Alec Guinness receiving an Honorary Oscar®

I'd like to say a few words for Alec Guinness first of all he's English he was born April 2nd 1950 it shows you what kind of a character actor he is his first professional appearance was on the stage 20 years later on his birthday April 2nd he was discovered by John Gielgud and he worked at the Old Vic and he did Hamlet amongst the score of other stage performances he went into the service and served in the Second World War and he came out and he created and adapted himself Charles Dickens great expectations and performed Herbert pocket on the stage on the West End David Lean saw the performance and cast him in his first film which was great expectations followed by Oliver Twist and of course the Lavender Hill mob Kind Hearts and Coronets The Ladykillers the horse's mouth the bridge on the river kwai it was my great privilege to view half of his films in the last couple weeks and to watch his work is to be a student of him he is a painter actor he is what I think all actors strive to be at rehearsal yesterday I met him for the first time and I like a fool asked him what his favorite performances were and he looked at me like an interviewer like looking at an interviewer who didn't have an appointment and he said I don't have any favorites I wish the hell I didn't make any of them I think if you're an actor you know what he's talking about I think that dissatisfaction with his work is part of the things that has made him strive and find new faces I think it was Laurence Olivier who once said the best of us have only five characters running around inside of his Alec Guinness has proven that otherwise it's a great great honor to introduce him and give him this Lifetime Achievement Award I know of no other film actor in the history of film who has touched this man's work and it is a great tribute to introduce him to you - to Herbert pocket to mr. Feigin - those kernels Jacques Sinclair and the characters that he played in the other films - yevgraf Avago to Ebenezer Scrooge - the entire Des Moines family - the professor in The Ladykillers - Benedict Boniface - Charles the first that's amongst 13 of 39 films that he has done he has a few more in him I love his work I hope that you'll join and welcome him Alec Guinness thank you very much ladies and gentlemen and thank you mr. Hoffman from your over generous words and all that deep research work you did it's five weeks ago that I had a telegram from the Academy telling me they were doing me this great honor so I've had the time to recover from the shock but I don't think I will ever have time to get over my amazement and my delight there isn't time for me to thank everyone directors writers fellow actors who've made my life such a happy one including those wonderful Hollywood stars who were my heroes when I was a youth you know when I was a drama student forty-seven years ago I think they used to be a formidable lady who came to take classes of what she called film technique and she arrived with a large wooden frame about four foot square which she placed in front of our faces saying it was a close-up and then shibata's show fear anger joy despair and I quickly learned to how to get maybe a laugh or two out of my fellow students and then it dawned on me that if I was seriously going to have a career in movies the wisest thing was to do absolutely nothing at all and that is more or less what I've done since then I feel very fraudulent taking this but not letting any expression pass over my face I I I thank you most sincerely for the warmth of your reception and your great kindness and to Dustin again and I'm grabbing this while the goings good thank you

Channel: Oscars

Views: 502,105

Rating: 4.855402 out of 5

Keywords: academy, ampas, oscar, oscars, 52, 52nd, awards, alec, guinness, honorary, award, dustin, hoffman, star, wars, Obi-Wan, Kenobi, Oliver, Twist

Id: tVhxDR4lg8o

Length: 7min 30sec (450 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 13 2008