Guinness was a member of the Old Vic group organized by John Gielgud in the early 1930s, which also included, among others, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quayle, and Peggy Ashcroft.
Had his first speaking role on the professional stage in the melodrama "Queer Cargo" (he did not appear in the film). At the age of 20, the tyro actor played a Chinese coolie in the first act, a French pirate in Act 2 and a British sailor in Act 3, a foreshadowing of the shape-shifting he would do in his cinema career, where he once played as many as eight roles in a single film (Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)).
Has appeared in six David Lean movies. In them, he has portrayed Englishmen, an Arab, a Russian and an Indian.
Has been succeeded in two of his roles by actors from Trainspotting (1996). Guinness portrayed Adolf Hitler in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). Robert Carlyle portrayed Adolf Hitler in Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV), while Ewan McGregor succeeded him in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
He is buried in Petersfield Cemetery, Hampshire.
He made his final stage appearance at the Comedy Theatre in London on May 30, 1989, in a production called "A Walk in the Woods", where he played a Russian diplomat.
He was awarded CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1955 Queen's Honours List for his services to drama.
He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1959 Queen's Honours List and awarded Companion of Honour in the 1994 Queen's Honours List for his services to drama.
He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Special Award in 1989 (1988 season) for his outstanding contributions to West End Theatre.
He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.
He was one of the last surviving members of a great generation of British actors, which included Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson.
He was voted third in the Orange Film 2001 survey of greatest British film actors.
His favourite hotel in London was the Connaught, in which he always stayed whenever visiting the city.
His films were studied by Ewan McGregor in preparation for his role as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) to ensure accuracy in everything from his accent to the pacing of his words.
His name is an anagram of "genuine class".
His widow, Merula, died on October 17, 2000, just two months after her husband.
In certain prints of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a film in which he won the Oscar for Best Actor, his last name is misspelled "Guiness."
In his autobiographical volumes, Guinness wrote about an incident at the Old Vic when, in the company of National Theater (which originally played at the Old Vic) artistic director Laurence Olivier in the basement of the theater, he asked where a certain tunnel went. Olivier didn't really know but confidently decided to take the tunnel as it must come out somewhere nearby, it being part of the Old Vic. In reality, the tunnel went under the Thames, and they were rescued after several hours of fruitless navigation of the dark, damp corridor. Guinness remarked that Olivier's willingness to plunge into the dark and unknown was characteristic of the type of person (and actor) he was. As for himself as an actor, Guinness lamented at times that he didn't take enough chances.
In his last book of memoirs, "A Positively Final Appearance", he expressed a devotion to the television series "The Simpsons" (1989).
In the last year of his life, Sir Alec had been receiving hospital treatment for failing eyesight due to glaucoma, and he had been diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer in January 2000. By the time his liver cancer was discovered in July 2000, it was at an extremely advanced stage, making surgery impossible.