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Sir Ian McKellen
McKellen at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born
Ian Murray McKellen

(1939-05-25) 25 May 1939 (age 85)[1]
Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
OccupationActor
Years active1959–present
Partner(s)Brian Taylor (1964–1972)
Sean Mathias (1978–1988)
Websitewww.mckellen.com

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor.[2][3] He is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Award's, four Drama Desk Award's and two Critics' Choice Award's. He has also received two Academy Award nominations, eight BAFTA film and tv nominations and five Emmy Award nominations. McKellen's work spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. His notable film roles include Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films.

McKellen was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979,[4] was knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts,[5] and was made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality, in the 2008 New Year Honours.[6]

Template:Ian McKellen sidebar

Early life

McKellen was born in Burnley, Lancashire,[7] the son of Denis Murray, a civil engineer, and Margery Lois (née Sutcliffe). He was their second child, with a sister, Jean, five years his elder.[8] He was not to live in Burnley long; shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, his family moved to Wigan. They lived there through the war and his early childhood until they relocated to Bolton in 1951, after his father had been promoted.[8][9] The experience of living through the war as a young child had some lasting impact on him, and he later claimed that "only after peace resumed ... did I realise that war wasn't normal."[9] In response to an interview question, when an interviewer remarked that he seemed quite calm in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks, he said: "Well, darling, you forget—I slept under a steel plate until I was four years old."[10]

McKellen's father, Denis Murray McKellen, was a civil engineer and lay preacher, and was of Scots-Irish and Scottish descent.[11] Both of McKellen's grandfathers were preachers, and his great-great-grandfather, James McKellen, was a "strict, evangelical Protestant minister" in Ballymena, County Antrim.[12] His home environment was strongly Christian, but non-orthodox. "My upbringing was of low nonconformist Christians who felt that you led the Christian life in part by behaving in a Christian manner to everybody you met."[13] When he was 12, his mother, Margery Lois (née Sutcliffe), died; his father died when he was 24. Of his coming out of the closet to his stepmother, Gladys McKellen, who was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, he said, "Not only was she not fazed, but as a member of a society which declared its indifference to people's sexuality years back, I think she was just glad for my sake that I wasn't lying anymore."[14]

McKellen attended Bolton School (Boys' Division),[15] of which he is still a supporter, attending regularly to talk to pupils. McKellen's acting career started at Bolton Little Theatre, of which he is now the patron.[16] An early fascination with the theatre was encouraged by his parents, who took him on a family outing to Peter Pan at the Opera House in Manchester when he was three.[8] When he was nine, his main Christmas present was a wood and bakelite, fold-away Victorian theatre from Pollocks Toy Theatres, with cardboard scenery and wires to push on the cut-outs of Cinderella and of Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.[8]

His sister took him to his first Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night,[17] by the amateurs of Wigan's Little Theatre, shortly followed by their Macbeth and Wigan High School for Girls' production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with music by Mendelssohn, with the role of Bottom played by Jean McKellen, who continued to act, direct, and produce amateur theatre up to her death.[18]

When he was 18 years old, McKellen won a scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he read English literature.[19]

Career

Theatre

McKellen with actors Billy Crudup and Patrick Stewart, at a September 24, 2013 press junket at Sardi's restaurant for Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land.

While at Cambridge McKellen was a member of the Marlowe Society, appearing in Henry IV (as Shallow) alongside Trevor Nunn and Derek Jacobi (March 1959), Cymbeline (as Posthumus, opposite Margaret Drabble as Imogen) and Doctor Faustus.[20][21][22] His first professional appearance was in 1961 at the Nottingham Playhouse, as Roper in A Man for All Seasons, although an audio recording of the Marlowe Society's Cymbeline had gone on commercial sale as part of the Argo Shakespeare series.[20][22]

After four years in regional repertory theatres he made his first West End appearance, in A Scent of Flowers, regarded as a "notable success".[20] In 1965 he was a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, which led to rôles at the Chichester Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s McKellen became a well-known figure in British theatre, performing frequently at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he played several leading Shakespearean roles, including the titular part in Macbeth (which he had first assayed for Trevor Nunn in a "gripping...out of the ordinary" production, with Judi Dench, at Stratford in 1976), and Iago in Othello, in award-winning productions directed by Nunn.[20] Both of these productions were adapted into television films, also directed by Nunn.

