Reply To: RIP Sir Ian Holm, Aka Ash, Bilbo and Himmelstoss

[balginstondraegParticipant 1151xp 0]

For me he’ll always be Frodo in the Radio 4 13 hour version of The Lord of the Rings. It’s amusing that he got to play Bilbo (a role previously played by John Le Mesurier on the radio). Remembering how tired and weary Frodo was at the end of the epic, having him come back to play the tired old Bilbo almost felt as if things had come full circle. It was a perfect casting decision.

It’s also amazing how many people didn’t recognise Ian McKellen’s performance for the blatant sir Michael Hordern impression that it was throughout the entire trilogy incluidng mr McKellen himself who claims he heard some recordings of Tolkien reading out sections of the book and doing all the voices and yet, if that was the case, how come he was parroting the late great sir Hordern’s performance almost syllable for syllable? In many ways I’m glad that he did. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but he does seem to be awfully confused about it.