Actor, born in Burnley, Lancashire, NW England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and went on to appear in several repertory theatres before making his London debut in 1964. He joined the National Theatre in 1965, the touring Prospect Theatre Company in 1968, and with Edward Petherbridge founded the Actors' Company in 1972. He played many memorable parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company (19748), including the title role of the 1976 Trevor Nunn production of Macbeth with Judi Dench. In 19989 he led the first resident ensemble company at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, directed by Jude Kelly. His films include Scandal (1988), Richard III (1995), Cold Comfort Farm (1996), Gods and Monsters (1998), the Lord of the Rings trilogy (20013), and The Da Vinci Code (2006). He is also known for his solo recitals on a wide range of themes. In December 2004 he made his debut as a pantomime dame in Aladdin at London's Old Vic Theatre. He was knighted in 1991.
Sir Ian Murray McKellen|
Sir Ian McKellen at the premiere of The Return of the King in Wellington, New Zealand, December 1, 2003. |
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| Born: |
May 25, 1939 Burnley, Lancashire, England |
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| Occupation: | Actor |
| Website: | McKellen.com |
Sir Ian Murray McKellen CBE, (born May 25, 1939) is a veteran English stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations.
McKellen's father, Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer, was a lay preacher, and both of his grandfathers were preachers as well.
Theatre career
McKellen made his stage début in Coventry in 1961 and his West End début in 1964.
The role that made McKellen famous was his 1969 portrayal of King Edward II of England in the Prospect Theatre Company's touring production of Marlowe's Edward II.
McKellen starred on Broadway in Bent, a play about gay men in Nazi death camps, starting in 1979.
Mainstream success
McKellen had taken film roles throughout his career - beginning in 1969 with A Touch of Love, excluding the unreleased The Bells of Hell Go Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling (1966) – but it was not until the 1990s that he became more widely recognised in this medium, through several roles in blockbuster Hollywood movies.
In 1993, McKellen had a supporting role as a South African tycoon in the sleeper hit Six Degrees of Separation, in which he starred with Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland, and Will Smith.
In 1995, he played the title role in Richard III, a film he also co-wrote (adapting the play for the screen based on a stage production of Shakespeare's play directed by Richard Eyre for the Royal National Theatre) and co-produced.
McKellen has become a major global star by playing leading roles in blockbuster films. McKellen received honors from the Screen Actors Guild for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in The Fellowship of the Ring and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.
Gay rights work
While McKellen had made his sexuality known to his fellow actors early on in his stage career, it was not until 1988 that he came out to the general public, in a Radio Four debate. (This nickname, originally given to him by Stephen Fry, had been circulating within the gay community since McKellen's knighthood was conferred.) In 2002 he attended the Academy Awards with his then-boyfriend, New Zealander Nick Cuthell - possibly a first for a major nominee since Nigel Hawthorne, the first openly gay performer to be nominated for an Academy Award, who attended the ceremonies with his partner, Trevor Bentham, in 1995.
Awards
1981: New York Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, for Amadeus 1983: London Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Revival, for Wild Honey 1984: London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor, for Coriolanus 1989: London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor, for Othello 1990: London Olivier Award for Best Actor, for Richard III 1996: European Film Award for Best Actor, for Richard III 1997: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie, for Rasputin 1998: National Board of Review for Best Actor, for Gods and Monsters 1999: Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor, for Gods and Monsters 2002: Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingSelected stage and screen credits
Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing, Royal National Theatre, Old Vic, London, 1965 Trelawney of the "Wells", National Theatre, London & London, 1977 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, RSC, Barbican Arts Centre (London), 1977 Three Sisters, RSC, UK Tour, 1978 Bent, West End, 1979 Amadeus (as Salieri), Broadway, 1980 Coriolanus (title role), National Theatre, 1984 Wild Honey, National Theatre, 1984 (& Broadway, 1986) The Cherry Orchard (as Lopakhin), National Theatre, 1985 The Duchess of Malfi, National Theatre, 1985 The Real Inspector Hound, National Theatre, London & US tour, 1992 Uncle Vanya (title role), National Theatre, 1992 Peter Pan (as Mr. Darling/Captain Hook), National Theatre, 1997 An Enemy of the People, National Theatre, 1997 & 2005 The Cut, Donmar Warehouse, 2006 King Lear by William Shakespeare, (as Lear), Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2007 The Seagull by Anton Chekov, (as Sorin), Courtyard Theatre, Strafford-upon-Avon, 2007Film
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes | |
| 2007 | Magneto | Eric Lensherr/Magneto | Announced | |
| The Colossus | Cecil Rhodes | Pre-Production | ||
| 2006 | Displaced | |||
| Flushed Away | Toad (voice) | |||
| X-Men: The Last Stand | Eric Lensherr/Magneto | |||
| The Da Vinci Code | Sir Leigh Teabing | |||
| Doogal | Zebedee (voice) | |||
| 2005 | Neverwas | Gabriel Finch | ||
| Asylum | Dr. Peter Cleave | |||
| The Magic Roundabout | Zebedee (voice) | |||
| 2004 | Eighteen | Jason Anders | ||
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Gandalf the White | ||
| Emile | Emile | |||
| X2 | Eric Lensherr/Magneto | |||
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White | ||
| 2001 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Gandalf the Grey | ||
| 2000 | X-Men | Eric Lensherr/Magneto | ||
| Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man | Narrator (voice) | |||
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Kurt Dussander | ||
| Gods and Monsters | James Whale | |||
| 1997 | Swept from the Sea | Dr. James Kennedy | ||
| Bent | Uncle Freddie | |||
| 1995 | Restoration | Will Gates | ||
| Richard III | Richard III | |||
| Jack and Sarah | William | |||
| 1994 | To Die For | Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice) | ||
| The Shadow | Dr. Reinhardt Lane | |||
| I'll Do Anything | John Earl McAlpine | |||
| 1993 | Six Degrees of Separation | Geoffrey Miller | ||
| The Ballad of Little Jo | Percy Corcoran | |||
| Last Action Hero | Death | |||
| 1989 | Scandal | John Profumo | ||
| 1985 | Plenty | Sir Andrew Charleson | ||
| Zina | Kronfeld | |||
| 1983 | The Keep | Dr. Theodore Cuza | ||
| 1981 | Priest of Love | Lawrence | ||
| 1969 | The Promise | Leonidik | ||
| Alfred the Great | Roger | |||
| A Touch of Love | George Matthews |
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