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Ian McKellen

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Biography

On May 25th, 1939, in Burnley, Northern England, Ian Murray McKellen was born. His parents, Denis and Margery, soon moved with Ian and his…more

Born

5/25/1939, Burnley, Lancashire, England

Birth Name

Ian Murray McKellen

Gender

Male

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Credits

Star (3)

Role
- The Prisoner (2009)
  2
  - S 1: Ep 3 Schizoid/Checkmate
    11/17/09
  - S 1: Ep 2 Anvil/Darling
    11/16/09
  - S 1: Ep 1 Arrival/Harmony
    11/15/09
- Churchill
  Narrator
  - S 1: Ep 1 Destiny
    1/8/04
- David Copperfield
  Creakle
Recurring Role (5)

Role
- Play of the Month
  Captain Plume
  - S 9: Ep 3 The Recruiting Officer
    11/18/73
- Play of the Month
  Capt. Plume
  - S 9: Ep 3 The Recruiting Officer
    11/18/73
- Play of the Month
  George Tesman
  - S 8: Ep 2 Hedda Gabler
    10/20/72
- Play of the Month
  T.E. Lawrence
  - S 6: Ep 2 Ross
    10/18/70
- Play of the Month
  Simon Bliss
  - S 3: Ep 11 Hay Fever
    8/4/68
Guest Star (37)

