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Ian Holm

Ian Holm, one of Britain's most respected and talented actors, starred as Bilbo Baggins in the epic trilogy adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Previously, he starred opposite Johnny Depp and Heather Graham in the Hughes brothers' film From Hell, and in The Emperor's New Clothes, directed by Alan Taylor.

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Holm joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford in the 1950s. He made his theatrical debut with Othello in 1954. His theatrical career spans performances of all of Shakespeare's major works, as well as such classics as The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and The Room.

In 1965 he won the (London) Evening Standard Actor of the Year Award for his stage work in both Henry V and his Broadway debut, The Homecoming. In 1967 he won a Tony Award and a Critics Circle Award for his role in Moonlight. His stunning 1997 performance in the title role of King Lear at the National Theatre won him another Critics Circle Theatre Award, the Olivier Award for Best Actor and the Evening Standard Best Actor (Drama) Award. In 1998, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his services to drama.

Holm's film career highlights include Jack Gold's The Bofors Gun (Holm's film debut, for which he won a 1968 BAFTA [British Academy of Film and Television Arts] Award for Best Supporting Actor); Richard Attenborough's Oh! What A Lovely War and Young Winston; Peter R. Hunt's Shout at the Devil (starring with Lee Marvin and Roger Moore); Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Alien; Hugh Hudson's Academy Award-winning Chariots of Fire (for which Holm received an award at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as a BAFTA Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Alan Bridges' The Return of The Soldier; Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan; Terry Gilliam's fantasies Time Bandits and Brazil; Mike Newell's Dance With A Stranger; Woody Allen's Another Woman; Kenneth Branagh's Henry V; Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (with Mel Gibson); David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch and Existenz; Nicholas Hytner's The Madness of King George (for which Holm received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Sidney Lumet's Night Falls On Manhattan; Luc Besson's The Fifth Element; and Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (for which Holm received a Genie Award for Best Actor, as well as the Toronto Film Critics Association's Best Male Performance Award).

Holm appeared in the religious thriller Bless the Child, starring Kim Basinger. He baffled audiences with the riddle of Joe Gould's Secret, directed by Stanley Tucci, and stood out in the ensemble cast of The Match, directed by Mick Davis. Holm enhanced the story of a good boy falling for a bad girl in Stephen Metcalfe's Beautiful Joe with Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly.

Holm has also had a diverse and successful television career, with notable projects including Franco Zeffirelli's miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, the U.K. miniseries The Borrowers, The Browning Version, After the Party, Game, Set & Match, and Uncle Vanya. The recent National Theatre production of King Lear was also taped for U.S. broadcast on PBS, for which Holm received an Emmy Award nomination.

He has also done voiceover work, starring in John Stephenson's Hallmark Entertainment adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. He also completed work on the ABC telefilm The Miracle Maker and on Gillies Mackinnon's The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, a Working Title production for the BBC and HBO in which he stars opposite Dame Judi Dench.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Ian Holm Facts

Birth NameIan Holm Cuthbert
OccupationActor
BirthdaySeptember 12, 1931 (92)
SignVirgo
BirthplaceGoodmayes, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 6" (1m68)  How tall is Ian Holm compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Ratatouille
The Fifth Element
The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Jesus Of Nazareth: The Complete Miniseries
The Day After Tomorrow
The Real Middle Earth
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Continue » Find more details on the Ian Holm Movies page