Ian McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen | |
---|---|
![]() McKellen at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International | |
Born | Ian Murray McKellen 25 May 1939[1] Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK |
Alma mater | St Catharine's College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1959–present |
Partner(s) | Brian Taylor (1964–1972) Sean Mathias (1978–1988) |
Website | Official website |
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor.[2][3] He is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received two Academy Award nominations, four BAFTA nominations and five Emmy Award nominations. McKellen's work spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. His notable film roles include Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films.
McKellen was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979,[4] was knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts,[5] and was made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality, in the 2008 New Year Honours.[6] He was made a Freeman of the city of London in October, 2014.
Early life
McKellen was born on 25 May 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire,[7] the son of Margery Lois (née Sutcliffe) and Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer. He was their second child, with a sister, Jean, five years his senior.[8] Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, his family moved to Wigan. They lived there through the war and his early childhood. They relocated to Bolton in 1951, after his father had been promoted.[8][9] The experience of living through the war as a young child had some lasting impact on him, and he later claimed that "only after peace resumed ... did I realise that war wasn't normal."[9] In response to an interview question, when an interviewer remarked that he seemed quite calm in the aftermath of 11 September attacks, he said: "Well, darling, you forget—I slept under a steel plate until I was four years old."[10]
McKellen's father was a civil engineer and lay preacher, and was of Scots-Irish and Scottish descent.[11] Both of McKellen's grandfathers were preachers, and his great-great-grandfather, James McKellen, was a "strict, evangelical Protestant minister" in Ballymena, County Antrim.[12] His home environment was strongly Christian, but non-orthodox. "My upbringing was of low nonconformist Christians who felt that you led the Christian life in part by behaving in a Christian manner to everybody you met."[13] When he was 12, his mother died; his father died when he was 24. Of his coming out of the closet to his stepmother, Gladys McKellen, who was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, he said, "Not only was she not fazed, but as a member of a society which declared its indifference to people's sexuality years back, I think she was just glad for my sake that I wasn't lying anymore."[14]
McKellen attended Bolton School (Boys' Division),[15] of which he is still a supporter, attending regularly to talk to pupils. McKellen's acting career started at Bolton Little Theatre, of which he is now the patron.[16] An early fascination with the theatre was encouraged by his parents, who took him on a family outing to Peter Pan at the Opera House in Manchester when he was three.[8] When he was nine, his main Christmas present was a wood and bakelite, fold-away Victorian theatre from Pollocks Toy Theatres, with cardboard scenery and wires to push on the cut-outs of Cinderella and of Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.[8]
His sister took him to his first Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night,[17] by the amateurs of Wigan's Little Theatre, shortly followed by their Macbeth and Wigan High School for Girls' production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with music by Mendelssohn, with the role of Bottom played by Jean McKellen, who continued to act, direct, and produce amateur theatre until her death.[18]
When he was 18 years old, McKellen won a scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he read English literature.[19]
Career
Theatre
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/9.24.13WaitingForGodot-NoMansLandPressJunketByLuigiNovi8.jpg/220px-9.24.13WaitingForGodot-NoMansLandPressJunketByLuigiNovi8.jpg)
While at Cambridge McKellen was a member of the Marlowe Society, appearing in Henry IV (as Shallow) alongside Trevor Nunn and Derek Jacobi (March 1959), Cymbeline (as Posthumus, opposite Margaret Drabble as Imogen) and Doctor Faustus.[20][21][22] His first professional appearance was in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre, as Roper in A Man for All Seasons, although an audio recording of the Marlowe Society's Cymbeline had gone on commercial sale as part of the Argo Shakespeare series.[20][22]
After four years in regional repertory theatres he made his first West End appearance, in A Scent of Flowers, regarded as a "notable success".[20] In 1965 he was a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, which led to roles at the Chichester Festival. With the Prospect Theatre Company, McKellen made his breakthrough performances of Richard II (directed by Richard Cottrell) and Marlowe's Edward II (directed by Toby Robertson) at the Edinburgh festival in 1969, the latter causing a storm of protest over the enactment of the homosexual Edward's lurid death.[23]
In the 1970s and 1980s McKellen became a well-known figure in British theatre, performing frequently at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he played several leading Shakespearean roles, including the titular part in Macbeth (which he had first assayed for Trevor Nunn in a "gripping...out of the ordinary" production, with Judi Dench, at Stratford in 1976), and Iago in Othello, in award-winning productions directed by Nunn.[20] Both of these productions were adapted into television films, also directed by Nunn.
