Acting
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian McKellen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies with Ian McKellen
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
2014
Beauty and the Beast
2017
Avengers: Doomsday
2026
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013
The Da Vinci Code
2006
X-Men: Days of Future Past
2014
Stardust
2007
Flushed Away
2006
The Golden Compass
2007
Cats
2019
The Christophers
2026
Last Action Hero
1993
The Shadow
1994
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
2027
The Good Liar
2019
Apt Pupil
1998
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
2026
The Wolverine
2013
Mr. Holmes
2015
The Magic Roundabout
2005
Animal Crackers
2018
Jack & Sarah
1995
Plenty
1985
King Lear
2008
The Keep
1983
Gods and Monsters
1998
All Is True
2018
Richard III
1995
Scandal
1989
Muse of Fire
2013
Asylum
2005
The Making of 'The Two Towers'
2003
And the Band Played On
1993
The Roof
2016
I'll Do Anything
1994
Restoration
1995
X-Men: The Mutant Watch
2000
Bent
1997
The Dresser
2015
Infinitum: Subject Unknown
2021
The Critic
2024
Six Degrees of Separation
1993
The Scarlet Pimpernel
1982
On Broadway
2019
Mutant vs. Machine - The Making of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
2015
Doctor Who: The Snowmen
2012
Rasputin
1996
Cold Comfort Farm
1995
Alfred the Great
1969
Doogal
2006
Priest of Love
1981
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
2017
The Promise
1969
A Touch of Love
1969
Theatreland
2009
Swept from the Sea
1998
Hedda Gabler
1972
X-Men: Premieres Around the World
2003
X-Men: Reunited
2014
Zina
1985
Quest for the Ring
2001
The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin
2013
Frank and Percy
Emile
2003
Dragfox
2024
The Fellowship of the Ring: Designing and Building Middle-earth + Weta Workshop + Costume Design
2002
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
2014
Neverwas
2005
Miss in Her Teens
2014
Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'
2001
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
2005
The Making of 'The Return of the King'
2004
The Fellowship of the Ring: From Book to Script
2002
X-Men: Unguarded
2015
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
2013
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
2003
Hamlet Within
2022
Double Take: Xavier & Magneto
2014
X-Men: The Last Stand
2006
X2
2003
Edward II
1970
Craven Arms
1972
Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
The Ballad of Little Jo
1993
National Theatre Live: King Lear
2018
After Stonewall
1999
Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King
2003
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2
2003
The Betty Driver Story
2011
Saint of 9/11
2006
Looking for Lowry
2011
Schadenfreude
2025
McKellen: Playing the Part
2018
Scarfe's Follies
1988
The Fellowship of the Ring: The Road Goes Ever On..
2002
Eighteen
2005
The Egg Trick
2013
Macbeth
1979
No Man's Land
Hating Peter Tatchell
2021
To Die For
1994
Camp Christmas
1993
A Simple Matter of Justice
1993
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
2020
X-Men
2000
An Evening with Lily Savage
1996
The Fellowship of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Cast
2002
The Fellowship of the Ring: Scale
2002
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
The Fellowship of the Ring: Cameras in Middle-earth
2002
Gladio
1992
Dying Day
1980
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
1982
Shakespeare on Film
2016
National Theatre Live: No Man's Land
2016
Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
2010
A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King'
2004
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision
2003
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
2001
Richard II
Hamlet
2024
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
2016
The One Note Man
2023
Countdown to War
1989
Graceless Go I
1974
The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale
1999
Walter and June
1983
Othello
1990
My First Time
2004
Play the Devil: Making Richard III
2016
Süleyman the Magnificent
1987
Age of Dissent
1994
Surviving Friendly Fire
1997
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
2015
Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!
2004
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
2025
Dragged Through Time
2025
Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed!
2000
For the Love of God
2007
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
2024
LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes
2026
Hamlet
1970
Edmund the Magnificent
2017
The Hobart Shakespeareans
2005
The Tragedy of King Richard II
1970
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
2000
How a Kite Flies
2017
David Macaulay: Roman City
1994
London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony
2012
Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest
1994
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
2024
Freedom: 50 Years of Pride
2022
The Paul O'Grady Story
2017
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?
2004
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
2025
Walter
1982
Quintessentially British
2022
Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU
2020
The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne
1965
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen
2016
The Art of Breaking Character
2007
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
1979
A Bit Of Scarlet
1997
Guerrilla Distribution
2007
All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film
2016
Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up
1993
Small-Time Revolutionary
2010
TV Shows with Ian McKellen
Family Guy
1999
Sesame Street
1969
The Simpsons
1989
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
Coronation Street
1960
Late Show with David Letterman
1993
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Saturday Night Live
1975
The View
1997
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
ted
2024
Tony Awards
1956
The One Show
2006
HARDtalk
1997
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Have I Got News for You
1990
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014
ITV Playhouse
1967
Parkinson
1998
Playhouse
1974
The Oscars
1953
Omnibus
1967
The Wednesday Play
1964
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004
An Audience with...
1978
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
Extras
2005
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002
Who Do You Think You Are?
2004
Film '72
1971
Trailblazer Honors
2014
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
1994
Vicious
2013
David Copperfield
1999
The Prisoner
2009
Reunited Apart
2020
Tales of the City
1993
Perspectives
2011
Country Matters
1972
Solo
1970
Playing Shakespeare
1984
David Copperfield
1966
Amol Rajan Interviews
2021
Windmills of the Gods
1988
Churchill
2003
Billy & Dom Eat the World
2025
Pillar of Fire
1981
Inside the Actors Studio
1994
Great British Theatre
2021