (1966) as Nikolai ivanov
- Ivanov (1966) Director
- Alice in Wonderland (1966) as Mock Turtle
- The Mayfly and the Frog (1966) as Gabriel Quantara
- Ages of Man (1966)
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Chorus
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as The Inquisitor
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Charles II
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Lord Henry 'Harry' Wotton
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Capt. Shotover
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Lord Burleigh
- Thirty-Minute Theatre (1965) as The Writer
- Chimes at Midnight (1965) as Henry IV
- The Loved One (1965) as Sir Francis Hinsley
- The Wednesday Play (1964) as Gabriel Quantara
- Hamlet (1964) as Ghost (voice)
- Hamlet (1964) Director
- Becket (1964) as King Louis VII of France
- To Die in Madrid (1963) as Narrator (English version) (voice)
- The Cherry Orchard (1962) as Gaev
- The Cherry Orchard (1962) Writer
- The Bell Telephone Hour (1959) as Self
- The Big Party (1959) as Self
- The Immortal Land (1958)
- Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957) as Self
- Saint Joan (1957) as Earl of Warwick
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957) as Edward Moulton-Barrett
- Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as Foster
- Richard III (1955) as George, Duke of Clarence
- ITV Opening Night at the Guildhall (1955) as John Worthing, JP
- Romeo and Juliet (1954) as Chorus
- Hamlet: The Actor's View (1954) as Self
- Julius Caesar (1953) as Cassius
- Ariel’s Song / Full Fathom Five (1953) as Narrator
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as The Ghost
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Charmolue
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Lord Durrisdeer
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Duke
- The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) as Self
- A Diary for Timothy (1945) as Hamlet
- The Prime Minister (1941) as Disraeli
- An Airman's Letter to His Mother (1941) as Narrator
- Heredity in Man (1937) as Self
- Secret Agent (1936) as Richard Ashenden / Edgar Brodie
- The Good Companions (1933) as Inigo Jollifant
- Insult (1932) as Henri Dubois
- The Clue of the New Pin (1929) as Rex Trasmere
- Who Is the Man? (1924) as Daniel
Frequently Asked Questions
What movies or TV shows is John Gielgud best known for?
John Gielgud is widely recognized for notable roles and projects including Merlin (1998), Quest for Camelot (1998), Elizabeth (1998), A Dance to the Music of Time (1997).
When and where was John Gielgud born?
John Gielgud was born on April 14, 1904 in London, England. They passed away on May 21, 2000.
How many credits does John Gielgud have?
John Gielgud has accumulated over 198 film and television credits across a career spanning from 1924 to 2018.
What is John Gielgud's background in cinema and television?
John Gielgud was an English actor, director, and producer. Born on April 14, 1904, in London, England, he was a descendant of the Terry acting family. Gielgud achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive performance in a production of Hamlet, which broke box office records on Broadway i...
John Gielgud by the numbers
198credits
147films
51TV series
1924–2018active years
Age in their best-rated roles
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as The Ghost — aged about 47
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Charmolue — aged about 47
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Lord Durrisdeer — aged about 47
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Duke — aged about 47
- Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) as Chief Constable — aged about 69
- The Elephant Man (1980) as Carr Gomm — aged about 76
What viewers say
No comments yet. Be the first to share your take on John Gielgud.