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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
May 25, 1939
Place of Birth
Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Also Known As
- Иэн МакКеллен
- Sir Ian McKellen
- Sir Ian Murray McKellen
- Σερ Ίαν Μάρεϊ ΜακΚέλεν
- Ίαν ΜακΚέλεν
- Ίαν Μάρεϊ ΜακΚέλεν
- Ian McKellern
- 이안 맥켈런
- イアン・マッケラン
- 伊恩·麦凯伦
- 伊恩·麥克連
- ایان مککلن
- ی ین مککلن
- إيان ماكلين
- Іан Маккеллен
Ian McKellen
4.0 Popularity
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.
Known For
0.0
Gandalf
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
2027
0.0
Magneto
Avengers: Doomsday
2026
🎬
0.0
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
2026
0.0
Himself (archive footage)
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
2025
0.0
Julian Sklar
The Christophers
2025
🎬
0.0
Dragged Through Time
2025
0.0
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
2025
8.0
Himself
Billy & Dom Eat the World
2025
5.9
Jimmy Erskine
The Critic
2024
9.0
Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
Dragfox
2024
Credits
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
as Gandalf
2027
0.0
Avengers: Doomsday
as Magneto
2026
0.0
🎬
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
2026
0.0
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
as Himself (archive footage)
2025
0.0
The Christophers
as Julian Sklar
2025
0.0
🎬
Dragged Through Time
2025
0.0
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
2025
0.0
Billy & Dom Eat the World
as Himself
2025
8.0
The Critic
as Jimmy Erskine
2024
5.9
Dragfox
as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
2024
9.0
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
2024
0.0
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
as Self
2024
7.0
Hamlet
as Hamlet
2024
7.6
ted
as Narrator (voice)
2024
7.9
The One Note Man
as Narrator (voice)
2023
7.0
Quintessentially British
as Self
2022
3.8
Freedom: 50 Years of Pride
as Self
2022
8.0
Hamlet Within
2022
0.0
Hating Peter Tatchell
as Self
2021
4.1
Great British Theatre
2021
0.0
Infinitum: Subject Unknown
as Dr. Charles Marland-White
2021
5.4
Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU
2020
6.0
Reunited Apart
as Self
2020
5.5
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
2020
10.0
Cats
as Gus, the Theatre Cat
2019
4.1
The Good Liar
as Roy Courtnay
2019
6.7
On Broadway
as Self
2019
8.7
All Is True
as Earl of Southampton
2018
6.0
National Theatre Live: King Lear
as King Lear
2018
8.1
McKellen: Playing the Part
as Himself
2018
7.2
Animal Crackers
as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
2017
6.3
The Paul O'Grady Story
as Self
2017
8.3
How a Kite Flies
as Mr. Kite (voice)
2017
0.0
Beauty and the Beast
as Cogsworth
2017
7.0
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
as Self
2017
6.3
Edmund the Magnificent
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2017
7.3
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
as Self
2016
7.8
National Theatre Live: No Man's Land
as Spooner
2016
7.5
🎬
Play the Devil: Making Richard III
2016
0.0
🎬
Shakespeare on Film
2016
6.0
🎬
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen
2016
6.0
All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film
as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
2016
0.0
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
as Self - Performer
2016
7.2
The Roof
as And Even Yet Another Fan
2016
6.3
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
as Self (archive footage)
2015
0.0
The Dresser
as Norman
2015
6.2
Mr. Holmes
as Sherlock Holmes
2015
6.5
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
2014
4.6
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
as Gandalf the Grey
2014
7.3
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
as Self
2014
0.0
Trailblazer Honors
as Self - Speaker
