Sir Alec Guinness: 1914 2000.
A Tribute.
It took me a long time to decide how to do this
piece. How can I eulogize someone who has meant so
much to so many? Ultimately, I decided a short,
subtle approach would best suit Sir Alec Guinness, the
Man Who Was Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Of course, he¹d have preferred it if no one had ever
mentioned that name or anything having to do with Star
Wars ever again. It¹s not that Guinness hated Star
Wars or regretted taking on the role of the greatest
Jedi Knight that ever lived. Rather, he hated the
undue attention he received for the part. Credit
where Star Wars was concerned, Guinness thought, was
more deserved by George Lucas and the creative teams
behind that Alpha and Omega of a film. Mostly humble,
occasionally self-promoting, and dashed with a hint of
high-minded British pomp, Guinness preferred his older
films for the opportunities they gave him to flex his
muscles as an actor. And who could blame him? A
classically trained actor with more talent in his left
ear than all of this current generation of
twenty-something ³artists² combined, his skill on
stage and in front of a camera redefined what it meant
to be an actor, and routinely sent his peers home
feeling inadequate, insubstantial. He was, simply
put, a magnificent performer with a subtle approach
and an understated charm that beguiled audiences of
every generation privileged to bear witness to his
work. For me, it was always his voice, and the
boundless talent he had for using that voice to
deliver lines perfectly. Guinness always knew exactly
how a line should be said, and his confidence in that
radiated off him with such power you thought the
actors performing alongside him might well be bowled
right over.
But in my heart, and the hearts of all the Dairy
Farmers, he shall always be (apologies, Sir Alec)
Obi-Wan Kenobi. Who better to play the aging,
burdened Jedi at last facing his destiny than
Guinness? In nineteen years I¹ve not been able to
come up with an answer, and neither, it seems, was
George Lucas. Guinness played Kenobi with the same
transcendent strength and unwavering dignity as all
his roles, but in playing a character unlike any he¹d
ever attempted before, and in a genre that is mocked
as often as it is praised, Guinness injected a new
level of meaning and respect into the world of science
fiction and fantasy, making it more recognized, more
significant. I shall never forget the first time
Guinness pulled off the hood of the wizened Jedi¹s
face and gave us a glimpse into the futureŠand the
past. I will never fail to smile when Kenobi¹s
luminescent spirit emerges from the swamps of Dagobah,
reminding Luke Skywalker ³Yoda will always be with
you.² I will cheer every time Kenobi effortlessly
decapitates Ponda Baba in the Mos Eisley Cantina. I
get a warm feeling in my heart every time Return of
the Jedi ends and Obi-Wan stands proudly beside Yoda
and Anakin, immersed in the light side of the Force.
And I still get chills every time his voice booms in
Luke¹s head at the climax of A New Hope: ³Remember,
Luke the Force will be with you. Always.² All this
because of Sir Alec Guinness. When he died, a little
piece of Obi-Wan Kenobi died as well, and things will
never be quite the same again. His passing drives a
dagger in the hearts of all of us. We shall miss you,
Sir Alec. Safe journey, and thank you.
---
John Paige
8.18.2000
Dairy Farmers For Quebec's Independence