Biography for
Ian Bannen More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

29 June 1928, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK

Date of Death

3 November 1999, Knockies Straight, Loch Ness, Scotland, UK (road accident)

Mini Biography

Scottish character actor and occasional leading man who enlivened scores of fine films in Britain and America. His father was a lawyer in a small town in Lanarkshire. Bannen served in the army and attended Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire. His first acting role came in a 1947 Dublin production of "Armlet of Jade". He became a successful figure on the London stage, making a name for himself in the plays of both William Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway as well. His film debut occurred in the mid-1950s, and he quickly rose to prominence, primarily in a wide range of supporting roles. His performance as "Crow" in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) won him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Thirty years and scores of films later, Bannen was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Long after his leading man days had passed, he won new acclaim for his role as the touchingly crafty villager in Waking Ned (1998). The following year he died in an automobile accident. He was survived by his wife of 23 years.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Spouse

Marilyn Salisbury

(1976 - 3 November 1999) (his death)

Trivia

He was awarded the 1981 London Critics Circle Awards (Drama Theatre Awards) for Best Supporting Actor of 1980 for his performance in "Translations".

Turned down the lead roles in "Van der Valk" (1972) and "Hawaii Five-O" (1968).

Considered giving up acting to become a monk.

Friend of Richard Harris and Peter O'Toole.

Director John Schlesinger cast him as a replacement for Alan Bates in the part of well-off homosexual doctor Daniel Hirsh in his controversial film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), after Bates was deemed unavailable to shoot. According to screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt, Bannen never felt comfortable with the part; she speculated that he was flustered by the fact that he would have to kiss male actor Murray Head, who played his lover whom also carried on an affair with Glenda Jackson. The anxiety adversely affected his performance during the early filming. Schlesinger had to fire him and replace him with Peter Finch, who won an Oscar nomination for the role. Many observers believe that Finch lost the Oscar to Gene Hackman because of the gay kiss. Bannen said near the end of his life, after being hailed for his comeback in Waking Ned (1998), that this was his one big regret, for throwing away the plum role seriously set back his career and it never recovered.

He died in a car accident in 1999 while a passenger in a car driven by his wife, Marilyn. Coincidentally, Bannen originally met his wife back in 1976 when she parked her old van in his reserved parking space and was unable to get it started.

Cast in in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) but was replaced by Nigel Davenport.

Cast as Miller in Force 10 from Navarone (1978) but left the production because of a clash with the producer, and was replaced by Edward Fox.

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