Ian Bannen

He died in a car accident in 1999 while a passenger in a car driven by his wife, Marilyn. Coincidentally, Bannen originally met his wife back in 1976 when she parked her old van in his reserved parking space and was unable to get it started.

Was the first billed actor in the unexpected hit, Waking Ned Devine (1998), which was in effect a "comeback role," but also unexpectedly, Bannon died in a car accident the following year, before really being able to partake in any higher profile movie roles.

He was considered for Dr. Hans Fallada, Dr. Bukovsky, Dr. Armstrong and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985). The roles eventually went to Frank Finlay, Michael Gothard, Patrick Stewart and Aubrey Morris respectively.

He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Gandhi (1982) and Braveheart (1995). Bernard Horsfall also appeared in both films.

He was awarded the 1981 London Critics Circle Award (Drama Theatre Awards) for Best Supporting Actor of 1980 for his performance in "Translations," written by Brian Friel.

Cast as Miller in Force 10 from Navarone (1978) but left the production because of a clash with the producer, and was replaced by Edward Fox.

Cast in in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) but was replaced by Nigel Davenport.

Turned down the lead roles in Van der Valk (1972) and Hawaii Five-O (1968).

Director John Schlesinger cast him as a replacement for Alan Bates in the part of well-off homosexual doctor Daniel Hirsh in his controversial film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), after Bates was deemed unavailable to shoot. According to screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt, Bannen never felt comfortable with the part; she speculated that he was flustered by the fact that he would have to kiss male actor Murray Head, who played his lover whom also carried on an affair with Glenda Jackson. The anxiety adversely affected his performance during the early filming. Schlesinger had to fire him and replace him with Peter Finch, who won an Oscar nomination for the role. Many observers believe that Finch lost the Oscar to Gene Hackman because of the gay kiss. Bannen said near the end of his life, after being hailed for his comeback in Waking Ned Devine (1998), that this was his one big regret, for throwing away the plum role seriously set back his career and it never recovered.

His performance as "Crow" in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) won him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Thirty years and scores of films later, Bannen was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Was offered the role of Dr. Finlay in the original Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962) BBC television series, but turned it down. He did appear in the 1963 episode Dr. Finlay's Casebook: Alice, Where Art Thou? (1963), playing the part of a miner. In the 1993 series, Doctor Finlay (1993), he was a series regular in the non-title role of Dr. Alexander Cameron.

His film debut occurred in the mid-1950s, and he quickly rose to prominence, primarily in a wide range of supporting roles.

Scottish character actor and occasional leading man who enlivened scores of fine films in Britain and America. His father was a lawyer in a small town in Lanarkshire. Bannen served in the army and attended Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire. His first acting role came in a 1947 Dublin production of "Armlet of Jade". He became a successful figure on the London stage, making a name for himself in the plays of both William Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway as well.