Alec Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness CH CBE (April 2, 1914 – August 5, 2000) was an English actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy.
Guinness won an Academy Award with the role of Lt. Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957.
==Biography==
===Original trilogy===
Alec Guinness was born on April 2, 1914. During the casting process for the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, director George Lucas was looking for an actor who brought a certain authority to the role and could be powerful and gentle. Lucas found these qualities in Guinness, who joined the cast because of the film's sense of moral good and the studio's doubling of his initial salary offer. Lucas wanted Kenobi to die, however, Guinness objected to his character's death. Lucas then explained that Kenobi would have little to do after the Millennium Falcon escaped the Death Star, which conviced Guinness to allow the death.The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film Guinness was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. He reprised his role as a force ghost in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Guinness' contract gave him 2.25% of the director's cut. He viewed A New Hope as "fairy-tale rubbish," and he disliked being associated with the role of Kenobi. Despite this, Brian Blessed, an actor who met Guinness many times, stated that Guinness was "madly in love" with the Star Wars films.
===Legacy===
On August 5, 2000, Guinness died from liver cancer at King Edward VII Hospital in England. When Ewan McGregor played Kenobi in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, he came up with the idea for he and the crew to look at pictures of Guinness in A New Hope to bridge the gap between the two actors. Also, his hair and beard were grayed a little bit to get closer to Guinness's portrayal.
Edited audio of Guinness saying the word "afraid" was used for Kenobi to say "Rey" in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.
When Joby Harold was writing the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series, he wanted to understand the story of what happened to Kenobi between McGregor and Guinness' portrayal of him. When McGregor was playing Kenobi, he made it seem like the character would grow up to be Guinness by trying to sound and feel like Guinness, but he didn't want to do an impersonation. To relearn his Kenobi voice, McGregor listened to a sound file that has all of Guinness' lines from A New Hope. McGregor imagined how Guinness would say the lines before filming a scene.
==Works==
===Filmography===
Year	Title 	Series 	Contribution(s)	Notes
1977	Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope 	 	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
1980	Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back	 	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
1983	Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi 	 	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2015	Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens 	 	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	Edited audio
2018	"Luke Skywalker - The Journey Begins" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2018	"Luke vs. the Wampa - Cavern Escape" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2018	"Luke vs. the Death Star - X-wing Assault" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2018	"Han Solo - Galaxy's Best Smuggler" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2019	"Luke Skywalker – Lightsaber Training" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2019	"Jedi vs. Sith - The Skywalker Saga" 	Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
2019	Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker 	 	Obi-Wan Kenobi 	
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Actors who have portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi
Category:Deceased actors
Category:Star Wars original trilogy actors
Category:Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker voice actors
Category:Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens voice actors