Ian McKellen

Sir Ian Murray McKellen CH CBE (born May 25, 1939) is an English actor whose career spans six decades. A recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK, he is regarded as a British cultural icon. He has performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Over his career he has received numerous awards including seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He has also received nominations for two Academy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and four BAFTAs.

Early film roles include Waris Hussein’s A Touch of Love (1969), with Sandy Dennis; Clive Donner’s A Touch of Love (1969), with David Hemmings, Michael York, Prunella Ransome, Colin Blakely, Peter Vaughan, Alan Dobie, and Julian Glover; Priest of Love (1981), with Janet Suzman, Ava Gardner, Penelope Keith, Jorge Rivero, John Gielgud, Maurizio Merli, James Faulkner, Massimo Ranieri, and Graham Faulkner; Michael Mann’s The Keep (1983), with Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson, and Robert Prosky; Fred Schepisi’s Plenty (1985), with Meryl Streep, Charles Dance, Tracey Ullman, Gielgud, Sting, and Sam Neill; and Michael Canton-Jones’s Scandal (1989), with John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda, Britt Ekland, Roland Gift, and Jeroen Krabbé.

Films in the 1990s include Six Degrees of Separation (1993), with Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Mary Beth Hurt, and Bruce Davison; The Ballad of Little Jo (1993), with Suzy Amis, Bo Hopkins, David Chung, Heather Graham, Carrie Snodgress, and Melissa Leo; Russell Mulcahy’s The Shadow (1994), with Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Jonathan Winters, Peter Boyle, and Tim Curry; James L. Brooks’s I’ll Do Anything (1994), with Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Joely Richardson, Ullman, and Whittni Wright; Jack & Sarah (1995), with Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, and Cherie Lunghi.

McKellen received and Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as legendary filmmaker James Whale in Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters (1998), with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich and David Dukes. Other films in the 1990s include Michael Hoffman’s Restoration (1995), with Robert Downey Jr., Neill, Meg Ryan, David Thewlis, Polly Walker, and Hugh Grant; Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995), with Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Downey Jr., Kristin Scott Thomas, Nigel Hawthorne, Maggie Smith, John Wood, Tim McInnerny, and Dominic West; Bent (1997), with Lothaire Bluteau, Clive Owen, and Mick Jagger; Beeban Kidron’s Swept from the Sea (1998), with Vincent Perez, Rachel Weisz, Joss Ackland, and Kathy Bates; and Apt Pupil (1998), with Brad Renfro, Elias Koteas, and David Schwimmer.

One of his best known roles is antagonist Magneto in the X-Men films (2000-2014), collectively featuring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Anna Paquin, Bruce Davison, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Kelsey Grammer, Vinnie Jones, Elliot Page, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Peter Dinklage.

He’s also best known for his role as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), collectively with Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Sean Bean, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, and Ian Holm; and The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014), collectively with Martin Freeman,
Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Stephen Fry, Blanchett, Holm, Lee, Weaving, Wood, Bloom, and Serkis. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

Other notable films include Asylum (2005), with Natasha Richardson, Marton Csokas, Hugh Bonneville, Sean Harris, Ackland, Wanda Ventham, Maria Aitken, and Judy Parfitt; Neverwas (2005), with Aaron Eckhart, Brittany Murphy, Nolte, William Hurt, and Jessica Lange; Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code (2006), with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean Reno, and Paul Bettany; Mr. Holmes (2015), with Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Milo Parker; Beauty and the Beast (2017), with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Emma Thompson; All Is True (2018), with Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) and Dench; The Good Liar (2019), with Helen Mirren; and Tom Hooper’s Cats (2019), with James Corden, Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and Francesca Hayward.

McKellen has also done voice work in the animated films The Magic Roundabout (2005), with Tom Baker, Broadbent, Lee Evans, Joanna Lumley, Kylie Minogue, Bill Nighy, Robbie Williams, and Ray Winstone; Flushed Away (2006), with Jackman, Kate Winslet, Serkis, Nighy, Shane Richie and Reno; and Animal Crackers (2017), with John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Danny DeVito, Gilbert Gottfried, Sylvester Stallone, Raven-Symoné, and Patrick Warburton. He also narrated Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust (2007), with Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Peter O’Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Robert De Niro; and voiced in the live action film The Golden Compass (2007), with Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, and Eva Green.

