English actor and director John Gielgud was BOTD in 1904. Born in London into a theatrical family – his aunt was the celebrated actress Ellen Terry – he began acting professionally in his teens. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he worked at the Old Vic Theatre. He became a theatrical star in the 1930s, praised for the beauty of his voice and his mastery of Shakespearean verse. His interpretations of Romeo, Richard II and Hamlet were highly praised, and he led a popular revival of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. He developed a parallel career as a director, establishing his own theatre company, helping promoting the careers of Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness, Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. He made his screen debut in 1953’s Julius Caesar, opposite Marlon Brando. On his return to England, he was arrested later that year for soliciting gay sex in a public toilet. His career survived, and he was knighted in the same year, but suffered a nervous breakdown. His career waned during the 1950s, as his mannered acting style fell out-of-step with post-war audiences. In 1956, he produced and starred in a one-man show of Shakespearean monologues, The Ages of Man, touring the show internationally for over a decade. In later life, he had unexpected success in film, winning an Oscar in 1982 for playing an acid-tongued butler in the comedy Arthur. Gielgud had a number of discreet affairs with men in his youth, including actor John Perry and the playwright Emlyn Williams, before settling into a long-term relationship with Hungarian actor Martin Hensler, lasting until Hensler’s death in 1999. Gielgud never came out in his lifetime, though made discreet donations to gay charities and expressed admiration for Iggy Pop. He died in 2000, just after his 96th birthday.