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R.I.P. Ian Holm


Thor

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Absolutely terrible news, but he did look almost unrecognizably bad in the recent photos I'd seen.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/ian-holm-dies-alien-chariots-of-fire-bilbo-baggins?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3yAaiXs6ctJxmxODzHM1y9S2wB-StN22bf8tdjxLkWptww_FrUbQ6812s#Echobox=1592566571

Ian Holm was my third favourite actor of all time (after Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins). Ash was the one that started it all, but I've loved basically everything I've seen him in.

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Simply a marvellous actor who formed part of my childhood with his performance in Alien. The quintessential cold Android that would spawn many imitations, but none could match his chilling subtlety. 

 

A role which couldn't be further from the likes of Bilbo Baggins. It takes some enviable talent to pull off that type of range, not to mention the craft required to create a character so inseparable from his performance.

 

Rest in peace. 

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3 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

HAS.  ANYBODY SEEN.  SAM.  LOWRY??????

 

In case anyone didn't know the reference so I don't look like a complete weirdo.  Holm was an amazing comic actor as well as dramatic, and he has probably the most hilarious performance in Brazil.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Simply a marvellous actor who formed part of my childhood with his performance in Alien. The quintessential cold Android that would spawn many imitations, but none could match his chilling subtlety. 

 

Agreed! It's actually incredible that, right after Ash, Ridley Scott 'created' another milestone 'android' with Roy Batty. 

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The kind of actor you don't really think about too much, because he just disappears into his characters and never draws attention to himself: he just becomes the character.

 

Will be sorely missed.

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2 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

The kind of actor you don't really think about too much, because he just disappears into his characters and never draws attention to himself: he just becomes the character.

 

Will be sorely missed.

 

It's funny, everyone has a first image that comes to mind when they think of a film. For me, the first thing I think about when I think about Fellowship of the Ring is Bilbo opening his front door and going in to hug Gandalf...that kind, vulnerable greeting to an old friend. Holm has actually been an actor I DO think about, because I delight every time I see him pop up and am always amazed at the variety of characters he played.

 

You're right, however, that he (like McKellan) dissapears into his characters. It took several viewings of FOTR before it hit me that I'm looking at Ash. I mean, I knew it on some level of course, but that's how much he pulls you into his characters.

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To be honest, just recently I checked the net yet again to see if Holm was still alive or had died silently without any widespread obituaries. He had a cancer operation in the early 2000s, but I was unaware he had Parkinson in the end. I was sad to see him retire in about 2006 or so (aside from his voice role in Ratatouille - his appearance in The Hobbit was clearly just an exception in his retirement). I would have loved to see him in some more roles in "old age".

 

Holm was was one of my top favourite actors, ever since I became aware of him in Alien. When he was cast for LOTR, I was just reading The Annotated Hobbit, and after a very brief moment of bemused surprise, I realised it was a perfect casting choice. I kept seeing Holm with every little mannerism Tolkien mentions in the book. His actual realisation of the role in LOTR perfectly underlines why Bilbo is one of my favourite characters in the book.

 

I've always considered that half-smile at the end of his last scene as Ash in Alien (something he has used repeatedly in different roles) one of the most gripping bits of purely facial acting.

 

 

 

 

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14 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

just recently I checked the net yet again to see if Holm was still alive

 

I did too, but he sent a note to the Lord of the Rings zoom reunion, so I let myself assume he was doing better than his photographs might suggest.

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I was truly sad to hear this today... even more so than most aged actors who pass. 

 

He was a fantastic actor and genuinely seemed like a very gentle soul.

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RIP. He was such a lovely and versatile actor. :( 

 

I just now read that he actually suffered from severe stage fright which kept him away from theater for quite some time if I understood correctly.

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51 minutes ago, Incanus said:

I just now read that he actually suffered from severe stage fright which kept him away from theater for quite some time if I understood correctly.

 

Apparently it's what led to him starting a career in film in the first place, in the late 70s. Although the obituaries differ on details of his later stage work - some make it sound like he never returned to the stage, while he did have at least one major success in the later 80s (leading to his knighthood), and if I read others right, he did at least some other bits of theatre in between.

 

I regret now that I've never seen him live, although his stage appearances were of course really before "my time". Peter Jackson's lovely tribute on Facebook notes that he was already significantly impacted by Parkinson's when they filmed The Hobbit, and nearly declined doing it.

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On 6/20/2020 at 7:47 AM, Chen G. said:

Lovely tribute from Sir Peter Jackson:

 

 

That was an amazing read, thank you for posting it, brought a tear to my eye!

