Actor Ian Holm, best known to younger fans as Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings, has died aged 88 of a Parkinsons-related illness. In fact he had an illustrious career on stage and screen over decades with multiple awards for Chariots of Fire, Alien, King Lear on stage and others. Described by Peter Bradshaw as “ a virtuoso actor of steel, sinew – and charm. He was a character actor with star quality.”
He was born 12 September 1931 2am Ilford, England with a psychiatrist father, who pioneered electric shock therapy; and he started initially, aged 18, studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and after National Service joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was married four times, divorced three, with five children from various mothers.
He had a communicative and restless third house New Moon in Virgo in a charming conjunction with Venus. His Mercury Neptune were also in Virgo. Dominating his chart was an extremely restless Cardinal Grand Square giving him initiative aplenty and the ability to pick up and start again, well-designed for a career of constantly changing projects. The signature tough-minded Saturn in Capricorn opposition Pluto of the Depression in his case squared onto a heated 4th house Mars in Libra opposition a 10th house Uranus in Aries. An unpredictable lifestyle would suit him and he’d rebel against restrictions or compromise, both domestic and career.
He suffered from stage fright after 1976 when tr Saturn was moving through his 1st house pushing him into a lower-profile phase; with a panicky tr Neptune conjunct his Solar Arc Mars; tr Uranus conjunct his Solar Arc Sun, Moon, Venus – and I suspect more significantly his Solar Arc Moon Neptune square his 12th house Pluto. He returned with Lear in the late 1980s to a resounding success.
His chart wasn’t quite what I’d expected since he always looked restrained and slightly demure. His personal life clearly didn’t run too smoothly which would be partly down to an argumentative Mars in the 4th, plus Uranus plus Pluto giving him a degree of obstinacy and anger. And the male-of-the- species Virgo can be a player, more so than the female.