Ian McKellen
Biography
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.
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Known For
Acting
2001
asGandalf
2003
asGandalf
2002
asGandalf
2006
asSir Leigh Teabing
1998
asJames Whale
2007
asIorek Byrnison (voice)
2007
asNarrator (voice)
1998
asDr. James Kennedy
1995
asWilliam
1993
asBill Kraus
1993
asGeoffrey
2005
asGabriel Finch
1995
asRichard III
2006
asThe Toad (voice)
2020
as
1982
asChauvelin
2006
asZebedee (voice)
2005
asDr. Peter Cleave
1994
asDr. Reinhardt Lane
1989
asJohn Profumo
1995
asAmos Starkadder
1998
asKurt Dussander
1993
asDeath
1983
asDr. Theodore Cuza
1979
asMacbeth
1985
asSir Andrew Charleson
2022
as
2003
asEmile
2000
asMagneto
2003
asEric Lehnsherr / Magneto
2006
asErik Lehnsherr / Magneto
1965
asWolf
1996
asSelf
2008
asKing Lear
2004
asZebedee (voice)
2000
asNarrator (voice)
1996
asTsar Nicholas II
2012
asGandalf the Grey
1981
asD.H. Lawrence
1992
asAldo Moro (voice)
1997
asUncle Freddie
1993
asPercy Corcoran
1969
asRoger
2013
asGandalf the Grey
1982
asWalter
asRichard II
2000
asSelf
2006
asNarrator
2014
asGandalf the Grey
2025
asContinuity Announcer
2014
asMagneto
2012
asSelf
1969
asGeorge
2009
asHimself
1994
asQuilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
1997
as
1983
asWalter
2013
asSelf
1979
asAlexander Ivanov
1997
asNarrator
1982
as
2024
asJimmy Erskine
2001
asNarrator (voice)
1985
asKronfeld
2014
asThe Prologue
1990
asIago
2007
asThe Jackdaw
2023
asNarrator (voice)
2016
asProspero's Speech Reader (voice)
2024
asHamlet
2015
asSherlock Holmes
2004
as
1993
asNarration (voice)
1994
asSelf
1994
asJohn Earl McAlpine
2013
asErik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
2013
asSelf
2017
asHoratio P. Huntington (voice)
1970
asHamlet
2005
asHimself
asSelf
2022
asSelf
2014
asSelf
2011
asHimself
2015
asSelf (archive footage)
2024
asSelf
2015
asNorman
2012
asThe Great Intelligence (voice)
2010
as
2017
asCogsworth
1970
asKing Edward
2024
as
2016
asSelf - Performer
1969
as
2004
asSelf
2003
asSelf
1995
asWill Gates
1972
asGeorge Tesman
2024
asGinger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
2016
asAnd Even Yet Another Fan
2003
as
2003
asSelf
2007
asSelf
2016
asSelf
2016
asSpooner
2003
asSelf
2001
asSelf
2001
asSelf
2010
asNarrator (voice)
2017
asSelf
2019
asRoy Courtnay
2011
asSelf
2017
asSelf
2018
asHimself
2019
asGus, the Theatre Cat
2018
asKing Lear
2004
asSelf
2018
asEarl of Southampton
1994
asAugustus Caesar (voice)
2003
asSelf
2017
asSelf - Narrator (voice)
2017
asMr. Kite (voice)
2001
asSelf
1999
asSelf
2013
asMagician
2021
asSelf
2005
asJason Anders (voice)
2010
asHamish Miller (voice)
2005
asSelf
1970
asKing Richard II
1989
asAdolf Hitler
2013
asSelf
2016
as2016
as2016
as
2000
asSelf - 'Magneto'
2021
asDr. Charles Marland-White
2020
as
2019
asSelf
1988
as
1993
as
2026
asJulian Sklar
2003
as
2004
asSelf
1987
asNarrator
2022
asSelf
2025
as
2026
asMagneto
2025
as
1999
asSelf
asSpooner
1980
asAntony Skipling
2025
asHimself (archive footage)
2007
asHimself
2027
asGandalf
1974
asTony
2004
asNarrator
2026
asasPercy
2026
asSelf (archive footage)
1994
asSelf
asSelf
asIan McKellen (voice)
asSelf
asSelf - Guest
asSelf - Guest
asSelf
as
asAnthony Skipling
asCaptain Plume
asSelf
asHimself - Narrator (voice)
asFreddie Thornhill
asSelf
asIan McKellen
asSelf - Host
asSelf
as
asCreakle
asChairman
as
asSelf
asSelf - Speaker
asNarrator (voice)
asSelf - Guest
asSelf - Guest
as2 / Curtis
asArchibald Anson Gidde
asSelf
asSelf - Guest
asDr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
asSelf
asSelf
asMel Hutchwright
as
asSelf - Interviewed Guest
asNarrator
asSelf
asSelf
asSelf
asSelf - Presenter
asHimself
asSelf - Reading Poetry
asSelf - Winner
asAlexander
asSimon Bliss
asRoss / T.E. Lawrence
asGeorge Tesman
asSelf - Presenter
asDavid Copperfield
asSelf
asWolf
asSelf - Winner
asDavid Masterman
Production
1995
as
2019
asCrew
Directing