In 2007 he returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company, in productions of King Lear and The Seagull, both directed by Trevor Nunn. In 2009 he appeared in a very popular revival of Waiting for Godot at London's Haymarket Theatre, directed by Sean Mathias, and playing opposite Patrick Stewart.[23][24]

McKellen is Patron of English Touring Theatre and also President and Patron of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, an association of amateur theatre organisations throughout the UK.[25]

In late August 2012, McKellen took part in the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics, portraying Prospero from The Tempest.[26]

McKellen had taken film roles throughout his career—beginning in 1969 with his role of George Matthews in A Touch of Love, and his first leading role was in 1980 as D. H. Lawrence in Priest of Love,[27] but it was not until the 1990s that he became more widely recognised in this medium after several roles in blockbuster Hollywood films.[19]

In 1993, McKellen had a supporting role as a South African tycoon in the critically acclaimed[28] Six Degrees of Separation, in which he starred with Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland, and Will Smith. In the same year, he appeared in minor roles in the television miniseries Tales of the City (based on the novel by his friend Armistead Maupin) and the film Last Action Hero, in which he played Death.

Later that same year, he also appeared in the television film And the Band Played On, about the discovery of the AIDS virus, for which McKellen won a CableACE Award for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries and was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.[29] In 1995, he played the title role in Richard III,[30] which transported the setting into an alternative 1930s in which England is ruled by fascists. The film was a critical success.[31] McKellen co-produced and co-wrote the film, adapting the play for the screen based on a stage production of Shakespeare's play directed by Richard Eyre for the Royal National Theatre, in which McKellen had appeared.[19][31] As executive producer he returned his £50,000 fee to complete the filming of the final battle.[32] In his review of the film, Washington Post film critic Hal Hinson, called McKellen's performance a "lethally flamboyant incarnation", and said his "florid mastery ... dominates everything".[33] His performance in the title role garnered best actor nominations for the BAFTA Award and Golden Globe, and won the European Film Award for Best Actor. His screenplay was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

McKellen at the premiere of The Return of the King in Wellington, New Zealand, 1 December 2003.

He appeared in the modestly acclaimed film[34] Apt Pupil, which was directed by Bryan Singer and based on a story by Stephen King. McKellen portrayed an old Nazi officer, living under a false name in the U.S., who was befriended by a curious teenager (Brad Renfro) who threatened to expose him unless he told his story in detail. He was subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, wherein he played James Whale, the director of Show Boat (1936) and Frankenstein.[19]

In 1999 McKellen was cast, again under the direction of Bryan Singer, to play the comic book supervillain Magneto in the 2000 film X-Men and its sequels X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.[19] While filming X-Men McKellen was cast as the wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). He 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 nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role. He also voiced Gandalf in the video game adaptions of the film trilogy as well as in The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.[35] On 10 January 2011 it was officially confirmed that Mckellen would reprise the role of Gandalf in the three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit.[36]

On 16 March 2002, he was the host on Saturday Night Live. In 2003, McKellen made a guest appearance as himself on the American cartoon show The Simpsons, in a special British-themed episode entitled "The Regina Monologues", along with Tony Blair and J. K. Rowling. In April and May 2005, he played the role of Mel Hutchwright in Granada Television's long running soap opera, Coronation Street, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. He narrated Richard Bell's film Eighteen, as a grandfather who leaves his World War II memoirs on audio-cassette for his teenage grandson.

McKellen has appeared in limited release films, such as Emile (which was shot in three weeks following the X2 shoot),[37] Neverwas and Asylum. He appeared as Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code. During a 17 May 2006 interview on The Today Show with the Da Vinci Code cast and director, Matt Lauer posed a question to the group about how they would have felt if the film had borne a prominent disclaimer that it is a work of fiction, as some religious groups wanted.[38] McKellen responded, "I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying 'This is fiction.' I mean, walking on water? It takes... an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie — not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story." He continued, "And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing when they've seen it".[38] McKellen appeared in the 2006 series of Ricky Gervais' comedy series Extras, where he played himself directing Gervais' character Andy Millman in a play about gay lovers. McKellen received a 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series nomination for his performance. In 2009 he portrayed Number Two in The Prisoner, a remake of the 1967 cult series The Prisoner.[39] He will reprise his role as Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past, set for release in July 2014; he will share this role with Michael Fassbender, who played a younger version of the character in 2011's X-Men: First Class.[40] In November 2013 McKellen appeared in the one-off Doctor Who 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[41]

