Actor profile
Ian McKellen
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.
159 Movies
52 TV Shows
3 In Production 214 Credits
Filmography
Movies & TV Shows
A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
10th September 2025 as Self (archive footage)
Dragged Through Time
26th July 2025
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
23rd March 2025
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
9th June 2024
Hamlet Within
21st May 2022
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
5th April 2020
Play the Devil: Making Richard III
31st May 2016
Shakespeare on Film
31st May 2016
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?
27th March 2004
The Making of 'The Two Towers'
1st April 2003
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
11th February 2003
Surviving Friendly Fire
21st June 1997
Camp Christmas
24th December 1993
Scarfe's Follies
28th January 1988
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
25th April 1982
The Promise
1st December 1969
Frank and Percy
as Percy
No Man's Land
as Spooner
Richard II
as Richard II
Great British Theatre
12th June 2021
Perspectives
24th April 2011
The Paul O'Grady Show
11th October 2004
HARDtalk
1st April 1997
Playing Shakespeare
29th July 1984
Coming soon
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
15th December 2027 as Gandalf
Coming soon
Avengers: Doomsday
16th December 2026 as Magneto
Coming soon
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol
12th November 2026 as Jacob Marley