Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen
McKellen at the premiere of The Return of the King in Wellington, New Zealand, 1 December 2003
Born	(1939-05-25) 25 May 1939 Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–present
Partner(s)	Brian Taylor (1964–1972) Sean Mathias (1978–1988)
Website
http://www.mckellen.com/

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award and two Academy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is known to many for roles such as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and as Magneto in the X-Men films.

In 1988, McKellen came out and announced he was gay. He became a founding member of Stonewall, one of the United Kingdom's most influential LGBT rights groups, of which he remains a prominent spokesman.

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

Early years

McKellen was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England, though he spent most of his early life in Wigan. Born shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the experience had some lasting impact on him. 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."

McKellen's father, Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer, was a lay preacher, and both of his grandfathers were preachers. At the time of Ian's birth, his parents already had a five-year-old daughter, Jean. 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." When he was 12, his mother, Margery Lois (née Sutcliffe), died; his father died when he was 24. When he came out of the closet to his stepmother, Gladys McKellen, who was a member of the Religious Society of Friends: "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."

McKellen attended Bolton School (boys division), 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. An early fascination with the theatre was encouraged by his parents, who took him on a family outing to Peter Pan at the Manchester Opera House when he was three. 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 Olivier's Hamlet. His sister took him to his first Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night, 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 and with the role of Bottom played by Jean McKellen. (Jean continued to act, direct, and produce amateur theatre up to her death.)

He won a scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, when he was eighteen, where he developed an attraction to Derek Jacobi. He has characterised it as "a passion that was undeclared and unrequited". He and his first serious partner, Brian Taylor, a history teacher from Bolton, began their relationship in 1964. 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-story Victorian conversion in Narrow Street, Limehouse. In 1978 he met his second partner, Sean Mathias, at the Edinburgh Festival. According to Mathias, the ten-year love affair was tempestuous, with conflicts over McKellen's success in acting versus Mathias' somewhat less-successful career.

A friend of Ian Charleson and a great admirer of his work, McKellen contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.

In the early 1980s, McKellen lost his appetite for meat except for fish, and so mostly precludes it from his diet.

Theatre

While at Cambridge McKellen was a member of the Marlowe Society, appearing in Henry IV (as Shallow) alongside Trevor Nunn and Jacobi (March 1959), Cymbeline (as Posthumus, opposite Margaret Drabble as Imogen) and Doctor Faustus. 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. After four years in regional repertory theatres he made his first West End appearance, in A Scent of Flowers, regarded as a "notable success". 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 rôles, 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. Both of these productions were adapted into TV films, also directed by Nunn.

In 2007 he returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company, in sell-out 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.

Sir Ian is also President and Patron of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, an association of amateur theatre organisations throughout the UK.

Popular success

McKellen had taken film roles throughout his career — beginning in 1969 with his role of George Matthews in A Touch of Love, 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 critically acclaimed 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. The same year, McKellen appeared in the TV movie 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.

In 1995, he played the title role in the critical hit Richard III, which transported the setting 400 years into the future in 1930s fascist England. 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. In McKellen's role as executive producer he returned his £50,000 fee in order to complete the filming of the final battle. In his review of the film, Hal Hinson of The Washington Post, called McKellen's performance a "lethally flamboyant incarnation" and said his "florid mastery ... dominates everything". 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.

His breakthrough role for mainstream American audiences came with the modestly acclaimed Apt Pupil, 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. His casting was based partly on his performance in Cold Comfort Farm, seen by Apt Pupil director Bryan Singer, despite the BBC's refusal to release it in cinemas. 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 gay director of Show Boat (1936) and Frankenstein.

He reteamed with Bryan Singer to play the comic book character Magneto in X-Men and its sequels X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. It was while filming X-Men that he 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). McKellen received honours 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. 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.

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 is also known for his voicework, having narrated Richard Bell's film Eighteen, as a grandfather who leaves his World War II memoirs on audiocassette for his teenage grandson.

McKellen has appeared in limited release films, such as Emile (which was shot in a few days during the X2 shoot), 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. 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". 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. He also appeared in the 2009 remake of the 1967 The Prisoner, where he played the character Number Two.

LGBT rights campaigning

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. The context that prompted McKellen's decision — overriding 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. 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.

In 2003, during an appearance on Have I Got News For You, McKellen claimed that 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 also described Howard's junior ministers, the Conservatives David Wilshire and Dame Jill Knight, who were the architects of Section 28, as the 'ugly sisters' of a political pantomime.

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. 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. 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". Section 28 was, however, enacted and remained on the statute books until 2003. In the intervening period, McKellen continued to fight for its repeal and criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair for failing to concern himself with the issue.

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.

”

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

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). 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.

