Sir Alec Guiness’ role in Stratford’s history cemented with blue plaque at 108 Mornington St.
- Connor Luczka
- Oct 23
- 3 min read
CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sir Alec Guiness may be well-known around the world as the generational actor that helmed such great films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars, but he is also a key figure in Stratford’s history – and recently that local legacy has been entrenched.
On Oct. 18, Heritage Stratford, an advisory committee for the City of Stratford, presented a historical blue plaque at 108 Mornington St. in honour of Guiness and the home he once stayed in.
The home was built in 1876 as the rectory for St. James Anglican Church. By the 50s it was home to Rev. Francis G. Lightbourne and his wife Marion Lightbourne. It was also where Guiness stayed when he was here for the inaugural season of the Stratford Festival.
Guiness was born in 1914 in Maida Vale London, England and got his first theatre job in 1934, playing in a series of plays at the Old Vic, a prominent theatre house in the U.K., throughout the 1930s – including taking on multiple Shakespeare roles.
During the Second World War he served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, being involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily, and returned to theatre after (and even during) the war.
He continued at the Old Vic, but it was at this time that his profile exploded internationally. His film career began with such classics as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia.
In 1953, Tyrone Guthrie invited Guiness to perform as the titular character of Richard III in the Stratford Festival’s first season. Famously, Guiness spoke the very first lines of the festival when he walked out and opened the production: “Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York.” Not only did those words open the show, but they opened an over-70-year legacy of world-class Shakespeare being performed in Stratford.
Resident Georgina Cameron shared her memory of Guiness, as relayed by Heritage Stratford. She was a child in the summer of 1953 and often played with friends at the Optimist Playground. Each day, a man with an unassuming Canadian accent would walk by and chat with them. None of them knew who he was until they went to see a film and recognized him as Guiness. Cameron can still remember her friends’ faces in the cinema, once they realized just who that man was.
Following that first season, Guiness continued his career stateside and back in the U.K. In 1959, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his service to the arts. He stared in Star Wars in 1977, introducing him to a whole new generation. He passed away Aug. 5, 2000.
On Sept. 27, legendary Canadian novelist Timothy Findley was honoured with a blue plaque at 72 Ontario St. Findley was also a member of the 1953 Stratford Festival season, where he first met and performed opposite to Guiness. Guiness would become a mentor to him over the years, even after he stopped acting to focus on writing.
Barb Cottle, a member of Heritage Stratford, said that the fact Findley and Guiness were honoured in the same year was serendipitous, given their past together.
“It was entirely a coincidence,” Cottle said. “I was so pleased as I did the research and discovered the connection. It seemed so nice to honour them together.”
Heritage Stratford typically bestows blue plaques every two years, though the scheduling has been less structured since the COVID-19 pandemic. While the committee normally puts out an open call for suggestions, there have been so many great suggestions that Heritage Stratford is still working through past responses – though Cottle noted that residents are welcome to send suggestions to the City of Stratford and Heritage Stratford.
To learn more about Guiness, a page and short documentary video will be posted on the City of Stratford’s website. Once posted, it can be found at https:// www.stratford.ca/en/live-here/blueplaque-program.aspx.
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