Personal life

McKellen and his first serious partner, Brian Taylor, a history teacher from Bolton, began their relationship in 1964.[42] It lasted for eight years, ending in 1972. They lived in London, where McKellen continued to pursue his career as an actor. For over a decade, he has lived in a five-storey Victorian conversion in Narrow Street, Limehouse.[43] In 1978 he met his second partner, Sean Mathias, at the Edinburgh Festival. This relationship lasted until 1988. According to Mathias, the ten-year love affair was tempestuous, with conflicts over McKellen's success in acting versus Mathias's somewhat less-successful career. Mathias later directed McKellen in Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2009. The pair entered into a business partnership with Evgeny Lebedev, purchasing the lease on The Grapes public house in Narrow Street.[44]

In the late 1980s, McKellen lost his appetite for meat except for fish, and so mostly excludes it from his diet.[45]

He has a tattoo of the Elvish number nine, written using Tengwar, on his shoulder in reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the original nine companions of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Sean Bean, Dominic Monaghan, and Viggo Mortensen) have the same tattoo. John Rhys-Davies, whose character was also one of the original nine companions, arranged for his stunt double to get the tattoo instead.[46]

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006.[47]

Activism

LGBT rights campaigning

McKellen at Manchester Pride 2010
McKellen at Europride 2003 in Manchester.

While McKellen had made his sexual orientation 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 programme on BBC Radio 3.[48] The context that prompted McKellen's decision — overriding any concerns about a possible negative effect on his career — was that the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Bill, simply known as Section 28, was under consideration in the British Parliament.[19] Section 28, which proposed to prohibit local authorities from "promoting homosexuality" 'as a kind of pretended family relationship', was ambiguous and the actual impact of the amendment was uncertain.[49] McKellen became active in fighting the proposed law, and declared himself gay on a BBC Radio programme where he debated the subject of Section 28 with the conservative journalist Peregrine Worsthorne.[19] McKellen has stated that he was influenced in his decision by the advice and support of his friends, among them noted gay author Armistead Maupin.[19] In a 1998 interview that discusses the 29th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, McKellen commented, "I have many regrets about not having come out earlier, but one of them might be that I didn't engage myself in the politicking."[50] He has said of this period: "My own participating in that campaign was a focus for people [to] take comfort that if Ian McKellen was on board for this, perhaps it would be all right for other people to be as well, gay and straight".[13] Section 28 was, however, enacted and remained on the statute books until 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in the rest of the UK.

In 2003, during an appearance on Have I Got News For You, McKellen claimed when he visited Michael Howard, then Environment Secretary (responsible for local government), in 1988 to lobby against Section 28, Howard refused to change his position but did ask him to leave an autograph for his children. McKellen agreed, but wrote, "Fuck off, I'm gay."[51] McKellen described Howard's junior ministers, Conservatives David Wilshire and Dame Jill Knight, who were the architects of Section 28, as the 'ugly sisters' of a political pantomime.[52]

McKellen has continued to be very active in LGBT rights efforts. In a statement on his website regarding his activism, the actor commented that:

I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about – nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fund-raiser) because I never want to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern; legal and social equality for gay people worldwide.[53]

McKellen is a co-founder of Stonewall, a LGBT rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, named after the Stonewall riots.[54] McKellen is also patron of LGBT History Month,[55] Pride London, GAY-GLOS, The Lesbian & Gay Foundation,[56] and FFLAG where he appears in their video "Parents Talking".[57]

In 1994, at the closing ceremony of the Gay Games, he briefly took the stage to address the crowd, saying, "I'm Sir Ian McKellen, but you can call me Serena" (this nickname, originally given to him by Stephen Fry, had been circulating within the gay community since McKellen's knighthood was conferred).[13] In 2002, he was the Celebrity Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade[58] and he attended the Academy Awards with his then-boyfriend, New Zealander Nick Cuthell. In 2006, McKellen spoke at the pre-launch of the 2007 LGBT History Month in the UK, lending his support to the organisation and its founder, Sue Sanders.[55] In 2007, he became a patron of The Albert Kennedy Trust, an organisation that provides support to young, homeless and troubled LGBT people.[54]