TV movie and miniseries include The Scarlett Pimpernel (1982), with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour; Stephen Frears’s Walter (1982), with Barbara Jefford, Tony Melody, David Ryall, Keith Allen, Paula Tilbrook, and Broadbent; Windmills of the Gods (1988), with Jaclyn Smith and Robert Wagner; And the Band Played On (1993), with Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Glenne Headly, Richard Mauser, Saul Rubinek, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, and Richard Gere; John Schlesinger’s Cold Comfort Farm (1995), with Eileen Atkins, Kate Beckinsale, Sheila Burrell, Fry, Freddie Jones, Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, and Rufus Sewell; Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), with Alan Rickman, Greta Scacchi, and David Warner; and David Copperfield (1999), with Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán McMenamin, Smith, Pauline Quirke, Alun Armstrong, Trevor Eve, Bob Hoskins, Zoë Wanamaker, Emilia Fox, Oliver Ford Davies, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Imelda Staunton, Ian McNeice, Michael Elphick, and Dawn French.

Later TV movies and miniseries include King Lear (2008), with Romola Garai, Frances Barber, Jonathan Hyde, and Sylvester McCoy; The Prisoner (2009), with Jim Caviezel, Hayley Atwell, Ruth Wilson, Lennie James, Rachael Blake, and Jamie Campbell Bower; and The Dresser (2015), with Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Vanessa Kirby, Sarah Lancashire, and Edward Fox. He also starred in the sitcom Vicious (2013-2016), with Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Iwan Rheon, Marcia Warren, and Philip Voss.

