|
|
Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen was born on May 25th, 1939 in Burnley, England. Growing up, his parents encouraged his fascination with acting and desire to perform by bringing him to numerous plays, particularly those by William Shakespeare. McKellen avidly sought out roles in amateur school theatre productions, which developed his skills at an early age, though his original career goal was to be a journalist. His first Shakespearian role was that of Malvolio in “Twelfth Night.” As he focused more and more on performing, his studies suffered. After finally graduating, he avidly pursued a career in theatre and film.
His theatre performances included Romeo and Juliet (1976) and Macbeth (1976), and he played the title role for both. He performed in a long list of other theater productions into the 2000s, many of which were Shakespearian. His early film roles included The Keep (1983), Six Degrees Of Separation (1993), and I’ll Do Anything (1994). He also starred as Uncle Freddie in Bent (1997), where he met his long-time partner Sean Mathias, roughly ten years after he publicly came out of the closet on the BBC Radio 4 program. Since then, he has founded Stonewall, a leading gay-rights activist group.
Though he worked mostly in theatre, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1990 for his dedication to the arts, he has also rejuvenated his film career in the 2000s. He played Magneto in X-Men (2000) and its two sequels, as well as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings (2001) trilogy. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and did receive the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture from the Screen Actors Guild for the same role. He has said of the trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings is a mythology, it is a fairy tale, it's an adventure story. It never happened. Except somewhere in our hearts.”
News |
What members say |
Filmography
| Watch online (1)
Ian McKellen - news / articles
-
-
McKellen: 'I'm too old for X-Men' -
13 November 2009
-Sir Ian McKellen has disappointed X-Men fans by insisting he won't appear in a spin-off sequel based on his character Magneto.-
-The veteran actor starred in three X-Men films as the magnetic villain and movie bosses are said to be planning a new movie to reveal the
-
-
McKellen's struggles with Day-Lewis -
9 April 2009
-Sir Ian McKellen always struggled working with Daniel Day-Lewis - because of the star's extreme acting methods. -
-The thespians were both members of the Royal Shakespeare Company throughout the 1980s.-
- McKellen insists he found it difficult to get on with Day-Lew
-
-
McKellen to play Gandalf in The Hobbit -
23 July 2008
Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed he is to reprise his role as Gandalf in the forthcoming adaptation of The Hobbit.-It had previously been unclear whether the Oscar-nominated actor would return as the bearded wizard from The Lord of The Rings movies, reports Empire.-Howe
Ian McKellen - what members say
Ian McKellen - filmography
-
-
King Lear
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Timothy West, Frances Barber
Director: Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn
Certificate: 
The Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of the Bard's famous tale/ this lavish interpretation features an all star cast that includes Sir Ian McKellen, Frances Barber, Sylvester McCoy and Romola Garai.
Rate this:
 
69%
from 72 members
-
-
The Da Vinci Code
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen
Director: Ron Howard
Certificate:
The 2005 best selling novel's big screen adaptation. A murder in the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years -- which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Rate this:
62%
from 67,756 members
-
-
Extras - Series 2
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Ian McKellen, David Bowie
Director: Stephen Merchant, Ricky Gervais
Certificate: 
Ricky Gervais returns with the second season of Extras which sees Andy (Gervais) experience the highs he has longed for with his newly written sitcom, 'When The Whistle Blows'. However, while the show achieves high ratings, Andy's creative integrity is under threat from the catchphrase-riddled, ..read more »
Rate this:
79%
from 6,199 members
-
-
E18hteen
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Thea Gill, Alan Cumming
Director: Richard Bell
Certificate:
Pip is a young street kid trying to deal with life in the big city. On his eighteenth birthday he receives a tape of his grandfather's World War II memoirs which awakens the ghosts of a long lost time and place. His grandfather graphically narrates the story of the day he turned eighteen, fleeing ..read more »
Rate this:
45%
from 170 members
-
-
X-Men III - The Last Stand
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
Director: Brett Ratner
Certificate:
When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart), and the Brotherhood, a band of powerful mutants organised under Xavier's former ally, Magneto (McKellen).
Rate this:
68%
from 48,837 members
-
-
Da Vinci Code, The - BLU-RAY Version
(2006)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen
Director: Ron Howard
Certificate:
Dan Brown's best-selling book THE DA VINCI CODE gets adapted for the big screen thanks to director Ron Howard (CINDERELLA MAN), who helms this big budget production. Veteran actor Tom Hanks stars as professor Robert Langdon, whose Parisian lecture tour on feminine symbolism gets disrupted when he's ..read more »
Rate this:
63%
from 1,296 member
-
-
Asylum
on DVD
(2005)
Starring: Natasha Richardson, Ian McKellen, Hugh Bonneville
Director: David Mackenzie
Certificate:
Set in late-1950s England, David Mackenzie's ASYLUM is a Gothic romance filled with erotic obsession, deception, and murder. Natasha Richardson gives a bravura performance as Stella Raphael, an unhappy woman who is forced to move with her son, Charlie (Gus Lewis), to rural Yorkshire when her ..read more »
Rate this:
51%
from 5,400 members
-
-
X-Men 2 - BLU-RAY Version
(2003)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen
Director: Bryan Singer
Certificate:
The X-Men led by Professor Xavier once again return to save the world from a group of mutant creatures. Nightcrawler attempts to assassinate the President, Stryker sets out to capture the pupils at the school for the 'gifted' and Magneto has escaped from his cell and is out to reek havoc...