2014
7.5
X-Men: Days of Future Past
as Magneto
2014
7.5
🎬
Miss in Her Teens
as The Prologue
2014
3.0
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self
2014
5.3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
as Gandalf the Grey
2013
7.6
The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin
as Self
2013
6.9
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
as Self
2013
7.8
Muse of Fire
as Self
2013
6.5
The Wolverine
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
2013
6.4
The Egg Trick
as Magician
2013
6.0
Vicious
as Freddie Thornhill
2013
7.5
Doctor Who: The Snowmen
as The Great Intelligence (voice)
2012
7.7
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as Gandalf the Grey
2012
7.4
London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony
as Self
2012
7.5
Perspectives
2011
0.0
Looking for Lowry
as Himself
2011
0.0
The Betty Driver Story
as Self
2011
10.0
Lady Grey London
2010
7.0
Small-Time Revolutionary
as Hamish Miller (voice)
2010
3.0
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
as Narrator (voice)
2010
7.0
The Prisoner
as 2 / Curtis
2009
5.7
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest
2009
5.1
Theatreland
as Himself
2009
0.0
King Lear
as King Lear
2008
6.7
The Golden Compass
as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
2007
6.1
Stardust
as Narrator (voice)
2007
7.3
🎬
The Art of Breaking Character
as Self
2007
0.0
🎬
For the Love of God
as The Jackdaw
2007
4.0
The Graham Norton Show
as Self - Guest
2007
7.2
The Graham Norton Show
as Self
2007
7.2
Guerrilla Distribution
as Himself
2007
0.0
Flushed Away
as The Toad (voice)
2006
6.3
The One Show
as Self - Guest
2006
4.4
X-Men: The Last Stand
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
2006
6.4
The Da Vinci Code
as Sir Leigh Teabing
2006
6.7
Saint of 9/11
as Narrator
2006
5.7
Doogal
as Zebedee (voice)
2006
4.9
Neverwas
as Gabriel Finch
2005
6.4
Asylum
as Dr. Peter Cleave
2005
5.9
The Hobart Shakespeareans
as Himself
2005
4.0
Extras
as Ian McKellen
2005
7.8
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
as Self
2005
6.3
Eighteen
as Jason Anders (voice)
2005
4.2
A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King'
as Self
2004
6.0
The Magic Roundabout
as Zebedee (voice)
2004
5.4
Who Do You Think You Are?
as Self
2004
6.7
My First Time
as Narrator
2004
2.0
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004
4.6
Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!
as Self
2004
6.7
The Making of 'The Return of the King'
as Self
2004
8.8
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?
2004
0.0
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision
as Self
2003
6.2
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
as Gandalf
2003
8.5
Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King
as Self
2003
8.1
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making 'X2'
2003
7.0
Churchill
as Himself - Narrator (voice)
2003
7.0
X2
as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
2003
7.0
The Making of 'The Two Towers'
2003
8.8
Real Time with Bill Maher
as Self
2003
6.0
X-Men: Premieres Around the World
as Self
2003
5.9
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
2003
4.5
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
2003
5.5
Emile
as Emile
2003
5.8
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
as Gandalf
2002
8.4
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
as Self
2002
6.1
Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring
as Self
2001
6.5
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
as Gandalf
2001
8.4
Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'
as Self
2001
7.8
Quest for the Ring
as Self
2001
5.6
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
as Narrator (voice)
2001
0.0
Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed!