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. In 2007 McKellen became a patron of The Albert Kennedy Trust, an organisation that provides support to young, homeless and troubled LGBT people.

In 2006, McKellen became a Patron of Oxford Pride. At the time he said:

“

I have been to many Pride occasions across the World, from being Grand Marshall in San Francisco to the first ever gay march in Johannesburg in post-apartheid South Africa. Wherever gay people gather publicly to celebrate their sense of community, there are two important results. First, onlookers can be impressed by our confidence and determination to be ourselves and, second, gay people, of whatever age, can be comforted by the occasion to take first steps towards coming out and leaving the closet forever behind. I send my love to all members of Oxford Pride, their sponsors and supporters, of which I am proud to be one.

”

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

Selected stage and screen credits

Stage

• Much Ado About Nothing, Royal National Theatre, Old Vic, London, 1965
• Trelawny of the 'Wells', National Theatre, London & Chichester Festival, 1965
• The Promise, West End; Broadway, 1967
• Edward II (in title role), Edinburgh Festival & West End, 1969
• Hamlet (title role), UK/European Tour, 1971
• 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, UK Tour, 1972
• Dr Faustus (title role), Royal Shakespeare Company, Edinburgh Festival & Aldwych Theatre (London), 1974
• King John, RSC, 1975
• Romeo and Juliet (as Romeo), RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & London, 1976
• The Winter's Tale, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1976
• Macbeth (title role), RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & Young Vic (London), 1976–1977
• The Alchemist, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & London, 1977
• Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, RSC, Barbican Arts Centre (London), 1977
• Three Sisters, RSC, UK Tour, 1978
• Bent, (as Max) Royal Court and Criterion, London, 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 & Paris, 1985
• Othello (as Iago), RSC, London & Stratford-upon-Avon, 1989
• Richard III (title role), National Theatre, world tour, 1990 & 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 & Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles), 1998
• Present Laughter, West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds, England), 1998
• Dance of Death, at the Broadhurst Theatre (New York) in 2001. At the Lyric Theatre (London, England) in 2003
• Aladdin, (as Widow Twankie) Old Vic, 2004 & 2005
• The Cut, Donmar Warehouse, 2006
• King Lear by William Shakespeare, (as Lear), Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2007
• The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, (as Sorin), Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2007; New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 2007 Minneapolis, 2007, New London Theatre ( West End), 2007–8
• King Lear by William Shakespeare, (as Lear), New Zealand, 2007; New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 2007, Minneapolis, 2007, New London Theatre ( West End), 2007–8
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, (as Estragon), London, 2009 the Theatre Royal Haymarket
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett; revival at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2010 for a limited run
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett; Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Australia 2010
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett; Fugard Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa 2010

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	David Copperfield	David Copperfield	(TV)
1969	The Promise	Leonidik
	Alfred the Great	Roger
	A Touch of Love	George Matthews
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	(uncredited cameo)
	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
	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 Actor – 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	Apt Pupil	Kurt Dussander	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (also for Gods and Monsters) Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for Gods and Monsters)
	Gods and Monsters	James Whale	British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (also for Apt Pupil) Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for Apt Pupil) 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 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
1999	David Copperfield	Mr. Creakle	(TV)
2000	X-Men	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Nominated— Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Villain
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— Empire Award for Best British Actor 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 Nominated— DVD Exclusive Awards for Best Audio Commentary (shared with Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler) Nominated— MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Christopher Lee)
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
	Tusker	Tusker
2003	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Gandalf the White	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— Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor 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
	Emile	Emile	Nominated— Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
	The Simpsons	Himself	The Regina Monologues episode
	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	Ian McKellen	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 (also for The Da Vinci Code)
	The Da Vinci Code	Sir Leigh Teabing	Nominated— Teen Choice Awards for Movies – Choice Sleazebag (also for X-Men: The Last Stand)
2007	Stardust	Narrator	(voice)
	The Golden Compass	Iorek Byrnison	(voice)
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

Awards and honours

In 2004 McKellen was conferred an honourary Doctor of Letters by Lancaster University. He was praised for his diversity of roles, his "deeply considered dramatic technique" and his Lancastrian roots.

• 1981: New York Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, for Amadeus
• 1984: 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
• 1998: Back Stage West Garland Awards, for his one-man show A Knight Out in Los Angeles
• 2004: Manila, Philippines Pride International Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement & Distinction Award
• 2007: Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production, for Flushed Away
• In May 2007, he was named, by the Independent on Sunday Pink List, the fifth most influential gay person in Britain, down from the 1st place the previous year.
• 2009: San Sebastián International Film Festival Donostia Award in recognition of an extensive professional career.
• 2010: Empire Awards 2010 : Empire Icon Award