Scottish actor Ian Charleson was BOTD in 1949. Born in Edinburgh to a working-class family, he was a gifted student, winning a scholarship to a prestigious secondary school, where he acted in local productions. He won a scholarship to study architecture at the University of Edinburgh, and became heavily involved with the student drama society, eventually switching to study English and fine art. He moved to London in 1970 and studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, making his West End debut in a 1975 production of Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged with Alan Bates. He quickly became one of the most sought-after actors of his generation, starring in London and New York productions of Look Back in Anger, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew. He made his film debut as a punk angel in Derek Jarman’s 1977 experimental film Jubilee. His star rose in the 1980s with roles in the Oscar-winning films Chariots of Fire and Gandhi, and led successful London revivals of the musical Guys and Dolls and Sam Shepard’s play Fool For Love. Openly gay since forever, he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986. He continued working in theatre, starring in a well-reviewed production of Tennessee Williams‘ play Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. In 1989 he replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, giving what his friend Ian McKellen called a perfect performance. He died eight weeks after finishing his run as Hamlet, aged 40. Before his death, he asked that his AIDS diagnosis be publicised to raise awareness of the disease. In 1991, the Ian Charleson Awards were established in his honour to reward the best classical stage performances by British actors aged under 30. The Royal Free Hospital in London named a day centre for HIV/AIDS patients in his memory. He will be played by Andrew Scott in an upcoming film biopic, scripted by Stephen Beresford.