McKellen was knighted in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to the performing arts, and made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality in the 2008 New Year Honours. He is gay and has been open about his sexuality since 1988, and continues to champion LGBT social movements worldwide. He was awarded Freedom of the City of London in October 2014.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne (1965) – directed by Peter Duguid – TV movie
Sunday Out of Season (1965) – directed by John Nelson-Burton – TV movie
Hay Fever (1968) – directed by John Gorrie – TV movie
The Promise (1969) – directed by Michael Hayes
Alfred the Great (1969) – directed by Clive Donner
A Touch of Love (1969) – directed by Waris Hussein
The Tragedy of King Richard II (1970) – directed by Richard Cottrell & Toby Robertson – TV movie
Edward II (1970) – directed by Richard Marquand & Toby Robertson – TV movie
Hamlet (1970) – directed by David Giles – TV movie
Ross (1970) – directed by Cedric Messina – TV movie
Hedda Gabler (1972) – directed by Waris Hussein
The Recruiting Officer (1973) – directed by David Giles – TV movie
Graceless Go I (1974) – directed by Patrick Dromgoole – TV movie
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1979) – directed by Roger Bamford & Trevor Nunn – TV movie
A Performance of Macbeth (1979) – directed by Philip Casson & Trevor Nunn – TV movie
The Vanishing Army (1980) – directed by Richard Loncraine – TV movie
1981 Priest of Love (1981) – directed by Christopher Miles
Walter (1982) – directed by Stephen Frears – TV movie
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) – directed by Clive Donner – TV movie
Walter & June (1983) – directed by Stephen Frears – TV movie
The Keep (1983) – directed by Michael Mann
Plenty (1985) – directed by Fred Schepisi
Zina Arthur (1985) – directed by Ken McMullen
Windmills of the Gods (1988) – directed by Lee Philips – miniseries
Scandal (1989) – directed by Michael Caton-Jones
Countdown to War (1989) – directed by Patrick Lau – TV movie
Othello (1990) – directed by Anthony Garrick & Trevor Nunn – TV movie
Last Action Hero (1993) – directed by John McTiernan – cameo
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) – directed by Maggie Greenwald
And the Band Played On (1993) – directed by Roger Spottiswoode – TV movie
Tales of the City (1993) – directed by Alastair Reid – miniseries
Six Degrees of Separation (1993) – directed by Fred Schepisi
I’ll Do Anything John (1994) – directed by James L. Brooks
The Shadow (1994) – directed by Russell Mulcahy
To Die For Quilt (1994) – directed by Peter Litten – voice cameo
Cold Comfort Farm (1995) – directed by John Schlesinger – TV movie
Jack & Sarah (1995) – directed by Tim Sullivan
Restoration (1995) – directed by Michael Hoffman
Richard III (1995) – directed by Richard Loncraine – also writer, executive producer
Rasputin (1996) – directed by Uli Edel – TV movie
Bent (1997) – directed by Sean Mathias
Swept from the Sea (1998) – directed by Beeban Kidron
Apt Pupil (1998) – directed by Bryan Singer
Gods and Monsters (1998) – directed by Bill Condon
The Book That Wrote Itself (1999) – directed by Liam O Mochain – cameo
David Copperfield (1999) – directed by Simon Curtis – miniseries
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (2000) – directed by Keith Melton – short
X-Men (2000)* – directed by Bryan Singer
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)* – directed by Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)* – directed by Peter Jackson
X2: X-Men United (2003)* – directed by Bryan Singer
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)* – directed by Peter Jackson
Emile (2004) – directed by Carl Bessai
Churchill (2004) – directed by Lucy Carter – documentary miniseries
Pavarotti: The Last Tenor (2004) – directed by Francis Hanly – narrator – TV documentary
Asylum (2005) – David Mackenzie
Neverwas (2005) – directed by Joshua Michael Stern
Eighteen (2005) – Richard Bell – voice cameo
The Magic Roundabout (2005) – directed by Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, & Frank Passingham
The Da Vinci Code (2006) – directed by Ron Howard
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)* – directed by Brett Ratner
Flushed Away (2006) – directed David Bowers & Sam Fell
Displaced (2006) – directed by Martin Holland
For the Love of God (2007) – directed by Joe Tucker – short
Stardust (2007)* – directed by Matthew Vaughn
The Golden Compass (2007) – directed by Chris Weitz
King Lear (2008) – directed by Trevor Nunn – TV movie
The Academy (2009) – directed by Peter Hinton – short
The Prisoner (2009) – directed by Nick Hurran – miniseries
The Academy Part 2: First Impressions (2009) – directed by Peter Hinton – short
Small-Time Revolutionary (2010) – directed by Miikka Leskinen – short
A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation (2010) – directed by Stefan Leuchtenberg & Martin Wallner – short
E’gad, Zombies! (2010) – directed by Matthew Butler-Hart – short
Lady Grey London (2011) – directed by John Cameron Mitchell – short
Claude et Claudette (2011) – directed by Mathew Butler-Hart – short
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) – directed by Peter Jackson
The Egg Trick (2013) – directed by Stephen Kroto – short
The Wolverine (2013) – directed by James Mangold – uncredited cameo
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013) – directed by Peter Davison – TV short
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) – directed by Peter Jackson
Miss in Her Teens (2014) – directed by Matthew Butler-Hart
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)* – directed by Bryan Singer
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) – directed by Peter Jackson
Mr. Holmes (2015) – directed by Bill Condon
The Dresser (2015) – directed by Richard Eyre – TV movie
The Roof (2016) – directed by Natalie Abrahami – short
National Theatre Live: No Man’s Land (2016) – directed by Sean Mathias & Robin Lough – TV Movie
Look Back in Anger (2016) – directed by Richard Wilson
Beauty and the Beast (2017) – directed by Bill Condon
Animal Crackers (2017) – directed by Scott Christian Sava, Tony Bancroft, & Jaime Maestro
Edmund the Magnificent (2017) – directed by Ben Ockrent – short
National Theatre Live: King Lear (2018) – directed by Jonathan Munby & Ross MacGibbon – filmed play
All Is True (2018) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
The Good Liar (2019) – directed by Bill Condon
Darrylgorn (2019) – directed by Stephen Colbert – short
Cats (2019) – directed by Tom Hooper
Herbie (2020) – directed by Paolo Donati – short
Infinitum: Subject Unknown (2021) – directed by Matthew Butler-Hart

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