In 2007 he returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company, in productions of King Lear and The Seagull, both directed by Trevor Nunn. In 2009 he appeared in a very popular revival of Waiting for Godot at London's Haymarket Theatre, directed by Sean Mathias, and playing opposite Patrick Stewart.[24][25] He is Patron of English Touring Theatre and also President and Patron of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, an association of amateur theatre organisations throughout the UK.[26] In late August 2012, he took part in the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics, portraying Prospero from The Tempest.[27]
Popular success
McKellen had taken film roles throughout his career—beginning in 1969 with his role of George Matthews in A Touch of Love, and his first leading role was in 1980 as D. H. Lawrence in Priest of Love,[28] but it was not until the 1990s that he became more widely recognised in this medium after several roles in blockbuster Hollywood films.[19]
In 1993, McKellen had a supporting role as a South African tycoon in the critically acclaimed[29] Six Degrees of Separation, in which he starred with Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland, and Will Smith. In the same year, he appeared in minor roles in the television miniseries Tales of the City, based on the novel by his friend Armistead Maupin, and the film Last Action Hero, in which he played Death.
Later that same year, he also appeared in the television film And the Band Played On, about the discovery of the AIDS virus, for which McKellen won a CableACE Award for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries and was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.[30] In 1995, he played the title role in Richard III,[31] which transported the setting into an alternative 1930s in which England is ruled by fascists. The film was a critical success.[32] McKellen co-produced and co-wrote the film, adapting the play for the screen based on a stage production of Shakespeare's play directed by Richard Eyre for the Royal National Theatre, in which McKellen had appeared.[19][32] As executive producer he returned his £50,000 fee to complete the filming of the final battle.[33] In his review of the film, Washington Post film critic Hal Hinson, called McKellen's performance a "lethally flamboyant incarnation", and said his "florid mastery ... dominates everything".[34] His performance in the title role garnered best actor nominations for the BAFTA Award and Golden Globe, and won the European Film Award for Best Actor. His screenplay was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Ian_McKellen.jpg/220px-Ian_McKellen.jpg)
He appeared in the modestly acclaimed film[35] Apt Pupil, which was directed by Bryan Singer and based on a story by Stephen King. McKellen portrayed an old Nazi officer, living under a false name in the US, who was befriended by a curious teenager (Brad Renfro) who threatened to expose him unless he told his story in detail. He was subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, wherein he played James Whale, the director of Show Boat (1936) and Frankenstein.[19]
In 1999 McKellen was cast, again under the direction of Bryan Singer, to play the comic book supervillain Magneto in the 2000 film X-Men and its sequels X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.[19] While filming X-Men McKellen was cast as the wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). He received honors from the Screen Actors Guild for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in The Fellowship of the Ring, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role. He also voiced Gandalf in the video game adaptions of the film trilogy as well as in The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.[36] On 10 January 2011 it was officially confirmed that Mckellen would reprise the role of Gandalf in the three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit.[37]
On 16 March 2002, he was the host on Saturday Night Live. In 2003, McKellen made a guest appearance as himself on the American cartoon show The Simpsons, in a special British-themed episode entitled "The Regina Monologues", along with Tony Blair and J. K. Rowling. In April and May 2005, he played the role of Mel Hutchwright in Granada Television's long running soap opera, Coronation Street, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. He narrated Richard Bell's film Eighteen, as a grandfather who leaves his World War II memoirs on audio-cassette for his teenage grandson.
