Cast
Ian McKellen
Acting
Cast
Ian McKellen
Known for
Acting
Born
1939-05-25
From
Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Also known as Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Ian Murray McKellen, Ian McKellern
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.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
as Gandalf
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
as Gandalf
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
as Gandalf
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
as Gandalf the Grey
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as Gandalf the Grey
Avengers: Doomsday
as Magneto
X-Men: Days of Future Past
as Magneto
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
as Gandalf the Grey
Beauty and the Beast
as Cogsworth
The Christophers
as Julian Sklar
The Da Vinci Code
as Sir Leigh Teabing
Flushed Away
as The Toad (voice)
Stardust
as Narrator (voice)
The Golden Compass
as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Mr. Holmes
as Sherlock Holmes
Last Action Hero
as Death
Cats
as Gus, the Theatre Cat
The Shadow
as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
The Good Liar
as Roy Courtnay
Restoration
as Will Gates
Apt Pupil
as Kurt Dussander
Scandal
as John Profumo
Asylum
as Dr. Peter Cleave
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
as Gandalf
Animal Crackers
as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
The Wolverine
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
The Keep
as Dr. Theodore Cuza
Six Degrees of Separation
as Geoffrey
And the Band Played On
as Bill Kraus
The Magic Roundabout
as Zebedee (voice)
Hating Peter Tatchell
as Self
Gods and Monsters
as James Whale
X-Men: The Mutant Watch
as Self - 'Magneto'
Swept from the Sea
as Dr. James Kennedy
Doogal
as Zebedee (voice)
Plenty
as Sir Andrew Charleson
Jack & Sarah
as William
Richard III
as Richard III
Bent
as Uncle Freddie
Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King
as Self
The Critic
as Jimmy Erskine
Neverwas
as Gabriel Finch
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
as Self
A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King'
as Self
Cold Comfort Farm
as Amos Starkadder
Muse of Fire
as Self
Rasputin
as Tsar Nicholas II
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
as Jacob Marley
The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin
as Self
Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring
as Self
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
as Self
I'll Do Anything
as John Earl McAlpine
Doctor Who: The Snowmen
as The Great Intelligence (voice)
All Is True
as Earl of Southampton
The Scarlet Pimpernel
as Chauvelin
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
as Self - Performer
The Dresser
as Norman
Zina
as Kronfeld
Schadenfreude
as Continuity Announcer
The Making of 'The Return of the King'
as Self
On Broadway
as Self
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
David Macaulay: Roman City
as Augustus Caesar (voice)
King Lear
as King Lear
Edward II
as King Edward
Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'
as Self
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2
as Self
Eighteen
as Jason Anders (voice)
Hamlet
as Hamlet
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
as Self
The Ballad of Little Jo
as Percy Corcoran
Infinitum: Subject Unknown
as Dr. Charles Marland-White
The Making of 'The Two Towers'
Quest for the Ring
as Self
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
as Self (archive footage)
Macbeth
as Macbeth
The Roof
as And Even Yet Another Fan
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
as Self
The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale
as Self
Countdown to War
as Adolf Hitler
Emile
as Emile
The Tragedy of King Richard II
as King Richard II
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
as Self
The Betty Driver Story
as Self
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
as Self
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
as Self (archive footage)
X-Men: Premieres Around the World
as Self
Alfred the Great
as Roger
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
An Evening with Lily Savage
as Self
Walter
as Walter
Priest of Love
as D.H. Lawrence
Othello
as Iago
National Theatre Live: King Lear
as King Lear
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision
as Self
X-Men: The Last Stand
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!
as Self
X-Men
as Magneto
Quintessentially British
as Self
The Promise
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
A Touch of Love
as George
National Theatre Live: No Man's Land
as Spooner
X2
as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
Scarfe's Follies
Saint of 9/11
as Narrator
Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU
The One Note Man
as Narrator (voice)
Theatreland
as Self
McKellen: Playing the Part
as Self
The Hobart Shakespeareans
as Self
Miss in Her Teens
as The Prologue
For the Love of God
as The Jackdaw
Edmund the Magnificent
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony
as Self
Frank and Percy
as Percy
Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest
as Self
Walter and June
as Walter
Dragfox
as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
as Narrator (voice)
Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed!
as Self
Hamlet Within
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
as Alexander Ivanov
To Die For
as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne
as Wolf
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?
The Paul O'Grady Story
as Self
No Man's Land
as Spooner
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
as Narrator (voice)
Small-Time Revolutionary
as Hamish Miller (voice)
The Art of Breaking Character
as Self
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary
as Self
After Stonewall
as Self
Guerrilla Distribution
as Self
Hamlet
as Hamlet
Dying Day
as Antony Skipling
Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up
as Narration (voice)
Camp Christmas
Süleyman the Magnificent
as Narrator
Hedda Gabler
as George Tesman
All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film
as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
Looking for Lowry
as Self
Shakespeare on Film
A Bit Of Scarlet
as Narrator
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen
Gladio
as Aldo Moro (voice)
My First Time
as Narrator
Richard II
as Richard II
Play the Devil: Making Richard III
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
as Narrator (voice)
Age of Dissent
as Self
Dragged Through Time
The Egg Trick
as Magician
Freedom: 50 Years of Pride
as Self
Graceless Go I
as Tony
Surviving Friendly Fire
How a Kite Flies
as Mr. Kite (voice)
A Simple Matter of Justice
as Self
LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes
as L S Lowry
Craven Arms
as David Masterman