Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 - 21 May 2000) was an English actor, director and producer, who narrated twenty six stories from the first twelve books of The Railway Series (excluding Toby the Tram Engine and Four Little Engines) on "The Noel Edmonds Show" for BBC Radio 1 from 1981-1982. 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 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
- The Three Railway Engines
- Thomas the Tank Engine (Excluding Thomas and the Trucks)
- James the Red Engine (James and the Bootlace and Troublesome Trucks only)
- Tank Engine Thomas Again
- Troublesome Engines (Trouble in the Shed only)
- Henry the Green Engine (Excluding Percy and the Trousers)
- Gordon the Big Engine (Excluding Down the Mine and Paint Pots and Queens)
- Edward the Blue Engine (Excluding Cows)
- Percy the Small Engine (Percy and Harold only)
- The Eight Famous Engines (Excluding Percy Takes the Plunge and Double Header)
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, all 26 of his recordings surfaced online.
- According to the Evening Post, the BBC planned to release an album of his recordings in 1982, but this never happened.
- In his narration of The Fat Controller's Engines, he adlibs that Sir Charles Topham Hatt's first name was "Derek".
Gallery