McKellen has appeared in limited release films, such as Emile (which was shot in three weeks following the X2 shoot),[38] Neverwas and Asylum. He appeared as Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code. During a 17 May 2006 interview on The Today Show with the Da Vinci Code cast and director, Matt Lauer posed a question to the group about how they would have felt if the film had borne a prominent disclaimer that it is a work of fiction, as some religious groups wanted.[39] McKellen responded, "I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying 'This is fiction.' I mean, walking on water? It takes... an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie — not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story." He continued, "And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing when they've seen it".[39] McKellen appeared in the 2006 series of Ricky Gervais' comedy series Extras, where he played himself directing Gervais' character Andy Millman in a play about gay lovers. McKellen received a 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series nomination for his performance. In 2009 he portrayed Number Two in The Prisoner, a remake of the 1967 cult series The Prisoner.[40] He reprised his role, Magneto, in X-Men: Days of Future Past, released in May 2014; he shared the role with Michael Fassbender, who played a younger version of the character in 2011's X-Men: First Class.[41] In November 2013 McKellen appeared in the one-off Doctor Who 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[42]
McKellen was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Cambridge University on 18 June 2014.[43]
Personal life
McKellen and his first serious partner, Brian Taylor, a history teacher from Bolton, began their relationship in 1964.[44] It lasted for eight years, ending in 1972. They lived in London, where McKellen continued to pursue his career as an actor. For over a decade, he has lived in a five-storey Victorian conversion in Narrow Street, Limehouse.[45] In 1978 he met his second partner, Sean Mathias, at the Edinburgh Festival. This relationship lasted until 1988. According to Mathias, the ten-year love affair was tempestuous, with conflicts over McKellen's success in acting versus Mathias's somewhat less-successful career. Mathias later directed McKellen in Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2009. The pair entered into a business partnership with Evgeny Lebedev, purchasing the lease on The Grapes public house in Narrow Street.[46]
In the late 1980s, McKellen lost his appetite for meat except for fish, and so mostly excludes it from his diet.[47]
He has a tattoo of the Elvish number nine, written using Tengwar, on his shoulder in reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the original nine companions of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Sean Bean, Dominic Monaghan and Viggo Mortensen) have the same tattoo. John Rhys-Davies, whose character was also one of the original nine companions, arranged for his stunt double to get the tattoo instead.[48]
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006.[49] In 2012, McKellen stated on his blog that "[t]here is no cause for alarm. I am examined regularly and the cancer is contained. I've not needed any treatment."[50]
He became an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church in early 2013 [51] in order to preside over the marriage of his X-Men co-star Patrick Stewart to his then fiancée Sunny Ozell.[52] McKellen was awarded an honorary degree by Cambridge University on 18 June 2014, becoming a Doctor of Letters.[53]
He was made a Freeman of the city of London on Thursday 30th October, 2014. The ceremony took place at Guildhall in London. McKellen was nominated by London's Lord Mayor Fiona Woolf, who said he was chosen as he was an “exceptional actor” and “tireless campaigner for equality”.[54]
Activism
LGBT rights campaigning
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/McKellen_2010.jpg/220px-McKellen_2010.jpg)
While McKellen had made his sexual orientation known to his fellow actors early on in his stage career, it was not until 1988 that he came out to the general public, in a programme on BBC Radio 3.[55] The context that prompted McKellen's decision — overriding any concerns about a possible negative effect on his career — was that the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Bill, simply known as Section 28, was under consideration in the British Parliament.[19] Section 28, which proposed to prohibit local authorities from "promoting homosexuality" 'as a kind of pretended family relationship', was ambiguous and the actual impact of the amendment was uncertain.[56] McKellen became active in fighting the proposed law, and declared himself gay on a BBC Radio programme where he debated the subject of Section 28 with the conservative journalist Peregrine Worsthorne.[19] McKellen has stated that he was influenced in his decision by the advice and support of his friends, among them noted gay author Armistead Maupin.[19] In a 1998 interview that discusses the 29th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, McKellen commented, "I have many regrets about not having come out earlier, but one of them might be that I didn't engage myself in the politicking."[57] He has said of this period: "My own participating in that campaign was a focus for people [to] take comfort that if Ian McKellen was on board for this, perhaps it would be all right for other people to be as well, gay and straight".[13] Section 28 was, however, enacted and remained on the statute books until 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in the rest of the UK.
