Trivia

He developed a severe case of stage fright in 1976 while performing "The Iceman Cometh" and left the theatre. He has only returned three times since then.

He hated milk. Much to his discomfort, he had to repeatedly gargle and spit it out during his final scene in Alien (1979).

He played Napoleon Bonaparte three times in Napoleon and Love (1974), Time Bandits (1981) and The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) - and was a front-runner for the role in Stanley Kubrick's unproduced biography.

He was slated to play Pope John Paul II in a CBS miniseries, but had to drop out because of undisclosed "personal reasons". Jon Voight took his place.

His children - with Lynn Mary Shaw: daughters Jessica Holm and Sarah-Jane Holm; with Sophie Baker: son Harry Holm; also had son Barnaby Holm and daughter Melissa (who is now a casting director under the name of Lissy Holm) with professional photographer Bee Gilbert, with whom Holm had a relationship after his first marriage (1965-1976) but never married.

He was awarded the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor of the 1997 season for his performance in "King Lear" at the Royal National Theatre: Cottesloe stage.

He was the son of Jean Wilson (née Holm), a nurse, and James Harvey Cuthbert, a doctor, who were originally from Scotland.

As of 2014, he appeared in five films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Chariots of Fire (1981), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Aviator (2004). Of those, Chariots of Fire (1981) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were winners in the category.

He won Broadway's 1967 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming", a role he recreated in the film version with the same title, The Homecoming (1973).

Along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, he played both Doctor Frankenstein and his Monster.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours List and was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

He supplied voice for radio announcements by New York-Presbyterian Medical Center (New York City, USA), where he had been treated for prostate cancer (2002).

He appeared in two adaptations of the 1819 novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley: he played both Victor Frankenstein and his Monster in Frankenstein (1968) and Frankenstein's father Baron Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1994).

He was awarded the 1993 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Moonlight".

He was an Associate Member of Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

He was awarded the 1997 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in "King Lear".

He was treated for prostate cancer in 2001.

He worked with two Frodos - Christopher Guard in Les Miserables (1978) and Elijah Wood in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Holm also played Frodo in the BBC Radio production. He also worked with three other Bilbos: Norman Bird (from Ralph Bakshi's film) in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and Young Winston (1972); Martin Freeman in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013); and John Le Mesurier in the BBC Radio production.

He had two roles in common with Orson Bean. Bean was the voice of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit (1977), while Holm played in the Peter Jackson trilogy. Bean also played Frodo in The Return of the King (1980); Holm played Frodo on BBC radio.

He clearly had no objections to being buried up to his neck in the pursuit of his craft, as this happened to him in no less than three films: Alien (1979), Brazil (1985) and Simon Magus (1999).

He was awarded the 1997 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama) for Best Actor for his performance in "King Lear" at the Royal National Theatre.

Though he has only appeared in two productions of "The Lord of the Rings", he has worked with three Aragorns. He appeared with Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings films, Robert Stephens in the radio adaptation, and worked with John Hurt in Alien (1979). Mortensen and Hurt were also both last-minute replacements for other actors.

In a return to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he first received acclaim in the mid-1960s for his contemporary stylings of "Richard III" and "Henry V", he developed a confidence-shattering case of "stage fright" during a 1976 performance of "The Iceman Cometh" and quickly withdrew from the production. His only stage appearance for almost two decades was as Astrov in "Uncle Vanya" in 1979. He finally returned to the theatre to create the role of Andy in Harold Pinter's short play "Moonlight" in 1993 for which he received the Evening Standard Award. His "King Lear" several years later earned him the Olivier Award as well as the Evening Standard and London Critic's Circle Theatre awards.

He replaced Donald Sutherland at the last minute in the lead role of The Sweet Hereafter (1997).

He was awarded the 1993 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor in "Moonlight". His wife, Penelope Wilton, was awarded Best Actress for "The Deep Blue Sea" at the same awards ceremony.

When he played Frodo in the BBC radio dramatization of "The Lord of the Rings", he was 50 years old, the same age Frodo is when he begins his quest to destroy the One Ring.

His remains were cremated at Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip, England.

He appeared with David Warner in six films: The Bofors Gun (1968), The Fixer (1968), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968), Holocaust (1978), S.O.S. Titanic (1979) and Time Bandits (1981).

He played a meteorologist in The Day After Tomorrow (2004) (as Professor Terry Rapson) and The Aviator (2004) (as Professor Fitz).

After directing him in Henry V (1989), Kenneth Branagh defined his acting style as "Anything you can do, I can do less of".

Has eight grandchildren.

He shared two roles with Christian Clavier. They both played Thenardier from "Les Miserables". Thenardier calls himself "The Sergeant of Napoleon", and even gives his tavern that name. Appropriately, Holm and Clavier have both played Napoleon himself.

He shares two roles with two other Bilbos. He and Orson Bean have both played Frodo Baggins, while he and Martin Freeman have both played King Richard III.

Played the role of Frodo Baggins opposite Bill Nighy as Sam. This led to him playing Bilbo in the film adaptations. Those in turn were followed by the Hobbit trilogy, in which the role of Bilbo was played by Martin Freeman. Freeman has also worked with Nighy on several occasions: Love, Actually; Shaun of the Dead; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Hot Fuzz; Wild Target; and The World's End.

Along with Ronald Lacey, he was one of the early choices to play the villain Morgus in Peter Davison's final serial as the Doctor, The Caves of Androzani: Part One (1984), which instead went to John Normington.

He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Alien (1979) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

In 1976 suddenly got severe stage fright which kept him from the stage til about 1991.

He was addicted to films from an early age.

Born on exactly the same date as Bill McKinney of "Deliverance" fame.

Joined the RSC in the 60's.