Guinness, Alec (1914-2000)

English actor of stage and screen. A versatile performer, he made early appearances in Ealing comedies, notably playing eight parts in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). In 1957 he played Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he won awards including an Academy Award, a New York Critics' award, and a Golden Globe. Other films include The Lavender Hill Mob (1952), The Ladykillers (1955), and Star Wars (1977). He was made a CBE in 1955, knighted in 1959, and made a CH (Companion of Honour) in 1994.