Ian McKellen

Personal Info

Know For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1939-05-25 (86 years old)

Place of Birth

Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK

Ian McKellen

Biography

Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards. McKellen made his stage debut in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of its repertory company, and in 1965 made his first West End appearance. In 1969...

Acting

2006

The Da Vinci Code

as Sir Leigh Teabing

1998

Gods and Monsters

as James Whale

2007

The Golden Compass

as Iorek Byrnison (voice)

2007

Stardust

as Narrator (voice)

1998

Swept from the Sea

as Dr. James Kennedy

1995

Jack & Sarah

as William

1993

2005

Neverwas

as Gabriel Finch

1995

Richard III

as Richard III

2006

Flushed Away

as The Toad (voice)

1982

2006

Doogal

as Zebedee (voice)

2005

Asylum

as Dr. Peter Cleave

1994

The Shadow

as Dr. Reinhardt Lane

1989

Scandal

as John Profumo

1995

Cold Comfort Farm

as Amos Starkadder

1998

Apt Pupil

as Kurt Dussander

1993

1983

The Keep

as Dr. Theodore Cuza

1979

Macbeth

as Macbeth

1985

Plenty

as Sir Andrew Charleson

2003

Émile

as Emile

2000

X-Men

as Magneto

2003

X2

as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto

2006

X-Men: The Last Stand

as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto

2008

King Lear

as King Lear

2004

The Magic Roundabout

as Zebedee (voice)

2000

1996

Rasputin

as Tsar Nicholas II

2012

1981

Priest of Love

as D.H. Lawrence

1992

Gladio

as Aldo Moro (voice)

1997

Bent

as Uncle Freddie

1993

The Ballad of Little Jo

as Percy Corcoran

1969

1982

Walter

as Walter

-

Richard II

as Richard II

2006

Saint of 9/11

as Narrator

-

Schadenfreude

as Continuity Announcer

1969

2009

Theatreland

as Himself

1994

To Die For

as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)

1983

2013

1979

1997

A Bit Of Scarlet

as Narrator

2024

The Critic

as Jimmy Erskine

1985

Zina

as Kronfeld

2014

Miss in Her Teens

as The Prologue

1990

Othello

as Iago

2007

For the Love of God

as The Jackdaw

2023

The One Note Man

as Narrator (voice)

2016

All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film

as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)

2024

Hamlet

as Hamlet

2015

Mr. Holmes

as Sherlock Holmes

1994

I'll Do Anything

as John Earl McAlpine

2013

The Wolverine

as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)

2017

Animal Crackers

as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)

1970

Hamlet

as Hamlet

2011

2015

Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC

as Self (archive footage)

2015

The Dresser

as Norman

2012

Doctor Who: The Snowmen

as The Great Intelligence (voice)

2017

1970

Edward II

as King Edward

2016

1995

Restoration

as Will Gates

1972

Hedda Gabler

as George Tesman

2024

Dragfox

as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)

2016

The Roof

as And Even Yet Another Fan

2019

The Good Liar

as Roy Courtnay

2019

Cats

as Gus, the Theatre Cat

2018

All Is True

as Earl of Southampton

1994

David Macaulay: Roman City

as Augustus Caesar (voice)

2017

Edmund the Magnificent

as Self - Narrator (voice)

2017

How a Kite Flies

as Mr. Kite (voice)

2013

The Egg Trick

as Magician

2005

Eighteen

as Jason Anders (voice)

2010

Small-Time Revolutionary

as Hamish Miller (voice)

1970

1989

Countdown to War

as Adolf Hitler

2000

X-Men: The Mutant Watch

as Self - 'Magneto'

2021

Infinitum: Subject Unknown

as Dr. Charles Marland-White

2019

2026

1974

1999

-

No Man's Land

as Spooner

1980

Dying Day

as Antony Skipling

Production

1995

Richard III

as Executive Producer

1995

Richard III

as Screenplay

2019

The Isle

as Associate Producer

© All Rights Reserved 2025