Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert, CBE (12 September 1931 - 19 June 2020) was a prolific and versatile Academy Award-nominated English actor.
He began his career as very well-regarded stage actor, before a crippling attack of stage fright in the 1970s caused him to switch to TV and film work for many years (although he quite frequently appeared in film adaptations of stage plays, such as his performances in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989), Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet, and a widely-praised performance in the title role of Richard Eyre's King Lear).
Among Holm's best-known film roles are Alien, Chariots of Fire and The Lord of the Rings. As to the latter, he's probably unique in being the only person to play both Frodo (in the 80s BBC radio adaptation) and Bilbo (in the Peter Jackson film series).
Ian Holm largely retired from acting in 2007 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but despite his failing physical health and memory, he was coaxed out of retirement a few years later by Peter Jackson to give cameo appearances as Old Bilbo in The Hobbit.
Roles
- 1968 A Midsummer Night's Dream as Puck
- 1972 Nicholas and Alexandra as Yakovlev
- 1976 Shout at the Devil as Mohammed
- 1976 Robin and Marian as King John
- 1977 The Man in the Iron Mask as Duval
- 1977 Jesus of Nazareth as Zerah
- 1978 Les Misérables as Thénardier
- 1979 Alien as Ash
- 1979 S.O.S. Useful Notes/Titanic as Bruce Ismay
- 1979 All Quiet on the Western Front (TV) as Himmelstoss
- 1981 Chariots of Fire as Sam Mussabini
- 1981 Time Bandits as Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as Capitain Philippe D'Arnot
- 1985 Brazil as Mr. Kurtzmann
- 1985 The Browning Version as Andrew Crocker-Harris
- 1989 Henry V as Fluellen
- 1990 Hamlet as Polonius
- 1991 Naked Lunch as Tom Frost
- 1991 Kafka as Doctor Murnau
- 1992 The Borrowers as Pod Clock
- 1993 The Hour of the Pig as Albertus
- 1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as Baron Frankenstein
- 1994 The Madness of King George as Francis Willis
- 1996 Loch Ness as Water Baliff
- 1997 A Life Less Ordinary as Naville
- 1997 The Sweet Hereafter as Mitchell Stephens
- 1997 The Fifth Element as Vito Cornelius
- 1997 Incognito as John
- 1998 King Lear as Lear
- 1999 Animal Farm as Squealer
- 1999 eXistenZ as Kiri Vinokur
- 2000 The Miracle Maker as Pontius Pilate
- 2001 From Hell as Sir William Gull
- 2001 The Emperor's New Clothes as Napoléon Bonaparte
- The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as old Bilbo Baggins
- 2004 The Day After Tomorrow as Professor Terry Rapson
- 2004 Garden State as Gideon Largeman
- 2004 The Aviator as Professor Fitz
- 2005 Strangers With Candy as Dr. Putney
- 2005 Lord of War as Simeon Weisz
- 2006 Renaissance as Jonas Muller
- 2007 Ratatouille as Skinner
