Actors and film-makers today paid tribute to Sir Alec Guinness, the British double Oscar winner who died at the age of 86 in hospital on Saturday.

Sir Alec, one of a generation of actors that included Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson, had reportedly suffered a long illness. He was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst, West Sussex by ambulance on Thursday after a routine call from his GP.

Consultant Dr Jenny Masding, a palliative care specialist at the hospital, who treated Sir Alec at the end, said he died at 9.50pm on Saturday. "His death is a real loss," she said.

Film-maker Ronald Neame, who produced the versions of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations starring Sir Alec, said he was shattered by the news. "He was one of the all-time greats of both stage and screen. Professionally and personally he was one of my greatest friends," he said. "He taught me more about acting than anybody else I have ever met or am likely to meet."

Sir Alec's acting career spanned 60 years and ranged from Shakespearian classics to Ealing comedies, and, of course, his acclaimed television portrayal of the spymaster George Smiley. His performance as the colonel in Bridge on the River Kwai (1959) won him an Oscar and led to a knighthood in the same year.

Obi-Wan Kenobi gave Sir Alec a role in Star Wars, one of the most successful films of all time, but the veteran actor professed to despise all the attention it brought him. In later years, Sir Alec said he threw away all Star Wars fan mail unopened, despite the 2% cut of the director's gross royalties he received from the blockbuster film. "He was one of the most talented and respected actors of his generation and brought an amazing range and versatility to his work," said Star Wars creator George Lucas. In 1980, he was awarded a second Oscar for his outstanding contribution to screen acting.

The son of a banker, Sir Alec always wanted to be an actor as a boy and often walked three miles from his home in Bayswater, central London, to the Old Vic to spend his pocket money watching performances there.

Fellow actor Sir John Mills said:"He was first of all, as you know, a very, very great actor but he was very, very retiring, shy, very charming and he had great humility."

Sir Alec leaves behind his wife of 62 years, playwright Merula Salaman, and son Matthew.