Ian McKellen
Acting
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
Acting228
movieAvengers: Doomsday
2026
Magneto
movieLS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes
2026
L S Lowry
movieSchadenfreude
2025
Continuity Announcer
movieA World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
2025
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Christophers
2025
Julian Sklar
movieThe Critic
2024
Jimmy Erskine
movieDragfox
2024
Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
movieHamlet
2024
Hamlet
tvted
2024
Narrator (voice)
movieThe One Note Man
2023
Narrator (voice)
tvAmol Rajan Interviews
2021
Self - Interviewed Guest
movieInfinitum: Subject Unknown
2021
Dr. Charles Marland-White
movieCats
2019
Gus, the Theatre Cat
movieThe Good Liar
2019
Roy Courtnay
movieAll Is True
2018
Earl of Southampton
movieAnimal Crackers
2018
Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
movieHow a Kite Flies
2017
Mr. Kite (voice)
movieBeauty and the Beast
2017
Cogsworth
movieEdmund the Magnificent
2017
Self - Narrator (voice)
movieAll the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film
2016
Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
movieShakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
Self - Performer
movieThe Roof
2016
And Even Yet Another Fan
movieKnights of Classic Drama at the BBC
2015
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Dresser
2015
Norman
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self - Guest / Self
movieMr. Holmes
2015
Sherlock Holmes
movieThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
2014
Gandalf the Grey
tvTrailblazer Honors
2014
Self - Speaker
movieMiss in Her Teens
2014
The Prologue
tvLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Self - Guest
movieThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013
Gandalf the Grey
movieThe Wolverine
2013
Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
movieThe Egg Trick
2013
Magician
tvVicious
2013
Freddie Thornhill
movieDoctor Who: The Snowmen
2012
The Great Intelligence (voice)
movieThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012
Gandalf the Grey
tvThe Talk
2010
Self
movieSmall-Time Revolutionary
2010
Hamish Miller (voice)
movieA Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
2010
Narrator (voice)
tvThe Prisoner
2009
2 / Curtis
tvWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
Self - Guest
movieKing Lear
2008
King Lear
movieThe Golden Compass
2007
Iorek Byrnison (voice)
movieStardust
2007
Narrator (voice)
tvThe Graham Norton Show
2007
Self - Guest / Self
movieFlushed Away
2006
The Toad (voice)
tvThe One Show
2006
Self - Guest
movieX-Men: The Last Stand
2006
Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
movieThe Da Vinci Code
2006
Sir Leigh Teabing
movieSaint of 9/11
2006
Narrator
movieDoogal
2006
Zebedee (voice)
movieNeverwas
2005
Gabriel Finch
movieAsylum
2005
Dr. Peter Cleave
tvExtras
2005
Ian McKellen
movieThe Magic Roundabout
2005
Zebedee (voice)
movieEighteen
2005
Jason Anders (voice)
movieMy First Time
2004
Narrator
tvChurchill
2003
Self - Narrator (voice)
movieX2
2003
Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
movieEmile
2003
Emile
movieLarry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
2001
Narrator (voice)
movieX-Men
2000
Magneto
movieX-Men: The Mutant Watch
2000
Self - 'Magneto'
movieCirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
2000
Narrator (voice)
tvDavid Copperfield
1999
Creakle
tvFamily Guy
1999
Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
movieApt Pupil
1998
Kurt Dussander
movieGods and Monsters
1998
James Whale
movieSwept from the Sea
1998
Dr. James Kennedy
tvParkinson
1998
Self
movieBent
1997
Uncle Freddie
tvThe View
1997
Self - Guest
movieA Bit Of Scarlet
1997
Narrator
movieRasputin
1996
Tsar Nicholas II
movieRichard III
1995
Richard III
movieRestoration
1995
Will Gates
movieJack & Sarah
1995
William
movieCold Comfort Farm
1995
Amos Starkadder
movieTo Die For
1994
Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
movieThe Shadow
1994
Dr. Reinhardt Lane
movieDavid Macaulay: Roman City
1994
Augustus Caesar (voice)
movieI'll Do Anything
1994
John Earl McAlpine
tvTales of the City
1993
Archibald Anson Gidde
tvLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Self - Guest
movieAnd the Band Played On
1993
Bill Kraus
tvLate Show with David Letterman
1993
Self - Guest
movieThe Ballad of Little Jo
1993
Percy Corcoran
movieArmistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up
1993
Narration (voice)
movieGladio
1992
Aldo Moro (voice)
movieOthello
1990
Iago
tvThe Simpsons
1989
Ian McKellen (voice)
movieCountdown to War
1989
Adolf Hitler
movieScandal
1989
John Profumo
tvWindmills of the Gods
1988
Chairman
movieZina
1985
Kronfeld
moviePlenty
1985
Sir Andrew Charleson
movieThe Keep
1983
Dr. Theodore Cuza
movieWalter and June
1983
Walter
movieThe Scarlet Pimpernel
1982
Chauvelin
movieWalter
1982
Walter
tvAmerican Playhouse
1982
Archibald Anson Gidde
tvPillar of Fire
1981
Narrator
moviePriest of Love
1981
D.H. Lawrence
Dying Day
1980
Antony Skipling
movieEvery Good Boy Deserves Favour
1979
Alexander Ivanov
movieMacbeth
1979
Macbeth
tvSaturday Night Live
1975
Self - Host
tvPlayhouse
1974
Alexander
Hedda Gabler
1972
George Tesman
Craven Arms
1972
David Masterman
tvCountry Matters
1972
David Masterman
movieHamlet
1970
Hamlet
movieEdward II
1970
King Edward
movieThe Tragedy of King Richard II
1970
King Richard II
movieA Touch of Love
1969
George
tvOmnibus
1967
Self - Reading Poetry
David Copperfield
1966
David Copperfield
tvBBC Play of the Month
1965
Captain Plume / Simon Bliss / Ross / T.E. Lawrence / George Tesman
tvCoronation Street
1960
Mel Hutchwright
tvTony Awards
1956
Self - Winner
tvThe Oscars
1953
Self
tvGolden Globe Awards
1944
Self - Presenter / Self - Winner
Richard II
Richard II
Production2
movieThe Isle
2019
Associate Producer
movieRichard III
1995
Executive Producer
Writing1
movieRichard III
1995
Screenplay