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Sir Ian Holm CBE (born 12 September, 1931 as Ian Holm Cuthbert), is an English actor.

Background

Holm was born in Goodmayes, Essex, and was educated at Chigwell School and then the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He has been married four times. In 1991 he married, as his third wife, popular actress Penelope Wilton, and they appeared together in The Borrowers (1993) on British television, although in 2001 they divorced.

His son, Barnaby Cuthbert, is also an actor, and his son Harry Holm, is a filmmaker.

In 1989 Holm was created a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to drama, and in 1998 he was knighted.

He was treated a few years ago for prostate cancer, which currently appears to be in complete remission.

Career

Holm was an established star of the Royal Shakespeare Company before making an impact on television and film.

In 1965, Holm played Richard III in the BBCs serialisation of the Wars of the Roses plays, and gradually made a name for himself with minor roles in films such as Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) and Young Winston (1972). By the time of Alien (1979) and Chariots of Fire (1981), he was a major star in the UK, and his reputation also spread to the USA. In 1967, he won a Tony Award for "Best Supporting Actor" playing the role of Lenny in The Homecoming by Harold Pinter.

He continued to perform Shakespeare, and appeared with Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989) and as Polonius to Mel Gibson's Hamlet (1990).

He raised his profile in 1997 with two prominent roles, as the stressed but gentle priest Vito Cornelius in the The Fifth Element and the tormented plaintiff's lawyer in The Sweet Hereafter. In 2001 he starred in From Hell as the physician Sir William Withey Gull. The same year he appeared as Bilbo Baggins in the blockbuster film The Fellowship of the Ring (film), having previously played Bilbo's nephew Frodo Baggins in a 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. He reappeared in the trilogy in The Fellowship of the Ring (film) (2003).

His is one of the most familiar voices in Britain, having been heard in countless TV documentaries and commercials.

Trivia

Holm is a favorite actor of Terry Gilliam, having appeared in Time Bandits and Brazil.

Holm was slated to star in a CBS miniseries titled Pope John Paul II playing the late pontiff, but, on August 14, 2005, decided against it for "personal reasons." The late Pope John Paul II was instead portrayed by Jon Voight.

He has played Napoleon Bonaparte three times. First, in the 1972 television series Napoleon and Love. Next, in a cameo comic rendition, in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits from 1981. He completed the set in 2001 playing the fallen and exiled leader in the fanciful film The Emperor's New Clothes.

Filmography

External links

1931 births | Living people | Alien film series actors | Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominees | British actors | Commanders of the Order of the British Empire | English actors | English film actors | English stage actors | English television actors | British film actors | British stage actors | British television actors | Knights Bachelor | Natives of Essex | Prostate cancer survivors | Royal Shakespeare Company members | The Lord of the Rings film series actors | The Lord of the Rings Radio 4 adaptation actors

Ian Holm | Ian Holm | Ian Holm | Ian Holm | Ian Holm | イアン・ホルム | Ian Holm | Ian Holm | Ian Holm

 

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