John Gielgud

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 - 21 May 2000) was an English actor, director and producer, who narrated the first twelve books of The Railway Series on "The Noel Edmonds Show" for BBC Radio 1. He is best known for his Academy Award winning role of Hobson from the 1981 comedy movie Arthur, starring Dudley Moore.

Biography

A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and particularly for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec Guinness likened to "a silver trumpet muffled in silk". Gielgud is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award. He narrated books one to twelve of the Railway Series for The Noel Edmonds Show on BBC Radio 1. Part of his narrations were also used for Nicholas Jones' The Thomas the Tank Engine Man Documentary playing over the artwork.

He died on 21 May 2000, aged 96 due to respiratory infection and was cremated at Oxford Crematorium.

Books

Trivia

John's radio recordings were not released to the public on CD or cassette format after their original airing, but were repeated on digital radio around 2000. Currently, his recordings are only available for public hearing in the British Library of London.
- In 2020, 26 of his recordings surfaced online.
John improvised the first name “Derek” for Sir Topham Hatt I, the only Fat Controller whose first name was never revealed.

Gallery

The Railway Series

Writers		Wilbert Awdry \| Christopher Awdry \| George Awdry \| Brian Sibley
Illustrators		William Middleton \| Reginald Payne \| C. Reginald Dalby \| John T. Kenney \| Gunvor and Peter Edwards \| Clive Spong \| Stephen Lings
Publishers		Edmund Ward \| Kaye & Ward \| William Heinemann \| Egmont Publishing \| Random House Books
Narrators		Wilbert Awdry \| Johnny Morris \| Willie Rushton \| Ted Robbins \| John Gielgud \| Andrew Sachs \| Michael Angelis
Characters		Railway Series characters \| Railway Series-exclusive characters \| Awdry-created characters
Other		The Sad Story of Henry (1953) \| The Railway Stories \| Eric Marriott
Books	W.A.	The Three Railway Engines \| Thomas the Tank Engine \| James the Red Engine \| Tank Engine Thomas Again \| Troublesome Engines \| Henry the Green Engine \| Toby the Tram Engine \| Gordon the Big Engine \| Edward the Blue Engine \| Four Little Engines \| Percy the Small Engine \| The Eight Famous Engines \| Duck and the Diesel Engine \| The Little Old Engine \| The Twin Engines \| Branch Line Engines \| Gallant Old Engine \| Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine \| Mountain Engines \| Very Old Engines \| Main Line Engines \| Small Railway Engines \| Enterprising Engines \| Oliver the Western Engine \| Duke the Lost Engine \| Tramway Engines \| ~~Really Useful Engines~~
	C.A.	Really Useful Engines \| James and the Diesel Engines \| Great Little Engines \| More About Thomas the Tank Engine \| Gordon the High-Speed Engine \| Toby, Trucks and Trouble \| Thomas and the Twins \| Jock the New Engine \| Thomas and the Great Railway Show \| Thomas Comes Home \| Henry and the Express \| Wilbert the Forest Engine \| Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines \| New Little Engine \| Thomas and Victoria \| Thomas and his Friends \| ~~Barry the Rescue Engine~~
	Other	Thomas's Christmas Party \| Thomas Comes to Breakfast \| Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree \| Thomas and the Evil Diesel \| Thomas and Gordon Off the Rails \| Thomas and the Hurricane \| Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection \| Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection \| Annuals \| Mini Books \| Pop-up Books
	Companion	Twelve Happy Engines \| The Railway Series: Surprise Packet \| Railway Map of the Island of Sodor \| The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways \| The Thomas the Tank Engine Man \| Sodor: Reading Between the Lines

John Gielgud

Contents

Biography

Books

Trivia

Gallery

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