Rate this:
76%
from 823 members
-
-
Churchill
on DVD
(2003)
Starring: Ian McKellen
Certificate: 
In this extensive and extended edition of the major TV series chronicling the legendary life of Sir Winston Churchill, the story is told by people who knew him. Includes unseen footage and home movies, newly discovered letters, diaries and photographs. Plus 30 minutes of bonus footage not included ..read more »
Rate this:
62%
from 240 members
-
-
X-Men 2
on DVD
(2003)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen
Director: Bryan Singer
Certificate:
The X-Men led by Professor Xavier once again return to save the world from a group of mutant creatures. Nightcrawler attempts to assassinate the President, Stryker sets out to capture the pupils at the school for the 'gifted' and Magneto has escaped from his cell and is out to reek havoc...
Rate this:
70%
from 50,032 members
-
-
X-Men - BLU-RAY Version
(2000)
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen
Director: Bryan Singer
Certificate:
Born into a world filled with prejudice are children who possess extraordinary and dangerous powers - the result of unique genetic mutations. Cyclops unleashes bolts of energy from his eyes. Storm can manipulate the weather at will. Rogue absorbs the life force of anyone she touches. But, under the ..read more »
Rate this:
75%
from 833 members
-
-
X-Men
on DVD
(2000)
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen
Director: Bryan Singer
Certificate:
Born into a world filled with prejudice are children who possess extraordinary and dangerous powers - the result of unique genetic mutations. Cyclops unleashes bolts of energy from his eyes. Storm can manipulate the weather at will. Rogue absorbs the life force of anyone she touches. But, under the ..read more »
Rate this:
72%
from 40,675 members
-
-
Apt Pupil
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Bruce Davison
Director: Bryan Singer
Certificate:
Based on the novella by Stephen King, director Bryan Singer's follow-up to THE USUAL SUSPECTS is a harrowing psychological thriller about the relationship that forms between a boy and the neighbor he discovers is a Nazi war criminal. After a brief lesson in history class, star pupil Todd Bowden (..read more »
Rate this:
62%
from 1,559 member
-
-
Gods And Monsters
(1998)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave
Director: Bill Condon
Certificate:
Based on Christopher Bram's novel FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN, Bill Condon's semi-fictional 1998 sleeper stars Sir Ian McKellen in a fantastic performance as director James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, SHOW BOAT). It is 1957, and Whale is living in semiseclusion in Southern California ..read more »
Rate this:
68%
from 2,693 members
Not currently released
-
-
Bent
(1997)
Starring: Clive Owen, Lothaire Bluteau, Ian McKellen
Director: Sean Mathias
Certificate: 
An interesting cast fills out this solemn production based on the play by Martin Sherman (who also wrote the screenplay). During WWII, a Berlin homosexual is caught up in the Nazi hysteria. After being forced to kill his lover, he is placed in a prison camp, where he lies so he will be classified ..read more »
Rate this:
60%
from 1,850 member
Not currently released
-
-
Amy Foster
on DVD
(1997)
Starring: Vincent Perez, Rachel Weisz, Ian McKellen
Director: Beeban Kidron
Certificate:
The intolerant inhabitants of a seaside town ostracize an introverted young woman, branded a simpleton because of her refusal to relate to uncaring townsfolk, and her lover, a shipwrecked, unkempt Ukrainian man, considered to be equally dim. When the two misfits marry and have a son, the ..read more »
Rate this:
56%
from 386 members
-
-
Jack And Sarah
on DVD
(1995)
Starring: Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench
Director: Tim Sullivan
Certificate:
In this charming British romantic comedy, Jack (Richard E, Grant), a recently widowed father, quickly learns that his yuppie lifestyle and workaholic ways don't mesh too well with a new baby's needs. Overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for his infant daughter, he hires Amy (Samantha ..read more »
Rate this:
69%
from 6,031 members
-
-
Richard III
on DVD
(1995)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent
Director: Richard Loncraine
Certificate:
This updating of Shakespeare's classic history sets the tale in a stark version of 1930's Europe and features Sir Ian McKellen as the titular ruthless malcontent out to wrest control of the throne of England from any who would oppose him. Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best Art Direction ..read more »
Rate this:
67%
from 1,990 member
-
-
The Shadow
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Adam Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Certificate:
The Shadow was once a vicious criminal who was captured by a mystic who taught him the powers of the mind to become the nemesis of all evil. In this adventure he pits his wits against the last living descendant of Ghengis Khan who plans to take over the world.