as Self
2000
6.2
X-Men
as Magneto
2000
7.0
X-Men: The Mutant Watch
as Self - 'Magneto'
2000
7.0
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
as Narrator (voice)
2000
7.1
David Copperfield
as Creakle
1999
7.1
The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale
as Self
1999
6.0
After Stonewall
as Self
1999
5.4
Family Guy
as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
1999
7.4
Apt Pupil
as Kurt Dussander
1998
6.5
Gods and Monsters
as James Whale
1998
6.9
Swept from the Sea
as Dr. James Kennedy
1998
6.4
Parkinson
as Self
1998
0.0
Bent
as Uncle Freddie
1997
6.8
The View
as Self - Guest
1997
4.3
Surviving Friendly Fire
1997
1.0
A Bit Of Scarlet
as Narrator
1997
4.1
An Evening with Lily Savage
as Self
1996
0.0
Rasputin
as Tsar Nicholas II
1996
6.5
Richard III
as Richard III
1995
6.7
Restoration
as Will Gates
1995
6.0
Jack & Sarah
as William
1995
6.7
Cold Comfort Farm
as Amos Starkadder
1995
6.8
To Die For
as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
1994
2.0
Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest
as Self
1994
0.0
Inside the Actors Studio
as Self
1994
7.5
The Shadow
as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
1994
6.1
David Macaulay: Roman City
as Augustus Caesar (voice)
1994
9.0
I'll Do Anything
as John Earl McAlpine
1994
5.5
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
as Self
1994
0.0
Camp Christmas
1993
2.7
Six Degrees of Separation
as Geoffrey
1993
6.4
Tales of the City
as Archibald Anson Gidde
1993
7.7
And the Band Played On
as Bill Kraus
1993
6.4
The Ballad of Little Jo
as Percy Corcoran
1993
5.8
Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up
as Narration (voice)
1993
0.0
Last Action Hero
as Death
1993
6.5
Gladio
as Aldo Moro (voice)
1992
7.0
Have I Got News for You
as Self
1990
7.1
Othello
as Iago
1990
7.0
The Simpsons
as Ian McKellen (voice)
1989
8.0
Countdown to War
as Adolf Hitler
1989
5.0
Scandal
as John Profumo
1989
5.9
Windmills of the Gods
as Chairman
1988
5.8
Scarfe's Follies
1988
0.0
Süleyman the Magnificent
as Narrator
1987
0.0
Zina
as Kronfeld
1985
5.4
Plenty
as Sir Andrew Charleson
1985
5.7
Playing Shakespeare
1984
10.0
The Keep
as Dr. Theodore Cuza
1983
5.6
Walter and June
as Walter
1983
7.0
The Scarlet Pimpernel
as Chauvelin
1982
6.7
Walter
as Walter
1982
5.2
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
1982
0.0
Pillar of Fire
as Narrator
1981
9.5
Priest of Love
as D.H. Lawrence
1981
4.8
🎬
Dying Day
as Antony Skipling
1980
0.0
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
as Alexander Ivanov
1979
0.0
Macbeth
as Macbeth
1979
7.3
Armchair Thriller
as Anthony Skipling
1978
4.2
An Audience with...
as Self
1978
5.3
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
7.0
🎬
Graceless Go I
as Tony
1974
0.0
Playhouse
as Alexander
1974
7.0
🎬
Hedda Gabler
as George Tesman
1972
0.0
Country Matters
as David Masterman
1972
3.3
Hamlet
as Hamlet
1970
0.0
Edward II
as King Edward
1970
4.2
The Tragedy of King Richard II
as King Richard II
1970
0.0
🎬
The Promise
1969
0.0
Sesame Street
as Self
1969
7.1
Alfred the Great
as Roger
1969
4.3
A Touch of Love
as George
1969
6.3
Omnibus
as Self - Reading Poetry
1967
7.2
🎬
David Copperfield
as David Copperfield
1966
5.0
The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne
as Wolf
1965
0.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Captain Plume
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Simon Bliss
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Ross / T.E. Lawrence
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as George Tesman
1965
5.0
The Wednesday Play
as Wolf
1964
4.5
Coronation Street
as Mel Hutchwright
1960
5.3
Tony Awards
as Self - Winner
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
1956
5.9
The Oscars
as Self
1953
7.0
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Presenter
1944
7.2
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Winner
1944
7.2
🎬
Frank and Percy
as Percy
N/A
0.0
🎬
Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary
as Self
N/A
0.0
Schadenfreude
as Continuity Announcer
N/A
0.0
🎬
Richard II
as Richard II
N/A
0.0
🎬
No Man's Land
as Spooner
N/A
0.0