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Ian McKellen

Person Score

 
9.6 Superb
87 votes

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Biography

Recent Role:
2 on The Prisoner
Gender:
Male
Born:
5-25-1939
Birthplace:
Burnley, Lancashire, England
Birth Name:
Ian Murray McKellen
AKA:
Sir Ian McKellen
On May 25th, 1939, in Burnley, Northern England, Ian Murray McKellen was born. His parents, Denis and Margery, soon moved with Ian and his sister Jean (b. 1934, an amateur actress) to the coal mining town of Wigan. His father, Denis was a Civil Engineer, and died in car crash in 1963. His mother, Margery Lois, housewife, died of breast cancer in 1951 - escaping his grief over her passing was one of the reasons he turned to acting. His father remarried to Gladys.



He developed a fascination with acting and the theatre, which was encouraged by his parents; they



More would bring him to plays, Shakespeare in particular. The amateur school productions fostered Ian's growing passion for theatre. When Ian went to school, he made sure to get roles in all of the productions. At Bolton School in particular, he developed his skills early on. Indeed, his first role in a Shakespearian play was at Bolton, as Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Ian soon began attending Stratford-upon-Avon theatre festivals, where he saw the greats perform: Olivier, Hiller, Gielgud, Richardson and Robeson. He continued his education in English Drama, but soon it fell by the wayside as he concentrated more and more on performing. He eventually obtained his Bachelor of Arts (2:2 in English from Cambridge) in 1961, and began his career in earnest. McKellen began working in theatre over the next few years.

For a long time, very few people knew of Ian's homosexuality; he saw no reason to go public, nor had he told his family. They did not seem interested in the subject and so he saw no reason to bring it up. In 1988, Ian publicly came out of the closet on the BBC Radio 4 program, while discussing Margaret Thatcher's "section 28" legislation which would make the "public promotion of homosexuality" a crime. It was reason enough for McKellen to take a stand, and he has been active in the Gay Rights movement ever since.



Ian currently resides in Limehouse.

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  •  
    10 Perfect
    Awesome!! hide show

    Ian McKellen is a great actor with lots of good films. He is great at what he does and his acting improves the films that he acts in. He is one of my favorite actors and is very talented. He is entertaining and a awesome actor. He fits in his roles and can really make his charectors come alive. I enjoy his works and appreciate his filming. He is a very talented actor and brings entertainment. He has lots of originality and a great wit. His films are marvelous and he really contributes to them. He is an awesome actor.

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  •  
    10 Perfect
    How do you review someone with so much film history? It makes it harder, not easier! hide show

    To say that Ian McKellen is an amazingly skilled actor is to state the obvious; he's been in movies since the 60's, and theatre before that - he started in Shakespear in England, for heaven's sake. He's been Gandalf (and I can't imagine anyone else in that role) and Magneto (somehow, ditto) and ...The Toad in Flushed Away? ZeBeDee in the magic roundabout? What's up with that? See, the man is a pro actor - he'll take voice parts, weird parts, work on strange movies - and somehow there's usually something respectable in everything he touches. You don't get to be a big-name star like him, looked on in awe by even big-name Hollywood types, by being a work snob.

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    9 Superb
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    A great actor. He makes excellent works for villains like in X-Men and also as heroes, like in Lord of the Rings. Ian McKellen is one of the best actors that I have seen in a while. He is very, very good and all of his acts are pretty convincing.

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    10 Perfect
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    Ian Mckellen plays one of my favourite characters in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and he does it so well. I always had faith in his characters throughout the story. He is also brilliant in X-Mean and I haven't seen him in much else but he is in so many popular titles!

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  •  
    10 Perfect
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    Ian is one of the best he has picked good roles and really gets into character at least there is some good actors.

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