Ian Holm other well-known film roles include Ash in "Alien", Sir William Gull in "From Hell", Father Vito Cornelius in "The Fifth Element", and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" film series. Holm was born Ian Holm Cuthbert on 12 September 1931 in Goodmayes, in Essex, to Scottish parents, Jean Wilson (née Holm) and James Harvey Cuthbert. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a psychiatrist who worked as the superintendent of the West Ham Corporation Mental Hospital and was one of the pioneers of electric shock therapy. He had an older brother,
Ian Holm "The Wars of The Roses", based on the RSC production of the plays, in 1969 he played the lead in Dennis Potter's "Moonlight on the Highway" and gradually he made a name for himself with minor roles in films such as "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1969), "Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971), "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1971) and "Young Winston" (1972). In 1967, he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play as Lenny in "The Homecoming" by Harold Pinter. In 1977, Holm appeared in the TV mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth" as the Sadducee Zerah, and a villainous