theOscarSite Facts:
Birth Date:
  • 25 May 1939
Birth Name:
  • Ian Murray McKellen
Birthplace:
  • Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Quote:
  • "I've had enough of being a gay icon! I've had enough of all this hard work, because, since I came out, I keep getting all these parts, and my career's taken off. I want a quiet life. I'm going back into the closet. But I can't get back into the closet, because it's absolutely jam-packed full of other actors."
Education:
  • Nursery school attached to the Dicconson Street Wesleyan Primary School
  • Wigan Grammar School for Boys
  • Bolton School (Boys' Division)
  • St. Catharine's College, Cambridge (BA, 1961)
Family:
  • Father: Denis Murray, civil engineer
  • Mother: Margery Lois (née Sutcliffe)
  • Sister: Jean; older
Factoids:
  • Originated the role of Antonio Salieri in the Broadway production of Amadeus (Tony® Award)
  • He was knighted in 1990; he is one of the few openly gay knights
Feature Film
Credits:
  • 2008: The Colossus (as Sir Cecil Rhodes)
    2007: The Golden Compass (voice), Stardust (voice), For the Love of God
    2006: Flushed Away (voice), X-Men: The Last Stand, The Da Vinci Code, Doogal (voice), Displaced (voice)
    2005: Neverwas, Asylum, The Magic Roundabout (voice, English version)
    2004: Eighteen (voice)
    2003: Emile, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, X-Men 2
    2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
    2000: X-Men
  • 1998: Apt Pupil, Gods and Monsters
    1997: Swept from the Sea, Bent
    1995: Richard III (also writer & producer), Restoration, Jack & Sarah
    1994: The Shadow, To Die For (voice), I'll Do Anything
    1993: Six Degrees of Separation, The Ballad of Little Jo, Last Action Hero
    1989: Scandal
    1985: Zina, Plenty
    1983: The Keep
    1981: Priest of Love
    1969: The Promise, Alfred the Great, A Touch of Love
Notable TV
Credits:
  • 2008: King Lear
    2005: Coronation Street (10 episodes)
    1999: David Copperfield (as Creakle)
    1996: Rasputin (as Tsar Nicholas II)
    1995: Cold Comfort Farm
    1993: And the Band Played On
    1993: Tales of the City
  • 1991: Sleepers
    1990: Othello (as Iago)
    1982: The Scarlet Pimpernel
    1979: Macbeth (as Macbeth)
    1970: Hamlet (as Hamlet), Keats (as John Keats), The Tragedy of King Richard II (as Richard II), Edward II (as King Edward)
Academy Awards®: