Ian Holm

Ian Holm was born on 12 September 1931 in Goodmayes, Essex, to Scottish parents who worked at the Essex mental asylum. His father was a psychiatrist and his mother was a nurse. He had an older brother who died when Ian was 12 years old. He was educated at the independent Chigwell School in Essex and then at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1950. [2] [3] He began his career on the British stage as a prominent member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing a variety of roles in Shakespeare's plays and other classics. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1967 for his performance as Lenny in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. He also originated the role of Lenny in the film adaptation in 1973. He suffered from acute stage fright during a production of The Iceman Cometh in 1976 and decided to focus on film and television work instead. [4] [5] He made his film debut in The Bofors Gun in 1968, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He received another BAFTA Award and an Academy Award nomination for his role as Sam Mussabini, the athletics trainer in Chariots of Fire in 1981. He also played memorable roles in films such as Alien (1979), Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), Henry V (1989), The Madness of King George (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), The Aviator (2004) and Garden State (2004). He received two Emmy Award nominations for his television roles in King Lear (1998) and The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000). [6] [7] He gained worldwide fame for his role as Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit adventurer in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014). He also voiced Chef Skinner, the antagonist in Pixar's animated film Ratatouille (2007). He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for his services to drama and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989. [8] [9] He was married four times and had five children by different mothers. His last wife was artist Sophie de Stempel, whom he married in 2003. He died peacefully on 19 June 2020 at a hospital in London, surrounded by his family and carer. His illness was related to Parkinson's disease. He was 88 years old. [10] [11]