In 2003, during an appearance on Have I Got News For You, McKellen claimed when he visited Michael Howard, then Environment Secretary (responsible for local government), in 1988 to lobby against Section 28, Howard refused to change his position but did ask him to leave an autograph for his children. McKellen agreed, but wrote, "Fuck off, I'm gay."[58] McKellen described Howard's junior ministers, Conservatives David Wilshire and Dame Jill Knight, who were the architects of Section 28, as the 'ugly sisters' of a political pantomime.[59]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Ian_McKellen_at_Europride_2003_Parade.jpg/220px-Ian_McKellen_at_Europride_2003_Parade.jpg)
McKellen has continued to be very active in LGBT rights efforts. In a statement on his website regarding his activism, the actor commented that:
I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about – nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fund-raiser) because I never want to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern; legal and social equality for gay people worldwide.[60]
McKellen is a co-founder of Stonewall, a LGB rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, named after the Stonewall riots.[61] McKellen is also patron of LGBT History Month,[62] Pride London, GAY-GLOS, The Lesbian & Gay Foundation,[63] and FFLAG where he appears in their video "Parents Talking".[64]
In 1994, at the closing ceremony of the Gay Games, he briefly took the stage to address the crowd, saying, "I'm Sir Ian McKellen, but you can call me Serena": This nickname, given to him by Stephen Fry, had been circulating within the gay community since McKellen's knighthood was conferred.[13] In 2002, he was the Celebrity Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade[65] and he attended the Academy Awards with his then-boyfriend, New Zealander Nick Cuthell. In 2006, McKellen spoke at the pre-launch of the 2007 LGBT History Month in the UK, lending his support to the organisation and its founder, Sue Sanders.[62] In 2007, he became a patron of The Albert Kennedy Trust, an organisation that provides support to young, homeless and troubled LGBT people.[61]
In 2006, he became a patron of Oxford Pride, stating:
"I send my love to all members of Oxford Pride, their sponsors and supporters, of which I am proud to be one... Onlookers can be impressed by our confidence and determination to be ourselves and gay people, of whatever age, can be comforted by the occasion to take the first steps towards coming out and leaving the closet forever behind."[66]
McKellen has taken his activism internationally, and caused a major stir in Singapore, where he was invited to do an interview on a morning show and shocked the interviewer by asking if they could recommend him a gay bar; the programme immediately ended.[67] In December 2008, he was named in Out's annual Out 100 list.[68]
In 2010, McKellen extended his support for Liverpool's Homotopia festival in which a group of gay and lesbian Merseyside teenagers helped to produce an anti-homophobia campaign pack for schools and youth centres across the city.[69] In May 2011, he called Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, a "coward" for refusing to allow gay parades in the city.[70]
Charity work
In April 2010, along with actors Brian Cox and Eleanor Bron, McKellen appeared in a series of TV advertisements to support Age UK, the charity recently formed from the merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged. All three actors gave their time free of charge.[71]
A cricket fan since childhood, McKellen umpired in March 2011 for a charity cricket match in New Zealand to support earthquake victims of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.[72][73]
McKellen is an honorary board member for the New York and Washington, DC based organization Only Make Believe.[74] Only Make Believe creates and performs interactive plays in children's hospitals and care facilities. He was honoured by the organisation in 2012 [75] and hosted their annual Make Believe on Broadway Gala in November 2013.[76] He garnered publicity for the organisation by stripping down to his Lord of the Rings underwear on stage.
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
While in New Zealand filming The Hobbit in 2012, McKellen announced a special New Zealand tour 'Shakespeare, Tolkien, and You!', with proceeds from the shows going to help save the Isaac Theatre Royal, which suffered extensive damage during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. McKellen said he opted to help save the building as it was the last theatre he played in New Zealand (Waiting For Godot in 2010) and the locals' love for it made it a place worth supporting.[77]
Selected credits
Stage
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/The_hands_of_Sir_Ian_McKellen.jpg/220px-The_hands_of_Sir_Ian_McKellen.jpg)
- Much Ado About Nothing, Royal National Theatre, Old Vic, London, 1965
- Trelawny of the 'Wells', National Theatre, London & Chichester Festival, 1965
- The Promise, West End; Broadway, 1967
- Edward II (in title role), Edinburgh Festival & West End, 1969
- Hamlet (title role), UK/European Tour, 1971
- 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, UK Tour, 1972
- Dr Faustus (title role), Royal Shakespeare Company, Edinburgh Festival & Aldwych Theatre (London), 1974
- King John, RSC, 1975
- Romeo and Juliet (as Romeo), RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & London, 1976
- The Winter's Tale, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1976
- Macbeth (title role), RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & Young Vic (London), 1976–1977
- The Alchemist, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon & London, 1977
- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, RSC, Barbican Arts Centre (London), 1977
- Three Sisters, RSC, UK Tour, 1978
- Bent, (as Max) Royal Court and Criterion, London, 1979
- Acting Shakespeare (as Himself), Copenhagen, 1980
- Amadeus (as Salieri), Broadway, 1980
- Coriolanus (title role), National Theatre, 1984
- Wild Honey, National Theatre, 1984 (& Broadway, 1986)
- The Cherry Orchard (as Lopakhin), National Theatre, 1985
- The Duchess of Malfi, National Theatre, 1985
- The Real Inspector Hound, National Theatre, London & Paris, 1985
- Othello (as Iago), RSC, London & Stratford-upon-Avon, 1989
- Richard III (title role), National Theatre, world tour, 1990 & US tour, 1992
- Uncle Vanya (title role), National Theatre, 1992
- Peter Pan (as Mr. Darling/Captain Hook), National Theatre, 1997
- An Enemy of the People, National Theatre, 1997 & Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles), 1998
- Present Laughter, West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds, England), 1998
- Dance of Death, at the Broadhurst Theatre (New York) in 2001. At the Lyric Theatre (London, England) in 2003[78]
- Aladdin, (as Widow Twankie) Old Vic, 2004 & 2005
- The Cut, Donmar Warehouse, 2006
- King Lear by William Shakespeare, (as Lear), Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2007; New Zealand, 2007; New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 2007, Minneapolis, 2007, New London Theatre (West End), 2007–8
- The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, (as Sorin), Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2007; New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 2007 Minneapolis, 2007, New London Theatre (West End), 2007–8
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, (as Estragon), Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 2009 and 2010; Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, 2010[79] and Fugard Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010
- The Syndicate by Eduardo De Filippo, Chichester Festival, 2011
- No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot (double bill), Broadway, 2013- 2014
Filmography, awards and nominations
Music
- Vampire in the music video "Heart" by Pet Shop Boys[80]
- The man who's "falling out of reach" in the music video "Falling Out of Reach" by Guillemots[81]
- Appears on the Scissor Sisters track "Invisible Light", from their 2010 album "Night Work", reciting a passage regarding the "Invisible Light" of the title.[82]
- Appeared alongside George Ezra in the laters music video, as himself, for "Listen to the Man". Whilst Ezra is singing his song, McKellen joins in and lip-synchs Ezra's voice in a 4 minute long video. [83]
Audiobooks
- Audiobook narrator of Michelle Paver's series Wolf Brother,[84] Spirit Walker,[85] Soul Eater,[86] Outcast,[87] Oath Breaker[88] and Ghost Hunter,[89] as well as a version of Homer's The Odyssey.[90]
Other work
A friend of actor Ian Charleson and an admirer of his work, McKellen contributed an entire chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.[91] A recording of McKellen's voice is heard before performances at the Royal Festival Hall, reminding patrons to ensure their mobile phones and watch alarms are switched off, and to keep coughing to a minimum.[92][93] He also took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony as Prospero.[27]
References
Notes
- ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1208. Time Inc. 25 May 2012. p. 21.
- ^ Jackson, George (4 February 2013). "Nesbitt does the honours as fellow actor McKellen gets Ulster degree". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
McKellen is recognised as one of the greatest living actors.
- ^ "Sir Ian McKellen receives award from University of Ulster". BBC News. BBC. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
[O]ne of the greatest actors on stage and screen [...] Sir Ian's performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors
- ^ "No. 47888". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 26 June 1979. - ^ "Sir Ian McKellen". Cinema.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ "No. 58557". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 29 December 2007. - ^ Barratt 2006, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d "Ian McKellen From the Beginning". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Pierless Youth". The Sunday Times Magazine. 2 January 1977. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ Gold, Matea (14 November 2009). "Full Interview with McKellen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ Ian McKellen: an unofficial biography, Mark Barratt, Virgin Books, 2005, p. 2
- ^ "Ian McKellen traces roots to Ballymena". UTV. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ a b c Steele, Bruce C. (11 December 2001). "The Knight's Crusade". The Advocate. pp. 36–38, 40–45. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- ^ Adams, Stephen (30 November 2009). "McKellen about his stepmother". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Famous Old Boltonians". Bolton School. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ "Bolton Little Theatre". Bolton Little Theatre. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Curtis, Nick (9 December 2005). "Panto's grandest Dame". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ J. W. Braun, The Lord of the Films (ECW Press, 2009)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 8 December 2002. #5, season 9
- ^ a b c d Trowbridge, Simon (2008). Stratfordians. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. pp. 338–343. ISBN 978-0-9559830-1-6.
- ^ "Marlowe Chronology". Cambridge University Marlowe Dramatic Society. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ a b Drabble, Margaret (1993). "Stratford revisited". In Novy, Marianne (ed.). Cross-cultural performances: differences in women's re-visions of Shakespeare. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-252-06323-6.
- ^ Steven, Alasdair (6 September 2012). "Obituary: Toby Robertson, OBE, theatre director". The Scotsman. The Scotsman. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Paddock, Terri (31 October 2008). "McKellen & Stewart Wait in Haymarket Godot". Whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
- ^ Wolf, Matt (7 May 2009). "McKellen and Stewart Deliver a 'Godot' With a Difference". New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
- ^ "The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain". Littletheatreguild.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ a b Paralympics: Games opening promises 'journey of discovery' BBC News
- ^ Cosmopolitan - "Ian McKellen bursts into film" - May 1981
- ^ "Six Degrees of Separation (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ Sir Ian McKellen Emmy Nominated
- ^ "Richard III (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ a b "Notes". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ Empire, May 2006
- ^ "A Rich 'Richard III' Rules". The Washington Post. 19 January 1996.
- ^ "Apt Pupil (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "2000's". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
- ^ Rottenberg, Josh (10 January 2011). "Hobbit' scoop: Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis on board". Insidemovies.ew.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ "Adrian Salpeter interviews Ian McKellen about Emile". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ a b Template:Wayback Us Weekly. 17 May 2006.
- ^ Wilson, Benji (11 April 2010). "The Prisoner: remake of a 1960s TV classic". The Sunday Times. London.
- ^ Keyes, Rob (27 November 2012). "Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen Join 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'". Screenrant. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013
- ^ Buchan, Lizzy (18 June 2014). "X-Men and Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen among leading figures given honorary degrees by Cambridge University". Cambridge News. Cambridge Newspapers. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
Sir Ian McKellen among leading figures given honorary degrees by Cambridge University.
- ^ "Ian McKellen profile at Tiscali". Tiscali Film and TV. Retrieved 11 April 2005.
- ^ "Sir Ian McKellen". The Times. London. 27 August 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2005.
- ^ "The Grapes History", thegrapes.co.uk.
- ^ Correspondence with Ian McKellen—Vegetarianism from Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "The stars of The Lord of the Rings trilogy reach their journey's end". SciFi.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Noah, Sherna (11 December 2012). "Sir Ian McKellen speaks of prostate cancer shock". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ Gwynedd, Myrddin (14 December 2012). "Ian McKellen clarifies prostate cancer reports". The New Zealand Herald. APN New Zealand. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ http://entertainment.time.com/2013/03/19/sir-ian-mckellen-to-marry-sir-patrick-stewart-no-not-like-that/
- ^ http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/09/sir-ian-mckellen-officiates-sir-patrick-stewarts-wedding-3955071/
- ^ "Honorary degrees 2014". Cambridge University Alumni News. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/what-we-do/media-centre/news-releases/2014/Pages/sir-ian-mckellen-receives-freedom-of-the-city-of-london.aspx
- ^ The programme is online: "Third Ear: Section 28", BBC Radio 3, 27 January 1988
- ^ "When gay became a four-letter word". BBC. 20 January 2000. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- ^ Mendelsohn, Scott, "Ian McKellen", BOMB Magazine. Fall 1998. Retrieved on [18 July 2012.]
- ^ 10 things we didn't know this time last week. BBC News. 14 November 2003.
- ^ "'Section 28'". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 1 July 1998.
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(help) - ^ "Activism". Ian McKellen Official Website. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
- ^ a b "Ian McKellen becomes the Albert Kennedy Trust's new patron". The Albert Kennedy Trust. 5 January 2007.
- ^ a b "LGBT History Month 2007 PreLaunch". LGBT History Month. 20 November 2006.
- ^ "Aim High". the Lesbian & Gay Foundation. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ FFLAG Official web site
- ^ QTV news coverage of San Francisco Pride Parade 2002 incl. McKellen interview snippet
- ^ "Sir Ian becomes gay pride patron". BBC News. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian McKellen's gay comment causes a stir on Singaporean TV." Archived on 23rd May 2012 at Wayback Machine www.gmax.co.za.
- ^ "Ian McKellen." Out. December 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- ^ Staff Writer. "Ian McKellen backs Liverpool anti-homophobia effort". Pink News. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ By Advocate.com Editors. "McKellen Calls Moscow Mayor a Coward | News". The Advocate. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
{{cite web}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ Sweney, Mark (19 April 2010). "Hollywood actors star in Age UK ad". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ "Cricket: 'Fill the Basin' teams named". The New Zealand Herald. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "Hollywood vs Wellywood fills The Basin". New Zealand.com. Tourism New Zealand. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ Panoptic Artifex - Christopher Baima & Greg Sweet (15 September 2013). "Honorary Board". Only Make Believe. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian McKellen Makes Magic... Through Charity". Entertainment Weekly. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Kornowski, Liat (6 November 2013). "Ian McKellen Strips To His Undies At The Only Make Believe Gala". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ RadioLIVE. "Sir Ian McKellen on fundraising for the Isaac Theatre Royal". MediaWorks. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Staff (6 March 2003). "Dance of Death, Lyric Shaftesbury". BBC London. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ Barclay, Alison (7 May 2010). "Sir Ian McKellen is mistaken for a tramp on a Melbourne bench between Waiting for Godot rehearsals". Herald Sun. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ^ "Ian Mckellen in Heart Album". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian Mckellen reads 'Falling Out of Reach'". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ Martin, Dan (14 April 2010). "Scissor Sisters collaborate with Ian McKellen: Lord of the Rings actor appears on final track of Scissor Sisters' long-awaited third album, Night Work". The Observer. London.
- ^ http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/29/sir-ian-mckellen-totally-outshines-george-ezra-in-listen-to-the-man-video-4926252/
- ^ "Ian McKellen reads Chronicles of Ancient Darkness". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian McKellen reads Spirit Walker". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian McKellen reads Soul Eater". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Ian McKellen reads Outcast". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "McKellen reads Oath Breaker". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "McKellen reads Ghost Hunter". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "McKellen reading The Odyssey". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ Ian McKellen, Alan Bates, Hugh Hudson, et al. For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. 125–130.
- ^ White, Michael (20 June 2011). "How to deal with the very worst concert nuisances". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ Jim Pritchard (July 2010). "Verdi, La traviata: Soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: Yves Abel. Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 8.7.2010". MusicWeb International. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
Sources
- Barratt, Mark (2006). Ian McKellen: An Unofficial Biography. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-1074-2.
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External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Ian McKellen on X
- The papers of Sir Ian McKellen, actor are held by the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre and Performance Department.
- Ian McKellen at the BFI's Screenonline
- Ian McKellen at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ian McKellen at IMDb
- Biography of Sir Ian McKellen, CH, CBE, Debrett's
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