Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen CH CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. With a career spanning more than sixty years, he is noted for his 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 he 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 went on to receive 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, 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), 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.
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Acted in
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
2025
as Gandalf the Grey
The Critic
2024
as Jimmy Erskine
Dragfox
2024
as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking)
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
2024
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
2024
as Self
Hamlet
2024
as Hamlet
ted
2024
as Narrator (voice)
The One Note Man
2023
as Narrator (voice)
Quintessentially British
2022
as Self
Hamlet Within
2022
Hating Peter Tatchell
2021
as Self
Great British Theatre
2021
Infinitum: Subject Unknown
2021
as Dr. Charles Marland-White
Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU
2020
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
2020
Cats
2019
as Gus, the Theatre Cat
The Good Liar
2019
as Roy Courtnay
On Broadway
2019
as Self
All Is True
2018
as Earl of Southampton
National Theatre Live: King Lear
2018
as King Lear
McKellen: Playing the Part
2018
as Himself
Animal Crackers
2017
as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
The Paul O'Grady Story
2017
as Self
How a Kite Flies
2017
as Mr. Kite (voice)
Beauty and the Beast
2017
as Cogsworth
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
2017
as Self
Edmund the Magnificent
2017
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
2016
as Self
National Theatre Live: No Man's Land
2016
as Spooner
Play the Devil: Making Richard III
2016
Shakespeare on Film
2016
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen
2016
All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film
2016
as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
as Self - Performer
The Roof
2016
as And Even Yet Another Fan
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
2015
as Self (archive footage)
The Dresser
2015
as Norman
Mr. Holmes
2015
as Sherlock Holmes
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
2014
as Gandalf the Grey
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
2014
as Self
Trailblazer Honors
2014
as Self - Speaker
X-Men: Days of Future Past
2014
as Magneto
Miss in Her Teens
2014
as The Prologue
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013
as Gandalf the Grey
The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin
2013
as Self
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
2013
as Self
Muse of Fire
2013
as Self
The Wolverine
2013
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
The Egg Trick
2013
as Magician
Vicious
2013
as Freddie Thornhill
Doctor Who: The Snowmen
2012
as The Great Intelligence (voice)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012
as Gandalf the Grey
London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony
2012
as Self
Looking for Lowry
2011
as Himself
Perspectives
2011
The Betty Driver Story
2011
as Self
Lady Grey London
2010
Small-Time Revolutionary
2010
as Hamish Miller (voice)
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation
2010
as Narrator (voice)
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
2010
as Self (archive footage)
The Prisoner
2009
as 2 / Curtis
Theatreland
2009
as Himself
King Lear
2008
as King Lear
The Golden Compass
2007
as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Stardust
2007
as Narrator (voice)
The Art of Breaking Character
2007
as Self
For the Love of God
2007
as The Jackdaw
Flushed Away
2006
as The Toad (voice)
X-Men: The Last Stand
2006
as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
The Da Vinci Code
2006
as Sir Leigh Teabing
Saint of 9/11
2006
as Narrator
Doogal
2006
as Zebedee (voice)
Neverwas
2005
as Gabriel Finch
Asylum
2005
as Dr. Peter Cleave
The Hobart Shakespeareans
2005
as Himself
Extras
2005
as Ian McKellen
Doctor Who
2005
as Voice of the Snowman
The Magic Roundabout
2005
as Zebedee (voice)
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
2005
as Self
Eighteen
2005
as Jason Anders (voice)
A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King'
2004
as Self
Who Do You Think You Are?
2004
as Self
Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!
2004
as Self
Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?
2004
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision
2003
as Self
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003
as Gandalf
Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King
2003
as Self
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men - Making X2
2003
Churchill
2003
as Himself - Narrator (voice)
X2
2003
as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
Evolution X - The Making of X-Men
2003
X-Men: Premieres Around the World
2003
as Self
Émile
2003
as Emile
Film Collectibles: Capturing Movie Memories
2003
as Self
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002
as Gandalf
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002
as Self
Lord of the Piercing
2002
as Gandalf the Grey (archive footage)
Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
as Self
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
as Gandalf
A Passage to Middle-Earth: Making of 'Lord of the Rings'
2001
as Self
Quest for the Ring
2001
as Self
Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love
2001
as Narrator (voice)
Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed!
2000
as Self
X-Men
2000
as Magneto
X-Men: The Mutant Watch
2000
as Self - 'Magneto'
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
2000
as Narrator (voice)
David Copperfield
1999
as Creakle
The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale
1999
as Self
Family Guy
1999
as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
Apt Pupil
1998
as Kurt Dussander
Gods and Monsters
1998
as James Whale
Swept from the Sea
1998
as Dr. James Kennedy
Bent
1997
as Uncle Freddie
Surviving Friendly Fire
1997
A Bit Of Scarlet
1997
as Narrator
An Evening with Lily Savage
1996
as Self
Rasputin
1996
as Tsar Nicholas II
Richard III
1995
as Richard III
Restoration
1995
as Will Gates
Jack & Sarah
1995
as William
Cold Comfort Farm
1995
as Amos Starkadder
To Die For
1994
as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)
Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest
1994
The Shadow
1994
as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
David Macaulay: Roman City
1994
as Augustus Caesar (voice)
I'll Do Anything
1994
as John Earl McAlpine
Camp Christmas
1993
Six Degrees of Separation
1993
as Geoffrey
Tales of the City
1993
as Archibald Anson Gidde
And the Band Played On
1993
as Bill Kraus
The Ballad of Little Jo
1993
as Percy Corcoran
Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up
1993
as Narration (voice)
Last Action Hero
1993
as Death
Gladio
1992
as Aldo Moro (voice)
Othello
1990
as Iago
The Simpsons
1989
as Ian McKellen (voice)
Countdown to War
1989
as Adolf Hitler
Scandal
1989
as John Profumo
Windmills of the Gods
1988
as Chairman
Scarfe's Follies
1988
Zina
1985
as Kronfeld
Plenty
1985
as Sir Andrew Charleson
Playing Shakespeare
1984
The Keep
1983
as Dr. Theodore Cuza
Walter and June
1983
as Walter
The Scarlet Pimpernel
1982
as Chauvelin
Walter
1982
as Walter
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare
1982
Pillar of Fire
1981
as Narrator
Priest of Love
1981
as D.H. Lawrence
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
1979
as Alexander Ivanov
Macbeth
1979
as Macbeth
Armchair Thriller
1978
as Anthony Skipling
Playhouse
1974
Hedda Gabler
1972
as George Tesman
Country Matters
1972
as David Masterman
Hamlet
1970
as Hamlet
Edward II
1970
as King Edward
The Tragedy of King Richard II
1970
as King Richard II
The Promise
1969
Sesame Street
1969
as Himself
Alfred the Great
1969
as Roger
A Touch of Love
1969
as George
David Copperfield
1966
as David Copperfield
The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne
1965
as Wolf
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Captain Plume
Coronation Street
1960
as Mel Hutchwright
The Oscars
1953
as Self
Richard II
as Richard II
Schadenfreude
as Continuity Announcer
Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary
as Self