Passage: Voices of inspiration

It happened this past week ... the passing of two gifted women who helped soothe and inspire troubled lands.

Jean Kennedy Smith died Wednesday at her home in Manhattan.

The last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy, she led a mostly quiet life of charitable works, until – at the urging of her brother, Senator Ted Kennedy – President Bill Clinton appointed her Ambassador to Ireland in 1993. 

For the next five years she devoted herself to easing the sectarian conflict between Catholic and Protestant, North and South, helping to broker a ceasefire in 1994 that eventually led to the so-called "Good Friday Agreement" of 1998 that has mostly held to this day.

Jean Kennedy Smith was 92.

Dame Vera Lynn died Thursday at her home in England.

A talented singer from a very young age, she achieved lasting fame during World War II as "The Forces' Sweetheart," entertaining British troops from Egypt to Burma (as it was then known).

The very personification of the motto "Keep Calm and Carry On," she raised soldiers' morale with songs of home and hearth, including "The White Cliffs of Dover" ... and "We'll Meet Again."

Named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1975, a re-issue of her "We'll Meet Again" album topped the British charts in 2009.

Dame Vera Lynn was an astonishing 103 years old.

Also this week: 

Napoleon: "Five-foot-one, and conqueror of Italy! Not bad, huh?"

For the record, Sir Ian Holm, who died Friday at age 88, was five-foot-five, but his comical portrayal of the French emperor in the time-travel fantasy "Time Bandits" was just one of many, many occasions where he portrayed vivid characters – kings and fools – of hidden depth, mixing character flaws and mystery with a puckish wit. (It's no surprise he played Puck in two film versions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream.") In more than 100 films and dozens of stage appearances, he was a standout in supporting roles, seemingly coming out of nowhere to provide a jolt of humor, fear, or endearing humanity.

Born in a psychiatric hospital (his father was its superintendent), his early years were spent at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, followed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, graduating from spear holders to King Richard III. Despite an often-overwhelming stage fright, Holm turned in star performances in Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" (for which he won a Tony Award), and as "King Lear" (for which he won an Olivier Award). Later theatrical roles included "The Iceman Cometh" (the intensity of which brought about a breakdown and a long absence from the stage), "Uncle Vanya," and "Moonlight."

Though he'd appeared in several films in the 1960s and '70s, including "The Bofurs Gun," "The Fixer," "Mary, Queen of Scots," "Nicholas and Alexandra," "Robin and Marian," and the TV miniseries "Napoleon and Love," Holm became an international presence playing Ash (spoiler! an android) in Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller "Alien" (1979).

That began a string of high-profile films and TV movies, including "Chariots of Fire" (for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor), "Inside the Third Reich," "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," "Brazil," "Dance With a Stranger," "Another Woman," "Henry V," "Game, Set and Match," Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet," "Naked Lunch," "The Borrowers," "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," "Big Night," "Night Falls on Manhattan," "The Fifth Element," "The Sweet Hereafter," "From Hell," "The Day After Tomorrow," "The Aviator," "Lord of War," and the voice of chef Skinner in "Ratatouille."

He played J.M. Barrie, the author of "Peter Pan," in the BBC's "The Lost Boys," and "Alice in Wonderland" author Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll in "Dreamchild." And he brought wellsprings of humor, warmth and emotional scars to the character of Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

In a 2004 Q&A for The Independent, Holm was asked if he regretted not being a "star": "Certainly not. As an actor, I'm very much a company person. And this also goes through my life: I have a dread of responsibility. I like someone else to be in charge."