 

I decided to copy and paste it here, for posterity, and for anyone who doesn't like to go to Facebook to read things:

 

Quote
The Wonderful Sir Ian Holm
 
PETER JACKSON·FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020·READING TIME: 7 MINUTES
 
I’m feeling very sad at the passing of Sir Ian Holm.
Ian was such a delightful, generous man. Quiet, but cheeky, with a lovely twinkle in his eye.
Back in early 2000, before we started shooting our Bilbo scenes for The Fellowship of the Ring, I was nervous about working with such an esteemed actor, but he immediately put me at ease. Standing in Bag End on the first day, before cameras started rolling, he took me to one side and said that he would be trying different things in every take, but I shouldn’t be alarmed. If, after five or six takes, he hadn’t given me what I needed, then by all means I should give him specific direction.
And that’s exactly what we did. But incredibly his varied line reads and performances were all quite wonderful. He rarely needed direction. He gave us an amazing range of choices to select from in the cutting room.
We settled into a very enjoyable four weeks, as we shot the first 30 minutes of Fellowship.
One day we had Bilbo delivering an account of his early adventures to an audience of spellbound three and four year olds, who are sitting cross legged at his feet in the party field. We started by filming Ian’s performance telling the story - but we also needed angles on the children reacting to various dramatic moments. But young kids get bored very quickly, and Ian and I quickly realised that they couldn’t hear the same story over and over again, as we captured the various angles we needed.
I suggested that to keep the kids’ attention, he should make the story a little different in each take … adding extras bits, making stuff up … so long as he gave us the essence of what was in the script. I told him not to worry and that I’d figure it out in the cutting room.
104110418_10158439317946558_477245617329
However, we also needed the kids to stay in place while we quickly moved the cameras around, from one angle to another. On a film set, “quickly” means 15 - 20 minutes. So, while this was happening, and no cameras were rolling, I whispered to Ian that he was going to have to keep them entertained. I helpfully suggested that he could, “tell them other stories between shots”. And that’s exactly what he did. After a couple of hours, we shot everything we needed.
104124090_10158439321666558_748042441805
As the kids were ushered off set, and the crew moved onto the next sequence, Ian said that he’d never worked so hard in his life!
Over a decade later, we hoped that Ian would play Bilbo again for the opening scenes of The Hobbit. Fran and I had dinner with Ian and his wife Sophie in London, and he told us that he was very sorry, but he couldn’t do it. Adding to our shock, he confided that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and could no longer remember lines. He had difficulty walking, and certainly couldn’t travel to New Zealand. Always a private man, he told us that he’d basically retired, but wasn’t announcing it.
This was a blow because we had worked out a nice way to hand the role over from Ian as Old Bilbo, to Martin Freeman as Young Bilbo. I described this to him, and he liked it. I also told him how my mother and an uncle had both endured Parkinson’s for years, and I was very familiar with the effects of the disease.
At this point, our dinner - which we thought would be about us describing the new scenes we’d like him to do, and Ian thought would be about him explaining why he couldn’t do it - suddenly turned into a think tank, with Ian, Sophie, Fran and I trying to figure out a process that would allow Ian to play Bilbo one last time.
We’re shooting the movies in New Zealand - but what say we came to London and shoot his scenes close to home?
By the end of the dinner he nodded slowly, and said, “Yes, I think I could do that”. But I knew he was only doing it as a favour to me, and I held his hands and thanked him with tears in my eyes.
We started shooting in New Zealand with Martin Freeman, as our Young Bilbo. Martin hugely admired Ian Holm but had never met him. However, Martin very generously agreed to wear prosthetic make-up to play Sir Ian Holm playing Old Bilbo, for some NZ based wide shots that we needed, and he captured his mannerisms very well.
A couple of months later we returned to London, taking our Bag End set with us, and filmed Ian’s shots with a tiny crew as we promised. Ian’s lovely wife Sophie was at his side every day, helping both him and us.
104322942_10158439322656558_821705768321
Over the course of four days we filmed everything we needed. Elijah Wood and Ian had become friends back on Lord of the Rings, and Elijah was on set in London every day, giving Ian additional support.
103556210_10158439325251558_934685460664
In the finished movie, I hope that audiences just see Ian Holm reprising Bilbo. But what I experienced on set was a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.
We will always be enormously grateful to Ian for doing that. During our time together, Fran and I became so fond of him, and we enjoyed his company very much.
104431404_10158439326391558_667670585898
To celebrate the completion of filming, Ian and Sophie invited Fran and I to dinner at their house. That was a lovely night, full of humour and fun. Ian and I realised we both had a strong mutual interest in Napoleon and chatted about him for hours.
A year later, when the first Hobbit movie premiered in London, a slightly star-struck Martin Freeman finally got to meet Ian Holm.
104290729_10158439329056558_657136188734
Watching Ian Holm perform taught me so much - as Ian was being his usual quiet self, that just somehow happened. It was a privilege to work with him, and a blessing to know him.
I’ve always loved Ian’s performance in the final scenes of Return of the King.
103644566_10158439330796558_798547922497
“I think I’m quite ready for another adventure.”
104486578_10158439332501558_675218599204
Farewell, dear Bilbo. Safe travels, darling Ian.

 

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R.I.P. to a fine actor. 

I'm recalling what Billy Connolly said about Ian's advice to him on what to do about Parkinson's causing his hand to shake - 'He told me to put it in my pocket. I wish he'd specified jacket pocket, rather than trouser' :lol:

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On 6/19/2020 at 8:48 AM, Holko said:

Hate to just pile on more LotR when he's done so much more but it's just too damn fitting.

 

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
 
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
 
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

 

RIP :(

 

Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above my mast!

 

 

Farewell, dear Bilbo. Rest In Peace, Ian Holm.

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