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Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen

Acting · Production

Born May 25, 1939, 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.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (87)
  • 2026Tea with Judi Dench featuring Ian McKellen — Self
  • 2025A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' — Self (archive footage)
  • Billy & Dom Eat the World — Self
  • 2024The Life and Death of Lily Savage — Self
  • 2022Freedom: 50 Years of Pride — Self
  • 2022Quintessentially British — Self
  • Amol Rajan Interviews — Self - Interviewed Guest
  • 2021Hating Peter Tatchell — Self
  • Reunited Apart — Self
  • 2019On Broadway — Self
  • 2018McKellen: Playing the Part — Self
  • 2017Edmund the Magnificent — Self - Narrator (voice)
  • 2017The Paul O'Grady Story — Self
  • 2017The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin — Self
  • 2016Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage — Self
  • 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSC — Self - Performer
  • 2015Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC — Self (archive footage)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
  • 2014Double Take: Xavier & Magneto — Self
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
  • 2014Nelson Mandela Redrawn — Self
  • Trailblazer Honors — Self - Speaker
  • Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
  • 2013Muse of Fire — Self
  • 2013The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot — Self
  • 2013The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin — Self
  • 2012London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony — Self
  • 2011Looking for Lowry — Self
  • 2011The Betty Driver Story — Self
  • The Talk — Self
  • 2009Theatreland — Self
  • Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
  • 2007Guerrilla Distribution — Self
  • 2007The Art of Breaking Character — Self
  • The Graham Norton Show — Self - Guest
  • 2006Brett Ratner's X-Diaries — Self
  • 2006The Making of 'The Return of the King' — Self
  • 2006The Making of 'The Two Towers' — Self
  • The One Show — Self - Guest
  • 2006X3: The Excitement Continues — Self
  • 2005Ringers: Lord of the Fans — Self
  • 2005The Hobart Shakespeareans — Self
  • 2004A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King' — Self
  • 2004Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!! — Self
  • Parkinson — Self - Guest
  • Who Do You Think You Are? — Self
  • 2003Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King — Self
  • Churchill — Self - Narrator (voice)
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self
  • Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
  • 2003The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision — Self
  • 2003The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 — Self
  • 2003X-Men: Premieres Around the World — Self
  • Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Cameras in Middle-earth — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Designing and Building Middle-earth + Weta Workshop + Costume Design — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: From Book to Script — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Scale — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Cast — Self
  • 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: The Road Goes Ever On.. — Self
  • 2001Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring — Self
  • 2001Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings' — Self
  • 2001Quest for the Ring — Self
  • 2000Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed! — Self
  • 2000X-Men: The Mutant Watch — Self - 'Magneto'
  • 1999After Stonewall — Self
  • 1999The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale — Self
  • Parkinson — Self
  • The View — Self - Guest
  • 1996An Evening with Lily Savage — Self
  • 1994Age of Dissent — Self
  • Inside the Actors Studio — Self
  • 1994Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest — Self
  • Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras — Self
  • 1993A Simple Matter of Justice — Self
  • Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
  • Late Show with David Letterman — Self - Guest
  • Have I Got News for You — Self
  • An Audience with... — Self
  • Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
  • Film '72 — Self
  • Sesame Street — Self
  • Omnibus — Self - Reading Poetry
  • Tony Awards — Self - Winner
  • The Oscars — Self
  • Golden Globe Awards — Self - Presenter, Self - Winner
  • Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary — Self
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