In 2006, he became a patron of Oxford Pride, stating:

"I send my love to all members of Oxford Pride, their sponsors and supporters, of which I am proud to be one... Onlookers can be impressed by our confidence and determination to be ourselves and gay people, of whatever age, can be comforted by the occasion to take the first steps towards coming out and leaving the closet forever behind."[59]

McKellen has taken his activism internationally, and caused a major stir in Singapore, where he was invited to do an interview on a morning show and shocked the interviewer by asking if they could recommend him a gay bar; the programme immediately ended.[60] In December 2008, he was named in Out's annual Out 100 list.[61]

In 2010, McKellen extended his support for Liverpool's Homotopia festival in which a group of gay and lesbian Merseyside teenagers helped to produce an anti-homophobia campaign pack for schools and youth centres across the city.[62] In May 2011, he called Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, a "coward" for refusing to allow gay parades in the city.[63]

Charity work

In April 2010, along with actors Brian Cox and Eleanor Bron, McKellen appeared in a series of TV advertisements to support Age UK, the charity recently formed from the merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged. All three actors gave their time free of charge.[64]

A cricket fan since childhood, McKellen umpired in March 2011 for a charity cricket match in New Zealand to support earthquake victims of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.[65][66]

McKellen is an honorary board member for the NY and Washington, DC based organization Only Make Believe.[67] Only Make Believe creates and performs interactive plays in children's hospitals and care facilities. He was honored by the organization in 2012 [68] and hosted their annual Make Believe on Broadway Gala in November 2013.[69] He garnered publicity for the organization by stripping down to his Lord of the Rings underwear on stage.

Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch

While in New Zealand filming The Hobbit in 2012, McKellen announced a special New Zealand tour 'Shakespeare, Tolkien, and You!', with proceeds from the shows going to help save the Isaac Theatre Royal, which suffered extensive damage during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. McKellen said he opted to help save the building as it was the last theatre he played in New Zealand (Waiting For Godot in 2010) and the locals' love for it made it a place worth contributing to.[70]

Selected credits

Stage

The hands of McKellen on a 1999 Gods and Monsters plaque in London's Leicester Square.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1964 The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling Plowden (TV)
1965 Sunday Out of Season Victor Leech (TV)
1965 The Wednesday Play Wolf Episode title "The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne"
1966 David Copperfield David Copperfield (TV)
1969 The Promise Leonidik
Alfred the Great Roger
A Touch of Love George Matthews
1970 Solo John Keats (TV)
1970 Edward II King Edward
1970 Hamlet Hamlet (TV Movie)
1971 The Tragedy of King Richard II King Richard II (TV Movie)
1972 Country Matters David Masterman
1974 Late Night Drama
1978 Jackanory Reader (TV)
1981 Priest of Love Lawrence
Pillar of Fire Narrator Documentary
1982 The Scarlet Pimpernel Paul Chauvelin
Walter Walter Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance
1983 The Keep Dr. Theodore Cuza
1985 Plenty Sir Andrew Charleson
Zina Arthur Kronfeld
1989 Scandal John Profumo
1993 Six Degrees of Separation Geoffrey Miller
The Ballad of Little Jo Percy Corcoran
Last Action Hero Death (cameo appearance)
And the Band Played On Bill Kraus CableACE Award for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
1994 To Die For Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
The Shadow Dr. Reinhardt Lane
I'll Do Anything John Earl McAlpine
1995 Restoration Will Gates
Cold Comfort Farm Amos Starkadder (TV)
Richard III Richard III European Film Award for Best Actor
Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Film
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Jack and Sarah William
1996 Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny Nicholas II Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1997 Swept from the Sea Dr. James Kennedy
Bent Uncle Freddie
1998 Gods and Monsters James Whale British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor (2nd place)
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Apt Pupil Kurt Dussander Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1999 David Copperfield Mr. Creakle (TV)
2000 X-Men Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Villain
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man Narrator (voice)
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Gandalf the Grey Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—DVD Exclusive Awards for Best Audio Commentary (shared with Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler)
Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actor
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Christopher Lee)
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Gandalf the White Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actor
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actor
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Emile Emile Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
The Simpsons Himself (voice)
episode "The Regina Monologues"
X2 Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto Nominated—Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Villain
2004 Eighteen Jason Anders (in voice)
2005 Neverwas Gabriel Finch
Asylum Dr. Peter Cleave
The Magic Roundabout Zebedee (voice)
Coronation Street Mel Hutchwright (10 episodes)
2006 Extras Himself Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Flushed Away The Toad Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
X-Men: The Last Stand Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto Nominated—Irish Film & Television Award for Best International Actor
Nominated—Teen Choice Awards for Movies – Choice Sleazebag
The Da Vinci Code Sir Leigh Teabing Nominated—Teen Choice Awards for Movies – Choice Sleazebag
2007 Stardust Narrator (voice)
The Golden Compass Iorek Byrnison
2008 King Lear King Lear Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
2009 The Prisoner Number Two Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gandalf the Grey Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Doctor Who The Great Intelligence Doctor Who "The Snowmen"
2013–present Vicious Freddie Thornhill TV (13 episodes)
2013 The Wolverine Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto Uncredited cameo
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Himself BBC Red Button webcast
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Gandalf the Grey
2014 The Hobbit: There and Back Again Post-production
X-Men: Days of Future Past Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto Shared with Michael Fassbender

