Ioan Gruffudd

He has also starred in 102 Dalmatians, ITV's adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, Black Hawk Down, and King Arthur. His is one of the most familiar voices in Britain, having been heard in countless TV documentaries and commercials. Next, he played Pip in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. In 2004, he appeared in The Day After Tomorrow, Zach Braff's Garden State, and Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. Forester novels. He reappeared in the trilogy in the The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He later got his best-known role as Horatio Hornblower in the ITV production of the C.S. The same year he appeared as Bilbo Baggins in the blockbuster film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, having previously played Bilbo's nephew Frodo Baggins in 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

After playing Oscar Wilde's gay lover in Wilde in 1997, he got his first international role as Fifth Officer Lowe in Titanic. In 2001 he starred in From Hell as the physician Sir William Withey Gull. His won his first major English language role a few years later in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark. In 1989 Holm was created a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to drama, and in 1998 he was knighted. Aged 18 he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). In 1991 he married, as his third wife, popular actress Penelope Wilton, and they appeared together in The Borrowers (1993) on British television, although in 2001 they divorced. Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 14 in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley). He could also be seen as Desmond Cussen opposite Miranda Richardson in Dance with a Stranger.

He has two siblings – a brother, Alun, who is two years younger and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger than him. He continued to perform Shakespeare, and appeared with Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989) and as Polonius to Mel Gibson's Hamlet. Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced YO-an GRIFF-ith) is a Welsh actor, born in Cardiff, Wales, UK on 6 October 1973. His parents, Peter and Gillian Gruffudd, were teachers. By the time of Alien (1979) and Chariots of Fire (1981), he was a major star in the UK, and his reputation gradually spread to the USA. In 1965, Holm played Richard III in the BBCs serialisation of the Wars of the Roses plays, and gradually 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). Holm was an established star of the Royal Shakespeare Company before making an impact on television and film.

Born in Goodmayes, Essex, he was educated at Chigwell School and then RADA. Sir Ian Holm (born September 12, 1931) is a British actor (real name Ian Holm Cuthbert).