Ian McKellen
Highest Rated: 100% And the Band Played On (1993)
Lowest Rated: 8% Doogal (2006)
Birthday: May 25, 1939
Birthplace: Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
While he remained best known for his starring roles in the "Lord of the Rings" and "X-Men" franchises, Ian McKellen's list of accomplishments went beyond the Hollywood blockbusters that made him a star in the U.S. Born in Lancashire, England in 1939, McKellen took an interest in theater at the age of three when his family attended a performance of "Peter Pan." He performed in plays at school and even at home using a fold-away toy theater made of wood and Bakelite that his parents gave him for Christmas. Eventually, McKellen received a scholarship to attend St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Marlowe Society, appearing in 23 plays during his three years there. After graduating, he moved on to professional theater, making his debut in 1961 in a production of "A Man for All Seasons" at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre. He spent the next few years gaining experience in repertory theater before landing his first West End role in "A Scent of Flowers." In 1965, he became a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic and was soon acting with the Prospect Theatre Company as well, where his performances in Shakespeare's "Richard III" and Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II" quickly became legendary. McKellen became a star of England's theater scene, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, all while simultaneously pursuing roles on screen as well. In 1966, he starred in a BBC mini-series adaptation of "David Copperfield" (BBC, 1966-1966), shortly before crossing the Atlantic to make his Broadway debut as Leonidik in "The Promise." In 1969, he made his waves in film, co-starring in the drama "A Touch of Love" (1969 and then reprising the role of Leodinik for a film adaptation of "The Promise" (1969). This oscillation between stage and screen would remain a pattern for McKellen's career, always with a strong focus on Shakespeare and other classics, with roles like Salieri in Broadway's "Amadeus" and D.H. Lawrence in the big screen's "Priest of Love" (1981) standing out amongst his more notable roles. As the '90s began, McKellen transitioned into more popular media, playing one of the villains in the action blockbuster "The Last Action Hero" (1993), and standing up for increased visibility for the LGBTQ community with his roles in "And the Band Played On" (HBO, 1993) and "Bent" (1997). In 1998, McKellen garnered particular praise and attention for his role in the James Whale biopic "Gods and Monsters" (1998), which earned him a number of awards nominations to boot. Within two years, McKellen was expanding into international pop culture as never before when he took on the role of the powerful villain Magneto in "X-Men" (2000) opposite fellow legend of the Shakespearean stage Patrick Stewart. McKellen would return for two more "X-Men" sequels while he simultaneously co-starred as the wizard Gandalf in the massively popular "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. By the time he had concluded both series in 2006, McKellen was a massive star, but he continued to choose his roles carefully, co-starring on a reboot of the classic surrealistic TV series "The Prisoner" (ITV, 2009) and reuniting with Patrick Stewart for an acclaimed Broadway revival of "Waiting for Godot" in 2013. McKellen reprised the role of Gandalf for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012) and its two sequels, and earned accolades for his performance on the comedy series "Vicious" (ITV, 2013-16) with fellow Royal Shakespeare Company alumn Derek Jacobi. McKellen also delighted audiences with a turn as Cogsworth in the live action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" (2017), but his Shakespearean leanings were never far behind as he co-starred with Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench in Branagh's biopic of the playwright, "All is True" (2018).
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Ian McKellen
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hamlet | Hamlet (Character) | - | 2024 |
49% |
|
The Critic | Jimmy Erskine (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Quintessentially British | Self | - | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hamlet Within | The Ghost (Character) | - | 2022 |
75% |
|
Infinitum: Subject Unknown | Dr Charles Marland-White (Character) | - | 2021 |
100% |
|
Hating Peter Tatchell | Self | - | 2021 |
76% |
|
On Broadway | Self | $82.3K | 2019 |
19% |
|
Cats | Gus (Character) | $27.2M | 2019 |
64% |
|
The Good Liar | Roy Courtnay (Character) | $17.1M | 2019 |
72% |
|
All Is True | Henry Wriothesley (Character) | $1.2M | 2018 |
64% |
|
Animal Crackers | Horatio P. Huntington (Voice) | - | 2017 |
100% |
|
McKellen: Playing the Part | Self | - | 2017 |
71% |
|
Beauty and the Beast | Cogsworth (Character) | $504.0M | 2017 |
100% |
|
The Dresser | Norman (Character) | - | 2015 |
88% |
|
Mr. Holmes | Sherlock Holmes (Character) | $17.7M | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Miss in Her Teens | The Prologue (Character) | - | 2014 |
90% |
|
X-Men: Days of Future Past |
Erik Lehnsherr/ |
$233.9M | 2014 |
59% |
|
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Gandalf (Character) | $255.1M | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Muse of Fire | Unknown (Character) | - | 2013 |
74% |
|
