Ian Holm

Born: September 12, 1931
Where: Ilford, Essex

The veteran British stage and screen actor has been introduced to a whole new generation of film-goers thanks to his portrayal of Hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Other notable roles include his Oscar-nominated portrayal of athletics coach Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire and Dr Willis in The Madness of King George.

Holm studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and spent 14 seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company (touring with Laurence Olivier in the 1957 production of "Titus Andronicus") before coming to the New York stage.

After winning a Tony on Broadway for The Homecoming, he made his film debut in The Fixer and then won a BAFTA then won a British Oscar for The Bofors Gun in 19.

He went on to be memorable in the film adaptation of The Homecoming (reprising his stage role) and chilled as malevolent android Ash in Ridley Scott's Alien.

After being showed with praise for Chariots of Fire he gave a winning performance as Napleon in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits.

Roles followed in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan and re-uniting with Gilliam he played M Kurtzmann in Brazil with Jonathan Pryce and Robert De Niro.

In 1985 he starred in Wetherby which he followed with Another Woman and the skewed big screen version of William Burroughs' The Naked Lunch.

Holm also starred in two diverse Shakespeare adaptations: Kenneth Branagh's revisionist Henry V and Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet.

Reteaming with Branagh, he played Baron Frankenstein in Mary's Shelley's Frankenstein and won plaudits for his court physician in The Madness of King George.

High profile roles followed in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element in 1998 (the same year he was knighted), the sci-fi chiller eXistenZ and Jack the Ripper drama From Hell with Johnny Depp.

Holm's next three movies together formed the Lord of the Rings trilogy which he followed with the comedy drama Garden State with Natalie Portman.