The success of "Stars Wars" owes its colossal heights in no small measure to Obi Wan Kenobi, the character portrayed by Sir Alec Guinness. The original "Star Wars" trilogy, in which Guinness played Kenobi — Luke Skywalker's mentor and one of the most prominent characters in the history of the franchise — got millions of viewers hooked on to the space opera drama.
Sir Guinness was, of course, no stranger to mass adulation at the time. The actor had already played remarkable roles in "Great Expectations" (1946), "Oliver Twist" (1948), and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Guinness then starred in George Lucas' original "Star Wars" trilogy, making his first appearance as Kenobi in "A New Hope" (1977) — for which he got the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor — followed by the sequels, "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983). Kenobi remains one of the most remembered Star Wars characters ever, and one that's still talked about 15 years after his death.
As the world celebrates the legendary actor's 102nd birth anniversary April 2, here are some of his quotes as Kenobi in "Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope."
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."
When Darth Vader destroyed the planet of Alderaan with his newly constructed weapon, Death Star, Kenobi felt the change in the Force due to the thousands of people killed on the planet. He was on board Han Solo's Millennium Falcon at that time.
"Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
It turned out that Kenobi was right about the spaceport as moments after he and Luke Skywalker entered it, they witnessed Han Solo killing Greedo and their own life in jeopardy, running from the Imperial troops.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for."
This was one of the early scenes where Kenobi first used Jedi's power of the Force. Soon after the movie got released, this particular quote became one of the most classic Star Wars quotes.
"And these blast points, too accurate for sand people. Only imperial storm troopers are so precise"
This quote by Kenobi became the laughing stock for the fans afterwards, as in the sequel movies, Storm Troopers were shown to be very poor in their aiming skills. However, since Kenobi belonged to the era of Clone Troopers, he might have overestimated the skills of the new Storm Troopers.