Rate this:
60%
from 819 members
-
-
Six Degrees Of Separation
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland
Director: Fred Schepisi
Certificate:
Fifth Avenue socialite Ouisa Kittredge (Stockard Channing) and her purveyor of high-art husband Flan (Donald Sutherland), are pedigree parents of "two at Harvard and one at Groton." But the privileged insular world inhabited by the Kittredge family, as well as their public status as distinguished ..read more »
Rate this:
58%
from 2,377 members
-
-
The Keep
(1983)
Starring: Scott Glenn, Ian McKellen, Gabriel Byrne
Director: Michael Mann
Certificate:
It's World War II, in German occupied Romania. Nazi soldiers have been sent to garrison a mysterious fortress, but a nightmarish discovery is soon made. 'The Keep' was not built to keep anything out. The masive structure was, in fact, built to keep something in....
Rate this:
63%
from 255 members
-
-
Loving Walter
(1982)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Sarah Miles, Jim Broadbent
Director: Stephen Frears
Certificate: 
The frustrations of Thatcher-era government social services are the backdrop for this touching story of a mentally challenged man (Ian McKellan from LORD OF THE RINGS) who wanders through the system and is helped by various townpeople.
Rate this:
62%
from 4 members
-
-
The Scarlet Pimpernel
on DVD
(1982)
Starring: Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, Ian McKellen
Director: Clive Donner
Certificate: 
As the crowds bay for Aristocratic blood on the streets of Paris, the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel is bravely saving the lives of noblemen from the jaws of death. A version of the classic tale that was made for the CBS TV Network in 1982 and stars a young Ian McKellen.
Rate this:
72%
from 360 members
-
-
Priest Of Love
on DVD
(1981)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, John Gielgud
Director: Christopher Miles
Certificate:
This biographical film provides insight into the life of renowned British author D.H. Lawrence (Ian McKellen), best known for his sexually explicit novel LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER. In addition to exploring Lawrence's youth, PRIEST OF LOVE examines important events in Lawrence's personal and ..read more »
Rate this:
47%
from 119 members
-
-
Macbeth
on DVD
(1978)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Judi Dench
Director: Philip Casson
Certificate:
Trevor Nunn's film of William Shakespeare's tragedy of ambition and witchcraft attempts to recreate his acclaimed 1976 staging of the play. Ian McKellen and Judi Dench play the ambitious pair who murder their way to the Scottish throne. Nunn's film retains the spare, simple look of his stage ..read more »
Rate this:
59%
from 357 members
-
-
A Touch Of Love
on DVD
(1969)
Starring: Sandy Dennis, Ian McKellen, Michael Coles
Director: Waris Hussein
Certificate:
Pregnant after her first sexual encounter, Rosamund is determined to keep her baby no matter what interferes with her post-graduate studies, she refuses to involve the father. Then her daughter falls seriously ill and she must act fast to save the most important part of her new life.
Rate this:
60%
from 18 members
-
-
Charles Dickens Collection
(8 discs)
on DVD
Starring: Michael Hordern, Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins
Certificate:
Featuring a box set of the BBC adaptations of popular tales from Charles Dickens. Includes: 'The Pickwick Papers', 'Oliver Twist', 'A Christmas Carol', 'Martin Chuzzlewit', 'David Copperfield', 'A Tale Of Two Cities', 'Great Expectations', and 'Our Mutual Friend'.
Rate this:
69%
from 2,375 members
-
-
Zina
on DVD
Starring: Ian McKellen, Philip Madoc, Dominique Pinon
Director: Ken McMullen
Certificate:
A twentieth century Antigone, Zina evokes the life of Zina Bronstein, daughter of Leon Trotsky.
In 1930's Berlin, Zina is being treated by Professor Kronfeld and during this psychoanalysis, which includes some hypnosis, she recalls incidents from both her own life and that of her father, as a ..read more »
Rate this:
59%
from 18 members
-
-
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Box Set
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian Holm
Director: Peter Jackson
Certificate:
The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring: In a time before history, in a place called Middle-earth, a dark and powerful lord has brought together the forces of evil to destroy its cultures and enslave all life caught in his path. Sauron's time has come and he needs only one small object - ..read more »
Rate this:
92%
from 97 members
Not available for rental
-
-
Emile
on DVD
Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan
Director: Carl Bessai
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when he was young, Emile makes a last attempt to reconnect with his only living relatives. Director Carl ..read more »
Rate this:
52%
from 107 members
Ian McKellen - watch online
-
-
Emile
to Watch Now
(2004)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan
Director: Carl Bessai
Certificate: 
Watch now: £2.49
Run time: 88 minutes
Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when he was young, Emile makes a last attempt to reconnect with his only living relatives. Director Carl ..read more »
Rate this:
No ratings yet. Be the first.
|
Ian McKellen facts
|
Delightful, hearwarming story 20 May 2004
...y. However, this is not all sloppy slush, there are some great comic moments - Ian McKellen is great as the alcoholic tramp Grant befriends (opening conversation - Grant: ...
9 June 2004