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Gandalf (Character) | $258.4M | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | DVS Hobbit, The: The Desolation of Smaug (HD) | Unknown (Character) | - | 2013 |
64% |
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Gandalf (Character) | $303.0M | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation | Narrator | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Acting Shakespeare | Unknown (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
King Lear | King Lear (Character) | - | 2008 |
42% |
|
The Golden Compass | Iorek Byrnison (Voice) | $70.1M | 2007 |
77% |
|
Stardust | Narrator | $38.3M | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Displaced | Unknown (Voice) | - | 2006 |
73% |
|
Flushed Away | Toad (Voice) | $64.5M | 2006 |
82% |
|
Saint of 9/11 | Narrator | $4.9K | 2006 |
57% |
|
X-Men: The Last Stand |
Erik Lehnsherr/ |
$234.4M | 2006 |
25% |
|
The Da Vinci Code | Sir Leigh Teabing (Character) | $217.5M | 2006 |
8% |
|
Doogal | Zebedee (Voice) | $7.6M | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Eighteen | Jason Anders (Voice) | - | 2005 |
14% |
|
Neverwas | Gabriel Finch (Character) | - | 2005 |
36% |
|
Asylum | Peter Cleave (Character) | $374.9K | 2005 |
50% |
|
The Magic Roundabout | Zebedee (Voice) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Hobart Shakespeareans | Self | - | 2005 |
57% |
|
Emile | Emile (Character) | - | 2003 |
94% |
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Gandalf (Character) | $377.8M | 2003 |
85% |
|
X2 |
Erik Lehnsherr/ |
$214.9M | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lord of Rings 3 | Unknown (Character) | - | 2003 |
95% |
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Gandalf (Character) | $342.6M | 2002 |
92% |
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Gandalf (Character) | $315.5M | 2001 |
45% |
|
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man | Narrator | $15.6M | 2000 |
82% |
|
X-Men |
Erik Lehnsherr/ |
$157.3M | 2000 |
96% |
|
Gods and Monsters | James Whale (Character) | $6.4M | 1998 |
54% |
|
Apt Pupil | Kurt Dussander (Character) | $8.8M | 1998 |
72% |
|
Bent | Uncle Freddie (Character) | $418.2K | 1997 |
28% |
|
Swept From the Sea | Dr. James Kennedy (Character) | $283.1K | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Bit of Scarlet | Narrator | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet |
|
Rasputin | Tsar Nicholas II (Character) | - | 1996 |
83% |
|
Cold Comfort Farm | Amos Starkadder (Character) | $5.6M | 1995 |
96% |
|
Richard III |
Richard III (Character), Executive Producer |
$2.4M | 1995 |
71% |
|
Restoration | Will Gates (Character) | $3.5M | 1995 |
74% |
|
Jack & Sarah | William (Character) | $114.8K | 1995 |
37% |
|
The Shadow | Dr. Reinhardt Lane (Character) | $32.0M | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | To Die For | Quilt Documentary Narrator (Voice) | $8.6K | 1994 |
77% |
|
The Ballad of Little Jo | Percy Corcoran (Character) | $459.3K | 1993 |
100% |
|
And the Band Played On | Bill Kraus (Character) | - | 1993 |
88% |
|
Six Degrees of Separation | Geoffrey (Character) | $6.3M | 1993 |
42% |
|
Last Action Hero | Death (Character) | - | 1993 |
88% |
|
Scandal | John Profumo (Character) | $7.8M | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
Windmills of the Gods | Chairman (Character) | - | 1988 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zina | Kronfeld (Character) | - | 1985 |
39% |
|
The Keep | Dr. Theodore Cuza (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Walter and June | Walter (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Scarlet Pimpernel | Chauvelin (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Walter | Walter (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet |
|
Priest of Love | D.H. Lawrence (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Performance of Macbeth | Unknown (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Edward II | King Edward (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Thank You All Very Much | George Matthews (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet |
|
Alfred the Great | Roger (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Promise | Leonidik (Character) | - | 1969 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Graham Norton Show | Guest | 2014 2017-2019 2021-2022 2024 |
No Score Yet | 49% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 19% | The Late Late Show With James Corden | Guest | 2015 2019 |
No Score Yet | 64% | Family Guy | Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (Guest Voice) | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Who Do You Think You Are? | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Talk | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2013 2015 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 95% | Vicious | Freddie (Character) | 2013 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shakespeare Uncovered | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2014 |
100% | 90% | Late Show With David Letterman | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 1999 2002 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Colbert Report | Guest | 2012 |
17% | 40% | The Prisoner | Two (Character) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Churchill | Narrator | 2003 2008 |
88% | 93% | Extras | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2006 |
85% | 76% | The Simpsons | Himself (Guest Voice) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 62% | Saturday Night Live | Host | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Masterpiece Theatre | Unknown (Character) | 2000 |