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THE DEATH OF SIR JOHN GIELGUD on May 21, 2000 marks the end of a remarkable era in theater history. The last of the great kings of classical theater, especially the plays of Shakespeare, died at the age of 96 with more than seventy years of acting behind him-and even performing in a film completed a few months before his death. The occasion: a film version of Samuel Beckett's play, Catastrophe, directed by David Mamet, in which Harold Pinter also appears. This coming together of Gielgud and Beckett makes a comment on the extraordinary changes in theater history. Gielgud was asked, back in 1958, to play in the British premiere of Beckett's Endgame. Not only did he refuse the offer, but he voiced his strong objection to the play-"I couldn't find anything I liked in the play.... it nauseates me." Because he found Beckett's masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, to be "sordid and pessimistic," he dissuaded his friend and fellow-actor, Ralph Richardson, from appearing in it, much to Richardson's later regret, having lost the opportunity to perform in "the greatest play of our time," to use Richardson's words. Gielgud himself was filled with regret that he spoke those harsh anti-Beckett words, years later admitting that he was wrong. As the gods would have it, this time not the classical gods, Gielgud, at the very limit of life, performed the nonspeaking role of Protagonist in Beckett's Catastrophe; he remains silent throughout, with his face containing and revealing all. So, the last performance of our great classical actor, the one whose voice captivated audiences, was a performance without voice. Gielgud moved from an early overly-eloquent style of delivery to such remarkable artistry that he was acclaimed the Shakespeare actor of our time to, finally, the silence of Beckett. This is a process that began in the Edwardian era and ended in the avant-garde theater of today. His career and accomplishment must give us pause; someone who deserves close critical attention and deep appreciation has left the scene.
Of course, an actor's accomplishment is his performance, and this must be witnessed to be fully appreciated. Regrettably, most of us will not have seen Gielgud at his greatest, during the 1930's and 40's and 50's, when Gielgud was considered to...