Music

Audiobooks

Other work

A friend of actor Ian Charleson and an admirer of his work, McKellen contributed an entire chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.[83]

A recording of McKellen's voice is heard before performances at the Royal Festival Hall, reminding patrons to ensure their mobile phones and watch alarms are switched off, and to keep coughing to a minimum.[84][85]

He also took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony as Prospero.[26]

Achievements

List of awards and nominations received by Ian McKellen

Honours

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1979,[4] and knighted in 1991 New Year Honours for his outstanding work and contributions to theatre.[86][87][88] In the 2008 New Year Honours he was made a Companion of Honour (CH) for services to drama and to equality.[6]

Honorary degrees

In 2001 McKellen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Bath.[89] In 2004 McKellen was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters by Lancaster University. He was praised for his diversity of roles, his "deeply considered dramatic technique" and his Lancastrian roots.[90] In 2013 McKellen received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Ulster.[91]

Awards

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1208. Time Inc. 25 May 2012. p. 21.
  2. ^ Jackson, George (4 February 2013). "Nesbitt does the honours as fellow actor McKellen gets Ulster degree". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 4 February 2013. McKellen is recognised as one of the greatest living actors.
  3. ^ "Sir Ian McKellen receives award from University of Ulster". BBC News. BBC. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013. [O]ne of the greatest actors on stage and screen [...] Sir Ian's performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors
  4. ^ a b "No. 47888". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 26 June 1979.
  5. ^ "Sir Ian McKellen". Cinema.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  6. ^ a b "No. 58557". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 29 December 2007.
  7. ^ Barratt 2006, p. 1.
  8. ^ a b c d "Ian McKellen From the Beginning". Ian McKellen Official Home Page. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Pierless Youth". The Sunday Times Magazine. 2 January 1977. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Full Interview with McKellen". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  11. ^ Ian McKellen: an unofficial biography, Mark Barratt, Virgin Books, 2005, p. 2
  12. ^ "Ian McKellen traces roots to Ballymena". UTV. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Steele, Bruce C. (11 December 2001). "The Knight's Crusade". The Advocate. pp. 36–38, 40–45. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  14. ^ "McKellen about his stepmother". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  15. ^ "Famous Old Boltonians". Bolton School. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  16. ^ "Bolton Little Theatre". Bolton Little Theatre. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  17. ^ Curtis, Nick (9 December 2005). "Panto's grandest Dame". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  18. ^ J. W. Braun, The Lord of the Films (ECW Press, 2009)
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 8 December 2002. #5, season 9
  20. ^ a b c d Trowbridge, Simon (2008). Stratfordians. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. pp. 338–343. ISBN 978-0-9559830-1-6.
  21. ^ "Marlowe Chronology". Cambridge University Marlowe Dramatic Society. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  22. ^ a b Drabble, Margaret (1993). "Stratford revisited". In Novy, Marianne (ed.). Cross-cultural performances: differences in women's re-visions of Shakespeare. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-252-06323-6.
  23. ^ Paddock, Terri (31 October 2008). "McKellen & Stewart Wait in Haymarket Godot". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  24. ^ Wolf, Matt (7 May 2009). "McKellen and Stewart Deliver a 'Godot' With a Difference". New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  25. ^ "The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain". Littletheatreguild.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  26. ^ a b Paralympics: Games opening promises 'journey of discovery' BBC News
  27. ^ Cosmopolitan - "Ian McKellen bursts into film" - May 1981
  28. ^ "Six Degrees of Separation (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  29. ^ Sir Ian McKellen Emmy Nominated
  30. ^ "Richard III (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  31. ^ a b "Notes". McKellen.com. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  32. ^ Empire, May 2006
  33. ^ "A Rich 'Richard III' Rules". The Washington Post. 19 January 1996.
  34. ^ "Apt Pupil (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  35. ^ "2000's". Ian McKellen. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  36. ^ Rottenberg, Josh (10 January 2011). "Hobbit' scoop: Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis on board". Insidemovies.ew.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  37. ^ "Adrian Salpeter interviews Ian McKellen about Emile". Ian McKellen Official Home Page. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  38. ^ a b Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Us Weekly. 17 May 2006. Video clip available here [1].
