Old Photograph Ian Bannen Scotland

Old photograph of Ian Bannen, who was born on 29 June 1928 in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the son of Clare, née Galloway, and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, England. His first acting role came in a 1947 Dublin, Ireland, stage production of Armlet of Jade. He became a successful figure on the London stage, making a name for himself in the plays of both Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway as well. His film debut occurred in the early 1950s with a small role in Pool of London, and he quickly rose to prominence, primarily in a wide range of supporting roles. He had a very significant role as Stoker Samuel Bannister in Yangtse Incident. During the early stages of his career he worked with the Boulting Brothers on Private's Progress and Carlton Browne of the F.O.. His performance as Crow in The Flight of the Phoenix earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Scottish actor to receive this honour; he also received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year Actor. That same year, he starred alongside Sean Connery in the WW2 prison drama, The Hill. He received in 1965 an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Flight of the Phoenix as Ratbags Crow, one of the survivors of a plane crash. He also won acclaim for his roles as Brother Benedict in Lamb, Grandfather George in John Boorman's Hope and Glory, for which he received a second Best Supporting Actor BAFTA nomination), the elder Robert de Brus in Braveheart and as the touchingly crafty villager in Waking Ned Devine. Bannen was killed, aged 71, in a car accident by Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands in November 1999. He and his wife, Marilyn Salisbury, who had been driving, were discovered in an overturned vehicle at Knockies Straight between Inverness and Fort Augustus. His wife, a veterinarian for the Ministry of Agriculture, suffered only minor injuries. The couple had been married since 1976; they had no children. Bannen was posthumously given the 2000 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award.



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