It was a replay, but the first time I had heard the segment of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" that included Carrie Fisher. Funniest anecdote... she said that once on set Alec Guinness paid Mark Hamill a 20-pound note just to go away. Apparently Mark was driving Alec crazy asking a lot of questions about his career.
"Close the blast doors!"
Puggo’s website | Rescuing Star Wars
Man, that's a sad story. I've heard a number of things about Alec Guinness that don't really paint him in a flattering light, and this doesn't help.
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
bkev said:
Man, that's a sad story. I've heard a number of things about Alec Guinness that don't really paint him in a flattering light, and this doesn't help.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.
I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!
—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3
I can see Guinness being on the set, having starred in so many great movies, thinking to himself, "WTF am I doing here with this young scrapper of a director on this rubbish film?"
“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”
Mark pesters Alec for details about his career, driving Alec to pay Mark to stop the pestering and go away.
Star Wars is released, followed eventually by TESB and ROTJ.
Many fans and gradual viewers alike grow up to associate Alec primarily/soley with Obi-Wan/Star Wars, deemphasizing all the other roles he's played in the decades preceeding the trilogy.
Is this, or is this not, an example of karmic justice? I leave that question up for you to decide.
Lucas had a good reputation after the success of American Graffiti. Guinness stated in the original making of ESB book that he signed on to Star Wars primarily because of meeting with George, and feeling that he could trust this young director.
Hamill has discussed how he annoyed "Sir Alec" on the set in the past.
Where were you in '77?
DuracellEnergizer said:
Mark pesters Alec for details about his career, driving Alec to pay Mark to stop the pestering and go away.
Star Wars is released, followed eventually by TESB and ROTJ.
Many fans and gradual viewers alike grow up to associate Alec primarily/soley with Obi-Wan/Star Wars, deemphasizing all the other roles he's played in the decades preceeding the trilogy.
Is this, or is this not, an example of karmic justice? I leave that question up for you to decide.
You forgot making more money than any other role in his career, which probably eased the pain of not getting residuals for all the Ealing comedies he did.
Where were you in '77?
oh big deal,
so he get's annoyed.
like that never happened to a lot of people,
and actors before.
i'm sure they got over it.
later
-1
[no GOUT in CED?-> GOUT CED]
I read a story in Empire magazine when TPM came out about how Alec Guiness, after being approached by a young fan, boasting he'd seen star wars over 100 times, told to said fan to promise him one thing - never watch star wars again.
What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.
Yeah, Sir Guinness must have been having a really bad day when he did that. Maybe if the kid had said Lawrence of Arabia? ;)
Where were you in '77?
DuracellEnergizer said:
Mark pesters Alec for details about his career, driving Alec to pay Mark to stop the pestering and go away.
Star Wars is released, followed eventually by TESB and ROTJ.
Many fans and gradual viewers alike grow up to associate Alec primarily/soley with Obi-Wan/Star Wars, deemphasizing all the other roles he's played in the decades preceeding the trilogy.
Is this, or is this not, an example of karmic justice? I leave that question up for you to decide.
Haha, good point. I think he just got grumpy like many old men do.
There are many stories about him being a little more elitist. Like when signing photographs with Dave Prowse, who always puts Dave Prowse is Darth Vader on them, Guinness puts a question mark there and has written Alec Guinness is Alec Guinness.
And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.
Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:
once on set Alec Guinness paid Mark Hamill a 20-pound note just to go away. Apparently Mark was driving Alec crazy asking a lot of questions about his career.
Mavimao said:
I read a story in Empire magazine when TPM came out about how Alec Guiness, after being approached by a young fan, boasting he'd seen star wars over 100 times, told to said fan to promise him one thing - never watch star wars again.
LexX said:
when signing photographs with Dave Prowse, who always puts Dave Prowse is Darth Vader on them, Guinness puts a question mark there and has written Alec Guinness is Alec Guinness.
I don't see any of this as Alec being an ass. I think all of these little stories are very funny! Was Mark upset about the incident? I'd think he, as a young eager actor, would found it as funny as anyone else would. Did the kid with no life really take offense to Alec's words and stop being a Star Wars fan? Or did he realize that it takes no effort to watch a film 100 times and is therefore nothing to boast about? And the autograph thing is just awesome. What is there to upset about there?
Yeah, it sounds to me like Alec Guiness was a quality, respectable actor who did a silly movie for money. He didn't enjoy dealing with pestering younger actors, and he really got tired of obsessive fans knowing him from this one role, instead of any of the more serious roles from his career which he actually enjoyed. So what?
I think these stories are hilarious and are quite British in their cruel/funny kind of way.
What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.
georgec said:
I can see Guinness being on the set, having starred in so many great movies, thinking to himself, "WTF am I doing here with this young scrapper of a director on this rubbish film?"
From what I can recall Sir Alec was very sympathetic towards Lucas and admired his energy.
It's easy to forget just how nuts Star Wars mania got.
He got a letter (from America but it could have come from anywhere to be honest) begging him to marry a couple of lovebirds in full Jedi costume.
On the filpside I doubt he would have been able to self finance a two part adaptation of Little Dorrit without Star Wars.
Many of his new fans were drawn to his older non-Star Wars material through 'that role'.
Any friend of Edith Sitwell is bound to be a bit of a drama queen from time to time but he did well out of signing that contract.
Guinness mentioned those kooky letters in the ESB book. Specifically, one couple wanted Obi Wan to move in and help with their relationship problems. He stated many of these sort of letters came from California. ;)
On the flip side of the same coin, Dave Prowse used to get steamy letters from female fans who wanted a personal dark side seduction from Vader, if you know what I mean...
Where were you in '77?
I remember reading about Sir Alec being interviewed on an American chatshow and being pressured into saying that famous line... you know....
only to say, "May The Force Be With You" instead (was it David Letterman who is the only person to want a quote from Hitler The Last Ten Days?).
ray_afraid said:
I don't see any of this as Alec being an ass. I think all of these little stories are very funny!
I don't think anyone here thinks he was being an ass? I think the stories are funny, too, but I rarely see any stories where he has something positive to say about SW or SW fans.
And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.
I guess I should clarify what I meant by that. I take no issue with Sir Alec Guinness' resentment of Star Wars; in fact, I understand it. I take issue with stories that make him out to be a pompous individual, such as the one in the OP of this thread where he pays Mark Hamill to go away. What's interesting is that stories like this really contrast with official statements, wherein everyone involved is candid about his distaste for the films but states that he was professional throughout filming nonetheless. Paying someone to go away doesn't sound professional to me!
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
Zoinks, Scoob!
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
Uh, oh! Double post!
A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.
I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!
—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3
AntcuFaalb said:
Uh, oh! Double post!
don't you mean,
'ruh roh', scooby!
later
-1
[no GOUT in CED?-> GOUT CED]
negative1 said:
AntcuFaalb said:
Uh, oh! Double post!
don't you mean,
'ruh roh', scooby!
later
-1
A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.
I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!
—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3
Speaking of Carrie Fisher...
Have any of you heard about this recent discovery? http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Did-I-Really-See-That/post/601025/#TopicPost601025
See Post #12 for more details.
;)
A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.
I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!
—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3
If Hamill was anything close as annoying as when he was whinging about those damn power converters at Toschi station... I fully understand Mr. Guinness... hehe