  39. ^ Wilson, Benji (11 April 2010). "The Prisoner: remake of a 1960s TV classic". The Sunday Times. London.
  40. ^ Keyes, Rob (27 November 2012). "Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen Join 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'". Screenrant. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  41. ^ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013
  42. ^ "Ian McKellen profile at Tiscali". Tiscali Film and TV. Retrieved 11 April 2005.
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  51. ^ 10 things we didn't know this time last week. BBC News. 14 November 2003.
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  53. ^ "Activism". www.mckellen.com. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
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  56. ^ "Aim High". the Lesbian & Gay Foundation. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
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  66. ^ "Hollywood vs Wellywood fills The Basin". New Zealand.com. Tourism New Zealand. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
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  69. ^ "Ian McKellen Strips To His Undies At The Only Make Believe Gala". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
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  71. ^ Staff (6 March 2003). "Dance of Death, Lyric Shaftesbury". BBC London. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
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  74. ^ "Ian Mckellen reads 'Falling Out of Reach'". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  75. ^ Martin, Dan (14 April 2010). "Scissor Sisters collaborate with Ian McKellen: Lord of the Rings actor appears on final track of Scissor Sisters' long-awaited third album, Night Work". The Observer. London.
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  77. ^ "Ian McKellen reads Spirit Walker". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  78. ^ "Ian McKellen reads Soul Eater". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  79. ^ "Ian McKellen reads Outcast". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  80. ^ "McKellen reads Oath Breaker". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  81. ^ "McKellen reads Ghost Hunter". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  82. ^ "McKellen reading The Odyssey". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  83. ^ Ian McKellen, Alan Bates, Hugh Hudson, et al. For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. 125–130.
  84. ^ White, Michael (20 June 2011). "How to deal with the very worst concert nuisances". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  85. ^ Jim Pritchard (July 2010). "Verdi, La traviata: Soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: Yves Abel. Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 8.7.2010". MusicWeb International. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
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  88. ^ "No. 52543". The London Gazette. 28 May 1991.
  89. ^ "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present - the University of Bath". Honorary Graduates 1989 to present - the University of Bath. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  90. ^ "Honorary Degrees". Lancaster University. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  91. ^ "Build On Gay Equality Advances - Sir Ian McKellen". University of Ulster. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  92. ^ "Gay Power: The pink list". Independent on Sunday. 2 July 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2014. Classical actor turned Hollywood big hitter Sir Ian (or Serena, as he is affectionately known) splits his time between starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Da Vinci Code and campaigning for gay rights. Knighted in 1990, McKellen has used his position and his connections with pressure group Stonewall to push for equality. He also uses his status as a Hollywood insider to advise young gay actors to come out, so far without much success. Having reprised his triumphant role as pantomime dame Widow Twanky in the Old Vic's Aladdin (see Sean Mathias), he is also leading the all-star line-up at tonight's EuroPride: The Show in London. There can be few actors who manage to produce work of such extraordinary variety and quality while connecting with so many different people. He is our number one.
  93. ^ "Ian McKellen receives Donostia Award". Eitb.com. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  94. ^ Masters, Tim (28 March 2010). "Sci-fi triumphs at Empire awards". BBC News. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  95. ^ "IoS Pink List 2012: Lifetime achievement awards". Independent on Sunday. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.

Bibliography

Barratt, Mike (2006). Ian McKellen: An Unofficial Biography. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-1074-XTemplate:Inconsistent citations{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

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