Ian McKellen

Known for ActingBorn 1939-05-25 (age 86)Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK

Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards. McKellen made his stage debut in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of its repertory company, and in 1965 made his first West End appearance. In 1969, he was invited to join the Prospect Theatre Company to play the lead parts in Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe's Edward II. In the 1970s, McKellen became a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain. He has earned five Olivier Awards for his roles in Pillars of the Community (1977), The Alchemist (1978), Bent (1979), Wild Honey (1984), and Richard III (1995). McKellen made his Broadway debut in The Promise (1965). He received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1980). He was further nominated for Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare (1984). He returned to Broadway in Wild Honey(1986), Dance of Death (1990), No Man's Land (2013), and Waiting for Godot (2013), the latter two being a joint production with Patrick Stewart. McKellen achieved worldwide fame for his film roles, including the titular King in Richard III (1995), James Whale in Gods and Monsters (1998), Magneto in the X-Men films, Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) trilogies. Other notable film roles include A Touch of Love (1969), Plenty (1985), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Restoration (1995), Flushed Away (2006), Mr. Holmes (2015), and The Good Liar (2019). McKellen came out as gay in 1988, and has since championed LGBT social movements worldwide. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in October 2014. McKellen is a cofounder of Stonewall, an LGBT rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, named after the Stonewall riots. He is also patron of LGBT History Month, Pride London, Oxford Pride, GayGlos, LGBT Foundation and FFLAG. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian McKellen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet

Nelson Mandela Redrawn

The Betty Driver Story

An Evening with Lily Savage

Graceless Go I

The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne

Playing Shakespeare

Pillar of Fire

Dragfox

David Macaulay: Roman City

Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up

On Broadway

The Making of 'The Return of the King'

The Making of 'The Two Towers'

Billy & Dom Eat the World

The Promise

HARDtalk

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Paul O'Grady Story

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

National Theatre Live: King Lear

Freedom: 50 Years of Pride

ted

Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love

Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'

Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage

The Simpsons

Doctor Who: The Snowmen

Extras

Hamlet

Dying Day

Hedda Gabler

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Hamlet

Churchill

Vicious

X-Men: Days of Future Past

National Theatre Live: No Man's Land

Trailblazer Honors

London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony

Tales of the City

Inside the Actors Studio

Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies