Ian McKellen on screen and stage explained

Ian McKellen is an English stage and screen actor. He is the recipient of seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, 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, Magneto in the X-Men films, Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code (2006), Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes (2015) and Cogsworth in the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
1964	A Scent of Flowers	Godrey	Duke of York's Theatre
1965	Much Ado About Nothing	Claudio	National Theatre The Old Vic
	Armstrong's Last Goodnight	Protestant Evangelist	National Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre
	Trelawny of the 'Wells'	Capt. de Foenix
1966	The Man of Destiny O'Flaherty V.C.	Corporal Napoleon Private O'Flaherty	Mermaid Theatre
	A Lily in Little India	Alvin Hanker	Hampstead Theatre
	Their Very Own and Golden City	Andrew Cobham	Mermaid Theatre
1967	The Promise	Leonidik	Fortune Theatre Henry Miller's Theatre
1968	The White Liars / Black Comedy	Tom / Harold Gorringe	Lyric Theatre
1968–1970	Richard II	Richard II	UK tour
1969	The Bacchae		Liverpool Playhouse
	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie		Director Liverpool Playhouse
	Three Months Gone
1969–1970	Edward II	Edward II	UK and European tours
1970	Billy's Last Stand	Darkly	Royal Court Theatre
	The Recruiting Officer	Captain Plume	UK tour
	Chips with Everything	Corporal Hill
1971	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	UK and European tours
	The Swan Song	Svetlovidov	Crucible Theatre
1972	The Real Inspector Hound		Director Phoenix Theatre
	The Erpingham Camp		Director Watford Palace Theatre
	Ruling the Roost Tis Pity She's a Whore The Three Arrows	Page-boy Giovanni Prince Yoremitsu	UK tour
1973	A Private Matter		Director Vaudeville Theatre
1973–1974	The Way of the World The Wood Demon King Lear	Lady Wishfort's Footman Kruschov Edgar	UK tour Brooklyn Academy of Music
1974	Tis Pity She's a Whore	Giovanni	Wimbledon Theatre
	Dr Faustus	Dr. Faustus
	The Marquis of Keith	The Marquis of Keith
1975	King John	King John
	The Clandestine Marriage		Director Savoy Theatre
	Ashes	Colin	The Young Vic
	Too True to Be Good	Aubrey "Popsy" Bagot	Aldwych Theatre
1976–1977	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	Royal Shakespeare Theatre Aldwych Theatre Theatre Royal, Newcastle
1976	The Winter's Tale	King Leontes	Royal Shakespeare Theatre
1976–1978	Macbeth	Macbeth	The Other Place The Young Vic Warehouse
1977–1978	The Alchemist	Face	Royal Shakespeare Theatre Aldwych Theatre
1977	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Alexander	Barbican Arts Centre
	Pillars of the Community	Karsten Bernick	Aldwych Theatre
	The Days of the Commune	Langevin
1978	A Miserable and Lonely Death	Kentridge
1978–1979	Twelfth Night / Three Sisters	Sir Toby Belch / Andrei	Also producer UK tour
1979	Bent	Max	Royal Court Theatre Criterion Theatre
1980–1990	Acting Shakespeare	Himself	World tours
1980–1981	Amadeus	Salieri	Broadhurst Theatre
1982	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Alexander	Barbican Arts Centre
1983	Short List	Terry	Hampstead Theatre
	Cowardice	Boy	Ambassadors Theatre
1984	Venice Preserv'd	Pierre	Royal National Theatre
	Wild Honey	Michael Platonov
	Coriolanus	Gaius Marcius Coriolanus
1985	The Duchess of Malfi	Bosola
	The Real Inspector Hound / The Critic	Inspector Hound / Mr. Puff
	The Cherry Orchard	Yermolai Lopakhin
1986–1987	Wild Honey	Michael Platonov	August Wilson Theatre
1988–1989	Henceforward ...	Jerome	Vaudeville Theatre
1989	Othello	Iago	The Other Place The Young Vic
1990–1992	Richard III	Richard III	World tour
1992	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya	Royal National Theatre
1993–1997	A Knight Out	Himself	UK & US tours
1997–1998	An Enemy of the People	Dr. Tomas Stockmann	Royal National Theatre Ahmanson Theatre
1997	Peter Pan	Mr. Darling/Captain Hook	Royal National Theatre
1998	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine	West Yorkshire Playhouse
1999	The Tempest	Prospero
2001–2004	Dance of Death	Edgar	Broadhurst Theatre Lyric Theatre Sydney Arts Festival
2004, 2005	Aladdin	Widow Twankie	The Old Vic
2006	The Cut	Max	Donmar Warehouse
2007–2008	King Lear	Lear	Stratford-upon-Avon Brooklyn Academy of Music New London Theatre
	The Seagull	Sorin
2009–2010	Waiting for Godot	Estragon	Theatre Royal Haymarket Comedy Theatre, Melbourne Fugard Theatre, Cape Town
2011	The Syndicate	Don Antonio	Chichester Festival Theatre
2013–2014	Waiting for Godot / No Man's Land	Estragon / Spooner	Cort Theatre
2016	No Man's Land	Spooner	Wyndham's Theatre
2016–2019	The Exorcist	Demon (voice)	Birmingham Repertory Theatre Phoenix Theatre UK tour
2017	Shakespeare, Tolkien, Others and You	Himself	Park Theatre
2017–2018	King Lear	Lear	Chichester Festival Theatre Duke of York's Theatre
2019–2020	Ian McKellen on Stage	Himself	UK tour Harold Pinter Theatre Hudson Theatre
2021	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	Theatre Royal, Windsor
	The Cherry Orchard	Firs
2022	Hamlet with Ian McKellen	Performer	Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2022–2023	Mother Goose	Mother Goose	Duke of York's Theatre UK tour
2023	Frank and Percy	Percy	Theatre Royal, Windsor Theatre Royal, Bath The Other Palace
2024	Player Kings	John Falstaff	Noël Coward Theatre

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1965	Sunday Out of Season	Victor Leech	John Nelson-Burton	Television film
1969	Alfred the Great	Roger	Clive Donner
	A Touch of Love	George Matthews	Waris Hussein
	The Promise	Leonidik	Michael Hayes
1979	Macbeth	Macbeth	Phillip Casson	Television film
1981	Priest of Love	D. H. Lawrence	Christopher Miles
1982	The Scarlet Pimpernel	Paul Chauvelin	Clive Donner	Television film
	Walter	Walter	Stephen Frears
1983	The Keep	Dr. Theodore Cuza	Michael Mann
	Walter and June	Walter	Stephen Frears	Television film
1985	Plenty	Sir Andrew Charleson	Fred Schepisi
	Zina	Arthur Kronfeld	Ken McMullen
1989	Scandal	John Profumo	Michael Caton-Jones
	Countdown to War	Adolf Hitler	Patrick Lau	Television film
1990	Othello	Iago	Trevor Nunn
1993	Six Degrees of Separation	Geoffrey Miller	Fred Schepisi
	The Ballad of Little Jo	Percy Corcoran	Maggie Greenwald
	Last Action Hero	Death	John McTiernan
	And The Band Played On	Bill Kraus	Roger Spottiswoode	Television film
1994	To Die For	Quilt Documentary Narrator	Peter Litten	Voice role
	The Shadow	Dr. Reinhardt Lane	Russell Mulcahy
	I'll Do Anything	John Earl McAlpine	James L. Brooks
1995	Restoration	Will Gates	Michael Hoffman
	Richard III	Richard III	Richard Loncraine	Also writer and executive producer
	Jack and Sarah	William	Tim Sullivan
	Cold Comfort Farm	Amos Starkadder	John Schlesinger	Television film
1996		Nicholas II	Uli Edel
1997	Swept from the Sea	Dr. James Kennedy	Beeban Kidron
	Bent	Uncle Freddie	Sean Mathias
1998	Gods and Monsters	James Whale	Bill Condon
	Apt Pupil	Kurt Dussander	Bryan Singer
2000	X-Men	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
2001		Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2002		Gandalf the White
2003	X2	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Bryan Singer
	Emile	Emile	Carl Bessai
		Gandalf the White	Peter Jackson
2004	Eighteen	Older Jason Anders	Richard Bell	Voice role
2005	Neverwas	Gabriel Finch	Joshua Michael Stern
	Asylum	Dr. Peter Cleave	David Mackenzie
	The Magic Roundabout	Zebedee	Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, and Frank Passingham	Voice role
2006	Flushed Away	The Toad	David Bowers Sam Fell
	The Da Vinci Code	Sir Leigh Teabing	Ron Howard
		Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Brett Ratner
2007	Stardust	Narrator	Matthew Vaughn	Voice role
	The Golden Compass	Iorek Byrnison	Chris Weitz
2008	King Lear	King Lear	Trevor Nunn	Television film
2012		Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2013	The Wolverine	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	James Mangold
		Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2014	Miss in Her Teens	The Prologue	Matthew Butler Hart
		Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Bryan Singer	Shared role with Michael Fassbender
		Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2015	Mr. Holmes	Sherlock Holmes	Bill Condon
	The Dresser	Norman		Television film
2017	Beauty and the Beast	Cogsworth
	Animal Crackers	Horatio P. Huntington	Scott Christian Sava & Tony Bancroft	Voice role
2018	All Is True	Earl of Southampton	Kenneth Branagh
2019	The Good Liar	Roy Courtnay	Bill Condon
	Cats	Gus the Theatre Cat	Tom Hooper
2021		Dr. Charles Marland-White	Matthew Butler-Hart
2023	The One Note Man	Storyteller	George Siougas	Voice role; short film
	The Critic	Jimmy Erskine	Anand Tucker
Sources:

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling	Plowden	Episode: "The Tomb of His Ancestors"
1965	The Wednesday Play	Wolf	Episode: "The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne"
1966	David Copperfield	David Copperfield	9 episodes
1970	Solo	John Keats	Episode: "Ian McKellen as John Keats"
1972	Country Matters	David Masterman	Episode: "Craven Arms"
1978	Jackanory	Reader	5 episodes reading "The Moon in the Cloud"
1980	Armchair Thriller	Anthony Skipling	4-episode story: "Dying Day"
1981	Pillar of Fire	Narrator	Documentary
1988	Windmills of the Gods	Chairman	2 episodes
1993	Tales of the City	Archibald Anson Gidde	Miniseries, episodes 3 and 5
1999	David Copperfield	Mr. Creakle	2 episodes
2002	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Ian McKellen/Kylie Minogue"
2003	The Simpsons	Himself	Voice Episode: "The Regina Monologues"
2005	Coronation Street	Mel Hutchwright/Lionel Hipkiss	10 episodes
2006	Extras	Himself	Episode: "Sir Ian McKellen"
2009	The Prisoner	Number Two	6 episodes
2012	Doctor Who	The Great Intelligence	Voice Episode: "The Snowmen"
2013 - 2016	Vicious	Freddie Thornhill	14 episodes
2018	Family Guy	Dr. Cecil Pritchfield	Voice Episode: "Send in Stewie, Please"
2024	Ted	Narrator	2 episodes
Sources:

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers		Voice
2003	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004
Source:^[1]

Music

• In 1987, McKellen appeared reciting Shakespeare while rock group The Fleshtones improvised behind him on Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes which ran on MTV.^[2]
• Vampire in the music video "Heart" by Pet Shop Boys^[3]
• The man who's "falling out of reach" in the music video "Falling Out of Reach" by Guillemots^[4]
• Appears on the Scissor Sisters track "Invisible Light" from their 2010 album Night Work, reciting a passage regarding the "Invisible Light" of the title.^[5]
• Appeared as himself alongside George Ezra in the latter's music video for "Listen to the Man". Whilst Ezra is singing his song, McKellen joins in and lip-syncs Ezra's voice.^[6]

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
1988	Pet Shop Boys	"Heart"
2014	George Ezra	"Listen to the Man"

Audiobooks

• Audiobook narrator of Michelle Paver's series Wolf Brother,^[7] Spirit Walker,^[8] Soul Eater,^[9] Outcast,^[10] Oath Breaker,^[11] and Ghost Hunter,^[12] as well as a version of Homer's Odyssey.^[13]

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Ian McKellen

Sources

• Book: Barratt, Mark. 2005. Ian McKellen: An Unofficial Biography. London. Virgin Books. 978-0-7535-1074-2.

Notes and References

1. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Ian-McKellen/ Ian McKellen at Behind the Voice Actors
2. Web site: Ian McKellen by Andy Warhol (1928–1987) . . n.d. . 16 April 2018 . none.
3. Web site: Ian Mckellen in Heart Album . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108044639/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9566 . 8 January 2014 . live .
4. News: Ian Mckellen reads 'Falling Out of Reach' . The Guardian . 23 April 2008 . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108043823/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/apr/23/popandrock.ianmckellen . 8 January 2014 . live . Barnett . Laura .
5. News: Scissor Sisters collaborate with Ian McKellen: Lord of the Rings actor appears on final track of Scissor Sisters' long-awaited third album, Night Work . Martin . Dan . 14 April 2010 . The Observer . London . 11 December 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160314201112/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/apr/14/scissor-sisters-ian-mckellen . 14 March 2016 . live .
6. News: Sir Ian McKellen totally outshines George Ezra in Listen to the Man video . Daniella . Graham . . 29 October 2014 . 12 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141116174911/http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/29/sir-ian-mckellen-totally-outshines-george-ezra-in-listen-to-the-man-video-4926252/ . 16 November 2014 . live .
7. Web site: Ian McKellen reads Chronicles of Ancient Darkness . . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108055011/http://www.theguardian.com/books/michelle-paver . 8 January 2014 . live .
8. News: Ian McKellen reads Spirit Walker . The Guardian . 19 November 2005 . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108044428/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/nov/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview24 . 8 January 2014 . live . Arnold . Sue .
9. News: Ian McKellen reads Soul Eater . The Guardian . 8 August 2008 . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108043732/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/09/booksforchildrenandteenagers.audiobooks3 . 8 January 2014 . live . Arnold . Sue .
10. Web site: Ian McKellen reads Outcast . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108043602/https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/Books/detail.page?isbn=9781842551738 . dead . 8 January 2014 . 8 January 2014.
11. Web site: McKellen reads Oath Breaker . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108051855/http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/michelle+paver/paolo+barbieri/oath+breaker/9203113/ . 8 January 2014 . live .
12. Web site: McKellen reads Ghost Hunter . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108044022/http://www.michellepaver.com/in-the-recording-studio-with-ian-mckellen/ . 8 January 2014 . live .
13. News: McKellen reading The Odyssey . The Guardian . 22 December 2006 . 8 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108043908/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/dec/22/uknews2.mainsection1 . 8 January 2014 . live . Ward . David .