Sir Ian Holm (1931-2020)
Sunday, June 21, 2020 at 1:11PM 
by Nathaniel R
If you haven't yet heard, beloved actor Sir Ian Holm (Chariots of Fire, From Hell, Ratatouille) passed away on Friday at the age of 88. He started working professionally as an actor in his twenties in the 1950s and he didn't stop working until just a handful of years ago with two final appearances in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. In his long career he won the Tony (The Homecoming), the Olivier (King Lear) and the BAFTA twice (Boros Gun and Chariots of Fire) though Oscar, sadly, kept missing the chance to honor him.
After the jump 10 roles that hold special meaning for this particular moviegoer...
Alien (1979) because it's such a classic and who can ever forget his disembodied android head?
Time Bandits (1981) because it was the first time I actually saw him at the movies
Chariots of Fire (1981) because it brought him his only Oscar nomination.
Greystroke (1984) because he would have made a great Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee (it was his co-star Sir Ralph Richardson, also in fine form in the movie, who was nominated posthumously instead.)
Dance With a Stranger (1985) because the movie is underrappreciated and all three stars (Miranda Richardson & Rupert Everett headline) were all on fire
Dreamchild (1986) because it's a challenging and memorable biopic (of sorts) on the writing of Alice in Wonderland. Coral Browne as the grown Alice is amazing in it.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997) because he should have won the Best Actor Oscar. Alas, he was not nominated.
Joe Gould's Secret (2000) because he was very memorable in this late career indie.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) because the story begins with Bilbo Baggins, doesn't it?
The Aviator (2004) because it was his fifth and final appearance in a Best Picture nominee and because we always loved watching him whenever he'd pop up unexpectedly in a stuffed cast onscreen. (The other four BP nominees he co-starred in were Nicholas and Alexandra, Chariots of Fire, and two of the Lord of the Rings movies.)
What are you favourites from Sir Ian Holm's filmography?
Reader Comments (21)
Sweet Hereafter is easily him at his greatest and should've won him the best actor oscar. That film deserved so much more than it's one nomination for directing.
I hadn't properly seen Cariots till this past year when 81 was announced as the smackdown contest. He's good in his sole oscar nomination but it certainly should not be the sole representation of his entire career. The first thing I saw him in was Lord of the Rings (unfortunately)
He has certainly been in some classics,never a leading man but a great character actor he was never the same in any movie,I also liked him in Greystoke,his Ash in Alien is a blueprint for how a lot of emotionless droids are played now..
He has a couple of great moments in ANOTHER WOMAN as well as BRAZIL. He could give brilliant little inflections in his line readings that stay with you for decades.
One of my favorite performances from him is in Brazil as he's just a joy to watch but I think his best performance is in The Sweet Hereafter.
Favorites - The Sweet Hereafter and Dance With a Stranger, but I enjoyed him in a wide variety of things including eXisteZ, From Hell, and Chariots of Fire (which seems to have become underrated).
He was riveting repeating his Tony-winning role in The Homecoming. 1985 was really his year, not only Dance with a Stanger, but Brazil, Dreamchild and Wetherby were all sterling performances. He was quite special in The Fixer, and I also think he was award-worthy in The Madness of King George.
His ambigous android in Alien and Greystoke are the firsts sent from my lazy sunday neurons. He is the antithesis of Albert Finney - another wonderful Englishman also deceased who never won an Oscar. While Finney is more and outer, he is less and inner.
The sweet hereafter is such a great movie and he's terrific in it, he also was good in the madness of King George.
I'm so happy you included The Sweet Hereafter in your list. Such a great film, often overlooked. Probably my favorite film from 1997. May Sir Ian RIP.
I've seen him in several films, but the one that left the greatest impact on me was The Sweet Hereafter. It's so strange that it picked up directing and writing nominations from Atom Egoyan but none for the exceptional acting by Holm and Sarah Polley/
Giant.
The Fifth Element for an excellent comedic performance.
i always misremember his oscar nod, thinking it was greystoke instead: "ra-zor! ra-zor!"
alien was my introduction to his greatness; i've never trusted an android since
A modern-day Claude Rains.
Fifth element >>> aviator when it comes to his performance
But great list otherwise
If "The Sweet Hereafter" was where he played an ambulance chaser, then that one.
Ian Holm was also effective as Polonius in Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990).
That and his appearances in films as disparate as Kafka, Big Night, The Fifth Element, Naked Lunch, Wetherby, The Sweet Hereafter and eXistenZ.
I should probably say "The Sweet Hereafter" or "Dance with a Stranger" but I can't resist his perfect turn in "Alien". So creepy, in such subtle ways. Looking at this list, he never gave a bad performance - what a great actor.
I had the rather eerie (to me at least) experience of rewatching Chariots of Fire and when finishing it, the first news I read was that Ian Holm had died. He is great in it (of course), but the whole movie is still a satisfying experience. It gets unfairly blasted for being old fashioned, but I think it was rather innovative in its use of sound and music. The way the sound for the next scene would start before the current scene had ended. Also, and I thought this at the time, how each race was photographed and edited so differently. It was very enjoyable and Ian Holm stole his scenes.
I laughed when I read Kenneth Branagh’s (showman that he is) tribute to Ian Holm.
Branagh described Holm’s elegant, spare, understated naturalistic acting style as “Anything you can do, I can do less of”.
As well as Bilbo, Alien, Chariots Of Fire, and The Fifth Element, I also loved him in Big Night, and The Emperor’s New Clothes ( 3rd time playing Napoleon! Holm was only about 5’6” tall).
I loved him in The Fifth Element and The Madness of King George.