Ian McKellen
Born: 1939-05-25 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Known For: Acting
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian McKellen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2027
- The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum as Gandalf
2026
- The Christophers as Julian Sklar
- Avengers: Doomsday as Magneto
- Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol as Jacob Marley
- LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes as L S Lowry
2025
- Billy & Dom Eat the World as Self
- Schadenfreude as Continuity Announcer
- A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' as Self (archive footage)
- Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
- Dragged Through Time
2024
- ted as Narrator (voice)
- The Critic as Jimmy Erskine
- Hamlet as Hamlet
- Dragfox as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
- The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
- The Life and Death of Lily Savage as Self
2023
- The One Note Man as Narrator (voice)
2022
- Quintessentially British as Self
- Hamlet Within
- Freedom: 50 Years of Pride as Self
2021
- Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
- Hating Peter Tatchell as Self
- Infinitum: Subject Unknown as Dr. Charles Marland-White
- Great British Theatre
2020
2019
- Cats as Gus, the Theatre Cat
- The Good Liar as Roy Courtnay
- The Isle ... (Associate Producer)
- On Broadway as Self
2018
- All Is True as Earl of Southampton
- Animal Crackers as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
- National Theatre Live: King Lear as King Lear
- McKellen: Playing the Part as Self
2017
- Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth
- The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin as Self
- The Paul O'Grady Story as Self
- Edmund the Magnificent as Self - Narrator (voice)
- How a Kite Flies as Mr. Kite (voice)
2016
- Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage as Self
- Shakespeare Live! From the RSC as Self - Performer
- National Theatre Live: No Man's Land as Spooner
- The Roof as And Even Yet Another Fan
- Play the Devil: Making Richard III
- Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen
- All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
- Shakespeare on Film
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
- Mr. Holmes as Sherlock Holmes
- The Dresser as Norman
- Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC as Self (archive footage)
2014
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self - Guest
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as Gandalf the Grey
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- X-Men: Days of Future Past as Magneto
- Trailblazer Honors as Self - Speaker
- Nelson Mandela Redrawn as Self
- Miss in Her Teens as The Prologue
2013
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as Gandalf the Grey
- Vicious as Freddie Thornhill
- The Wolverine as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
- The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin as Self
- Muse of Fire as Self
- The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot as Self
- The Egg Trick as Magician
2012
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as Gandalf the Grey
- Doctor Who: The Snowmen as The Great Intelligence (voice)
- London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony as Self
2011
- Perspectives
- The Betty Driver Story as Self
- Looking for Lowry as Self
2010
- Small-Time Revolutionary as Hamish Miller (voice)
- A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation as Narrator (voice)
2009
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- The Prisoner as 2 / Curtis
- Theatreland as Self
2008
- King Lear as King Lear
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self - Guest
- Stardust as Narrator (voice)
- The Golden Compass as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
- The Art of Breaking Character as Self
- For the Love of God as The Jackdaw
- Guerrilla Distribution as Self
2006
- The One Show as Self - Guest
- The Da Vinci Code as Sir Leigh Teabing
- Flushed Away as The Toad (voice)
- Doogal as Zebedee (voice)
- X-Men: The Last Stand as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
- Saint of 9/11 as Narrator
2005
- Extras as Ian McKellen
- Asylum as Dr. Peter Cleave
- The Magic Roundabout as Zebedee (voice)
- Ringers: Lord of the Fans as Self
- Neverwas as Gabriel Finch
- Eighteen as Jason Anders (voice)
- The Hobart Shakespeareans as Self
2004
2003
- Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as Gandalf
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King as Self
- The Making of 'The Two Towers'
- The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision as Self
- X-Men: Premieres Around the World as Self
- Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
- Emile as Emile
- The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 as Self
- X2 as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
- Churchill as Self - Narrator (voice)
2002
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as Gandalf
- Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway as Self
2001
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as Gandalf
- Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings' as Self
- Quest for the Ring as Self
- Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring as Self
- Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love as Narrator (voice)
2000
- X-Men: The Mutant Watch as Self - 'Magneto'
- X-Men as Magneto
- Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man as Narrator (voice)
- Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed! as Self
1999
- Family Guy as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
- David Copperfield as Creakle
- After Stonewall as Self
- The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale as Self
1998
- Parkinson as Self
- Apt Pupil as Kurt Dussander
- Gods and Monsters as James Whale
- Swept from the Sea as Dr. James Kennedy
1997
- The View as Self - Guest
- HARDtalk
- Bent as Uncle Freddie
- A Bit Of Scarlet as Narrator
- Surviving Friendly Fire
1996
- Rasputin as Tsar Nicholas II
- An Evening with Lily Savage as Self
1995
- Restoration as Will Gates
- Jack & Sarah as William
- Richard III as Richard III
- Cold Comfort Farm as Amos Starkadder
1994
- The Shadow as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
- Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as Self
- Inside the Actors Studio as Self
- I'll Do Anything as John Earl McAlpine
- David Macaulay: Roman City as Augustus Caesar (voice)
- To Die For as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
- Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest as Self
- Age of Dissent as Self
1993
- Late Show with David Letterman as Self - Guest
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- Last Action Hero as Death
- Tales of the City as Archibald Anson Gidde
- Six Degrees of Separation as Geoffrey
- And the Band Played On as Bill Kraus
- The Ballad of Little Jo as Percy Corcoran
- Camp Christmas
- Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up as Narration (voice)
- A Simple Matter of Justice as Self
1992
- Gladio as Aldo Moro (voice)
1990
- Have I Got News for You as Self
- Othello as Iago
1989
- The Simpsons as Ian McKellen (voice)
- Scandal as John Profumo
- Countdown to War as Adolf Hitler
1988
- Windmills of the Gods as Chairman
- Scarfe's Follies
1987
- Süleyman the Magnificent as Narrator
1984
1983
- The Keep as Dr. Theodore Cuza
- Walter and June as Walter
1982
- The Scarlet Pimpernel as Chauvelin
- Walter as Walter
- Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
1981
- Pillar of Fire as Narrator
- Priest of Love as D.H. Lawrence
1980
- Dying Day as Antony Skipling
1979
- Macbeth as Macbeth
- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour as Alexander Ivanov
1978
- An Audience with... as Self
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
1974
- Playhouse as Alexander
- Graceless Go I as Tony
1972
- Country Matters as David Masterman
- Craven Arms as David Masterman
- Hedda Gabler as George Tesman
1970
- Edward II as King Edward
- The Tragedy of King Richard II as King Richard II
- Hamlet as Hamlet
1969
- Sesame Street as Self
- Alfred the Great as Roger
- A Touch of Love as George
- The Promise
1967
- Omnibus as Self - Reading Poetry
- ITV Playhouse as Tony
1966
- David Copperfield as David Copperfield
1965
- BBC Play of the Month as Captain Plume
- The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne as Wolf
1964
- The Wednesday Play as Wolf
1960
- Coronation Street as Mel Hutchwright
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Winner
1953
- The Oscars as Self
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter