Private funeral for Alec Guinness

Close friends and family of Sir Alec Guinness yesterday gathered to pay their last respects to the actor at a private funeral…

Close friends and family of Sir Alec Guinness yesterday gathered to pay their last respects to the actor at a private funeral service in his local church.

Screen veteran Sir John Mills and actor Keith Baxter were among the small group of mourners at St Lawrence's Catholic Church, Petersfield, Hampshire.

A spokeswoman said afterwards: "Sir Alec's funeral was a very low-key and private affair, for family and very close friends only, and at his request there will be no memorial service."

The funeral came five days after Sir Alec died, aged 86, at the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, West Sussex.

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He had suffered ill-health for several years and had undergone cataract surgery to restore his sight badly affected by chronic glaucoma. And true to his wish for privacy, there will be no official memorial service to celebrate his life and work.

During a career stretching back more than 60 years, he firmly established himself as one of the all-time greats of British cinema.

A two-times Oscar winner, his raft of memorable character roles included those of an obsessive wartime army officer in The Bridge On The River Kwai and Fagin in the black-and-white version of Oliver Twist.

His famously chameleonic skills were put to the test in such classic Ealing comedies as The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob and particularly Kind Hearts And Coronets, in which he played eight roles.

But to later generations he is probably best known as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three Star Wars films.

Sir Alec, who had been battling a long illness, left a wife of 62 years, playwright Merula Salaman, and son Matthew.