Actor: John Gielgud

John Gielgud was among the three great British classical actors of his generation alongside Olivier and Richardson, and his voice was considered the finest instrument on the English stage.

He won Best Supporting Actor for Arthur, playing a butler delivering insults with perfect diction, which is not what a career in Shakespeare predicts.

He was arrested in 1953 for homosexual solicitation, which was then criminal, and the resulting publicity nearly ended him. He worked until ninety-six, including Prospero’s Books and Chariots of Fire.