Role
- Great Performances
  King Lear
  - S 37: Ep 12 King Lear
    3/25/09
- The One Show
  Himself
  - S 3: Ep 249 Thursday 18th December 2008
    12/18/08
- The Andrew Marr Show
  Himself
  - S 3: Ep 41 13th July, 2008
    7/13/08
  - S 3: Ep 35 1st June, 2008
    6/1/08
  - S 2: Ep 39 24th June, 2007
    6/24/07
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
  Himself
  - S 4: Ep 28 Ian McKellen/Jena Malone/Avril Lavigne
    10/17/07
- Extras
  Himself
  - S 2: Ep 5 Episode 5: Ian McKellen
    10/12/06
- Richard & Judy
  Himself
  - S 6: Ep 10 Friday 30th June
    6/30/06
  - S 1: Ep 48 Episode 48
    2/13/02
- GMTV
  Himself
  - S 2: Ep 139 Monday 15th May
    5/15/06
- The Today Show
  Himself
  - S 55: Ep 96 May 15, 2006
    5/15/06
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
  Himself
  - S 10: Ep 7 Uma Thurman, Russell Brand, Sir Ian McKellen, Graham Coxon.
    5/12/06
  - S 5: Ep 14 Victoria Beckham, Ian McKellen, Johnny Vegas, Gary Jules, Michael Andrews, The Ravonettes.
    12/19/03
- Last Call with Carson Daly
  Himself
  - S 5: Ep 102 Ian McKellen, TRAIN
    5/11/06
- Real Time with Bill Maher
  Guest
  - S 4: Ep 10 April 28, 2006
    4/28/06
  - S 2: Ep 7 February 27, 2004
    2/27/04
- The Paul O'Grady Show
  Himself
  - S 3: Ep 70 Episode 70
    12/16/05
  - S 2: Ep 37 Episode 37
    5/3/05
- The South Bank Show
  Himself
  - S 27: Ep 13 A Year in the Life of Ian McKellen
    6/29/04
  - S 9: Ep 3 Ian McKellen, Diary of a Year
    10/20/85
- The Academy Awards
  Himself
  - S 76: Ep 1 The 76th Annual Academy Awards
    2/29/04
  - S 71: Ep 1 The 71st Annual Academy Awards
    3/21/99
- Parkinson (1998)
  Himself
  - S 11: Ep 1 Ian McKellen, Johnny Vegas, Rhona Cameron, Katie Melua, Alicia Keys
    2/21/04
  - S 9: Ep 6 Jerome Flynn, Gloria Gaynor, Ian McKellan, Paul Merton
    4/12/03
  - S 2: Ep 11 Joanna Lumley, Neil Morrissey, Ian McKellen
    3/26/99
- The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
  Himself
  - S 6: Ep 126 Ian McKellen and David Stern
    2/10/04
  - S 4: Ep 129 Ian McKellen, Brittany Daniel, and Doug Benson
    1/16/02
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien
  Guest
  - S 11: Ep 50 Ian McKellen, Petra Nemcova, The Stills
    12/26/03
- The View
  Himself
  - S 7: Ep 79 McKellan/Welling
    12/22/03
  - S 5: Ep 41 March 12, 2002
    3/12/02
- Good Morning America
  Himself
  - S 29: Ep 254 December 22, 2003
    12/22/03
- Xchange
  Studio Guest
  - S 6: Ep 258 17 December 2003
    12/17/03
- The Simpsons
  Himself
  - S 15: Ep 4 The Regina Monologues
    11/23/03
- Have I Got News for You
  Himself
  - S 26: Ep 4 Jimmy Carr, Ross Noble, Ian McKellen
    11/7/03
- Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
  Himself
  - S 2: Ep 8 Series 2, Episode 8
    3/1/03
- Inside the Actors Studio
  Himself
  - S 9: Ep 3 Sir Ian McKellen
    12/8/02
- The Academy Awards
  Himself - Presenter
  - S 74: Ep 1 The 74th Annual Academy Awards
    3/24/02
- Saturday Night Live
  Himself
  - S 27: Ep 15 Ian McKellen/Kylie Minogue
    3/16/02
- Politically Incorrect
  Self
  - S 9: Ep 88 Kim Serafin, Bob Balaban, Jamie Kennedy, Ian McKellen
    1/17/02
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
  Himself
  - S 6: Ep 81 Ian McKellen
    1/15/02
- Late Show with David Letterman
  Guest
  - S 9: Ep 76 Show #1731
    12/26/01
  - S 6: Ep 115 Show #1180
    3/2/99
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
  Self
  - S 3: Ep 102 Ian McKellen
    3/8/99
- Light Lunch
  Himself
  - S 2: Ep 13 UK For Hollywood
    10/22/97
- Heroes of Comedy
  Himself
  - S 2: Ep 3 Alastair Sim
    4/30/97
- TFI Friday
  Himself
  - S 1: Ep 6 Amanda Donohoe, Martin Brundle, Ian McKellen, Jo Brand, Shed Seven, Van Morrison, Gene.
    3/15/96
- The South Bank Show
  Readings
  - S 8: Ep 11 Anthony Burgess on D.H. Lawrence
    1/20/85
- Play for Today
  Guest Star
  - S 10: Ep 24 The Vanishing Army
    4/3/80
- Omnibus (UK)
  Himself
  - S 3: Ep 17 What If It's Just Green Cheese?
    7/20/69
- The Wednesday Play
  Wolf
  - S 3: Ep 5 The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne
    11/10/65
Cameo (1)

Role
- The Sunday Night Project
  Himself
  - S 6: Ep 4 Elijah Wood
    4/11/08

Trivia and Quotes

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Trivia
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- Sir Ian gives his voice to the audiobook version of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.
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- With an interview with the late Studs Terkel in 1986, Sir Ian said he based his performance of Macbeth on a John F. Kennedy gone wrong - a golden boy messed up and off track.
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- Sir Ian Lord of the Rings tattoo, the Elvish number 9 that all fellowship members got is on his shoulder.
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Quotes
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- (Revealing he believes Britain will have a gay PM one day) Ian: I think openly gay politicians are the standard, rather than not, in all parties these days. Eventually it's very likely that one of them will become a leader. We've already had one or two gay Prime Ministers.
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- (On the teachings of Christianity, Judaism and Islam being taught in school) Sir Ian: They should abandon the teaching of their church, because it is cruel and misplaced. It [religion] is the one area where people are not frightened to be openly homophobic.
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- (On how he saw his firsts television and movie roles) Sir Ian: I hadn't really thought about TV and film, and when they began to turn up, I think I probably said to myself, "Oh, it would be good to become a successful film actor, because that would somehow augment my theater career." I didn't think of it as striking out in a new direction, particularly.
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