Ian McKellen
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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
Credits
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
as Gandalf
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
as Gandalf
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
as Gandalf
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
as Magneto
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
as Gandalf the Grey
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
as Gandalf the Grey
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
as Cogsworth
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
as Gandalf the Grey
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
as Magneto
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
as Sir Leigh Teabing
Flushed Away (2006)
as The Toad (voice)
Stardust (2007)
as Narrator (voice)
The Golden Compass (2007)
as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Cats (2019)
as Gus, the Theatre Cat
Last Action Hero (1993)
as Death
The Christophers (2026)
as Julian Sklar
The Good Liar (2019)
as Roy Courtnay
The Shadow (1994)
as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
Mr. Holmes (2015)
as Sherlock Holmes
Apt Pupil (1998)
as Kurt Dussander
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (2027)
as Gandalf
Animal Crackers (2018)
as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
The Magic Roundabout (2005)
as Zebedee (voice)
The Keep (1983)
as Dr. Theodore Cuza
The Critic (2024)
as Jimmy Erskine
Richard III (1995)
as Richard III
Asylum (2005)
as Dr. Peter Cleave
All Is True (2018)
as Earl of Southampton
Scandal (1989)
as John Profumo
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
as Geoffrey
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol (2026)
as Jacob Marley
The Wolverine (2013)
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
as James Whale
The Dresser (2015)
as Norman
Jack & Sarah (1995)
as William
King Lear (2008)
as King Lear
On Broadway (2019)
as Self
The Making of 'The Two Towers' (2003)
Actor
Restoration (1995)
as Will Gates
Bent (1997)
as Uncle Freddie
Muse of Fire (2013)
as Self
X-Men: The Mutant Watch (2000)
as Self - 'Magneto'
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)
as Chauvelin
Priest of Love (1981)
as D.H. Lawrence
And the Band Played On (1993)
as Bill Kraus
Plenty (1985)
as Sir Andrew Charleson
Infinitum: Subject Unknown (2021)
as Dr. Charles Marland-White
Alfred the Great (1969)
as Roger
Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings' (2001)
as Self
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage (2016)
as Self
Rasputin (1996)
as Tsar Nicholas II
Cold Comfort Farm (1995)
as Amos Starkadder
Mutant vs. Machine - The Making of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2015)
as Self
Doogal (2006)
as Zebedee (voice)
I'll Do Anything (1994)
as John Earl McAlpine
Swept from the Sea (1998)
as Dr. James Kennedy
The Roof (2016)
as And Even Yet Another Fan
Doctor Who: The Snowmen (2012)
as The Great Intelligence (voice)
The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin (2013)
as Self
Neverwas (2005)
as Gabriel Finch
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013)
as Self
The Making of 'The Return of the King' (2004)
as Self
Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005)
as Self
National Theatre Live: King Lear (2018)
as King Lear
The Fellowship of the Ring: From Book to Script (2002)
as Self
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (2017)
as Self
Edward II (1970)
as King Edward
Hamlet (2024)
as Hamlet
Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
as Self
Hamlet Within (2022)
Actor
After Stonewall (1999)
as Self
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision (2003)
as Self
Nelson Mandela Redrawn (2014)
as Self
Quest for the Ring (2001)
as Self
A Touch of Love (1969)
as George
The Fellowship of the Ring: Cameras in Middle-earth (2002)
as Self
Zina (1985)
as Kronfeld
The Fellowship of the Ring: Designing and Building Middle-earth + Weta Workshop + Costume Design (2002)
as Self
X-Men: Premieres Around the World (2003)
as Self
Hating Peter Tatchell (2021)
as Self
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men (2003)
Actor
Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King (2003)
as Self
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC (2016)
as Self - Performer
Frank and Percy (—)
as Percy
To Die For (1994)
as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
X-Men: Unguarded (2015)
as Self
Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU (2020)
Actor
The Fellowship of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Cast (2002)
as Self
Theatreland (2009)
as Self
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet (2020)
Actor
X-Men: Reunited (2014)
as Self
X-Men (2000)
as Magneto
A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King' (2004)
as Self
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)
as Percy Corcoran
Double Take: Xavier & Magneto (2014)
as Self
Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed! (2000)
as Self
Emile (2003)
as Emile
An Evening with Lily Savage (1996)
as Self
Miss in Her Teens (2014)
as The Prologue
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
Schadenfreude (2025)
as Continuity Announcer
The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale (1999)
as Self
Dying Day (1980)
as Antony Skipling
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 (2003)
as Self
McKellen: Playing the Part (2018)
as Self
Countdown to War (1989)
as Adolf Hitler
Scarfe's Follies (1988)
Actor
The One Note Man (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
David Macaulay: Roman City (1994)
as Augustus Caesar (voice)
The Promise (1969)
Actor
Craven Arms (1972)
as David Masterman
National Theatre Live: No Man's Land (2016)
as Spooner
Hedda Gabler (1972)
as George Tesman
Camp Christmas (1993)
Actor
Richard II (—)
as Richard II
The Life and Death of Lily Savage (2024)
as Self
Graceless Go I (1974)
as Tony
The Fellowship of the Ring: Scale (2002)
as Self
Othello (1990)
as Iago
Macbeth (1979)
as Macbeth
Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary (—)
as Self
The Fellowship of the Ring: The Road Goes Ever On.. (2002)
as Self
Walter (1982)
as Walter
The Betty Driver Story (2011)
as Self
X2 (2003)
as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
Eighteen (2005)
as Jason Anders (voice)
Gladio (1992)
as Aldo Moro (voice)
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
Dragfox (2024)
as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (2000)
as Narrator (voice)
Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!! (2004)
as Self
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
The Paul O'Grady Story (2017)
as Self
The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne (1965)
as Wolf
Quintessentially British (2022)
as Self
No Man's Land (—)
as Spooner
Looking for Lowry (2011)
as Self
Süleyman the Magnificent (1987)
as Narrator
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare (1982)
Actor
Freedom: 50 Years of Pride (2022)
as Self
For the Love of God (2007)
as The Jackdaw
Saint of 9/11 (2006)
as Narrator
Walter and June (1983)
as Walter
The Art of Breaking Character (2007)
as Self
Edmund the Magnificent (2017)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
A Simple Matter of Justice (1993)
as Self
The Tragedy of King Richard II (1970)
as King Richard II
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness (2025)
Actor
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love (2001)
as Narrator (voice)
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved (2024)
Actor
The Hobart Shakespeareans (2005)
as Self
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1979)
as Alexander Ivanov
Age of Dissent (1994)
as Self
Hamlet (1970)
as Hamlet
Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest (1994)
as Self
Shakespeare on Film (2016)
Actor
The Egg Trick (2013)
as Magician
LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes (2026)
as L S Lowry
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation (2010)
as Narrator (voice)
Guerrilla Distribution (2007)
as Self
All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film (2016)
as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
My First Time (2004)
as Narrator
A Bit Of Scarlet (1997)
as Narrator
Small-Time Revolutionary (2010)
as Hamish Miller (voice)
How a Kite Flies (2017)
as Mr. Kite (voice)
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is? (2004)
Actor
Play the Devil: Making Richard III (2016)
Actor
Surviving Friendly Fire (1997)
Actor
London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony (2012)
as Self
Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up (1993)
as Narration (voice)
Dragged Through Time (2025)
Actor
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen (2016)
Actor