Actor
Ian McKellen
Born 25 May 1939 · Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Sir Ian McKellen is an English actor celebrated for his Shakespearean stage work and for major screen roles. Knighted in 1991, he reached worldwide fame as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and as Magneto in X-Men. He is regarded as one of Britain's great theatre and screen actors.
Key films
Richard III (1995)
He starred in this Shakespeare adaptation set in a 1930s fascist Britain, a showcase for his classical stage skills on film.
Gods and Monsters (1998)
His portrayal of director James Whale earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
X-Men (2000)
He introduced Magneto, a role he reprised across several films in the franchise.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
As Gandalf he gained global fame and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Mr. Holmes (2015)
He played an elderly Sherlock Holmes in a late-career leading role.
Key awards
- 1981 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (Amadeus)
- Six Olivier Awards for stage work, including Richard III (1995)
- Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (Gods and Monsters, 1998)
- Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001)
On Cinespective
Full filmography · 169
- 1965The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne · as WolfActor
- 1969Alfred the Great · as RogerActor
- 1969A Touch of Love · as GeorgeActor
- 1969The PromiseActor
- 1970Edward II · as King EdwardActor
- 1970Hamlet · as HamletActor
- 1970The Tragedy of King Richard II · as King Richard IIActor
- 1972Hedda Gabler · as George TesmanActor
- 1972Craven Arms · as David MastermanActor
- 1974Graceless Go I · as TonyActor
- 1979Macbeth · as MacbethActor
- 1979Every Good Boy Deserves Favour · as Alexander IvanovActor
- 1980Dying Day · as Antony SkiplingActor
- 1981Priest of Love · as D.H. LawrenceActor
- 1982The Scarlet Pimpernel · as ChauvelinActor
- 1982Walter · as WalterActor
- 1982Ian McKellen: Acting ShakespeareActor
- 1983The Keep · as Dr. Theodore CuzaActor
- 1983Walter and June · as WalterActor
- 1985Plenty · as Sir Andrew CharlesonActor
- 1985Zina · as KronfeldActor
- 1987Süleyman the Magnificent · as NarratorActor
- 1988Scarfe's FolliesActor
- 1989Scandal · as John ProfumoActor
- 1989Countdown to War · as Adolf HitlerActor
- 1990Othello · as IagoActor
- 1992Gladio · as Aldo Moro (voice)Actor
- 1993Last Action Hero · as DeathActor
- 1993Six Degrees of Separation · as GeoffreyActor
- 1993And the Band Played On · as Bill KrausActor
- 1993The Ballad of Little Jo · as Percy CorcoranActor
- 1993Camp ChristmasActor
- 1993Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up · as Narration (voice)Actor
- 1993A Simple Matter of Justice · as SelfActor
- 1994The Shadow · as Dr. Reinhardt LaneActor
- 1994I'll Do Anything · as John Earl McAlpineActor
- 1994To Die For · as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)Actor
- 1994David Macaulay: Roman City · as Augustus Caesar (voice)Actor
- 1994Age of Dissent · as SelfActor
- 1994Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest · as SelfActor
- 1995Richard III · as Richard IIIActor
- 1995Restoration · as Will GatesActor
- 1995Cold Comfort Farm · as Amos StarkadderActor
- 1995Jack & Sarah · as WilliamActor
- 1995Thin Ice · as Ian McKellenActor
- 1996Rasputin · as Tsar Nicholas IIActor
- 1996An Evening with Lily Savage · as SelfActor
- 1997Bent · as Uncle FreddieActor
- 1997A Bit Of Scarlet · as NarratorActor
- 1997Surviving Friendly FireActor
- 1998Apt Pupil · as Kurt DussanderActor
- 1998Gods and Monsters · as James WhaleActor
- 1998Swept from the Sea · as Dr. James KennedyActor
- 1999After Stonewall · as SelfActor
- 1999The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale · as SelfActor
- 2000X-Men · as MagnetoActor
- 2000X-Men: The Mutant Watch · as Self - 'Magneto'Actor
- 2000Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2000Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed! · as SelfActor
- 2001The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring · as GandalfActor
- 2001Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring · as SelfActor
- 2001Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings' · as SelfActor
- 2001Quest for the Ring · as SelfActor
- 2001Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2002The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers · as GandalfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Cameras in Middle-earth · as SelfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Scale · as SelfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: The Road Goes Ever On.. · as SelfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: From Book to Script · as SelfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: Designing and Building Middle-earth + Weta Workshop + Costume Design · as SelfActor
- 2002The Fellowship of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Cast · as SelfActor
- 2003The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King · as GandalfActor
- 2003X2 · as Eric Lehnsherr / MagnetoActor
- 2003Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King · as SelfActor
- 2003Emile · as EmileActor
- 2003X-Men: Premieres Around the World · as SelfActor
- 2003The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision · as SelfActor
- 2003The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 · as SelfActor
- 2003Evolution X - The Making of X-MenActor
- 2004Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!! · as SelfActor
- 2004A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King' · as SelfActor
- 2004Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?Actor
- 2004My First Time · as NarratorActor
- 2005The Magic Roundabout · as Zebedee (voice)Actor
- 2005Neverwas · as Gabriel FinchActor
- 2005Asylum · as Dr. Peter CleaveActor
- 2005Ringers: Lord of the Fans · as SelfActor
- 2005Eighteen · as Jason Anders (voice)Actor
- 2005The Hobart Shakespeareans · as SelfActor
- 2006X-Men: The Last Stand · as Erik Lehnsherr / MagnetoActor
- 2006The Da Vinci Code · as Sir Leigh TeabingActor
- 2006Flushed Away · as The Toad (voice)Actor
- 2006Doogal · as Zebedee (voice)Actor
- 2006The Making of 'The Return of the King' · as SelfActor
- 2006The Making of 'The Two Towers' · as SelfActor
- 2006Saint of 9/11 · as NarratorActor
- 2006Brett Ratner's X-Diaries · as SelfActor
- 2006X3: The Excitement Continues · as SelfActor
- 2007The Golden Compass · as Iorek Byrnison (voice)Actor
- 2007Stardust · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2007For the Love of God · as The JackdawActor
- 2007The Art of Breaking Character · as SelfActor
- 2007Guerrilla Distribution · as SelfActor
- 2008King Lear · as King LearActor
- 2009Theatreland · as SelfActor
- 2010A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2010Small-Time Revolutionary · as Hamish Miller (voice)Actor
- 2011The Betty Driver Story · as SelfActor
- 2011Looking for Lowry · as SelfActor
- 2012The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey · as Gandalf the GreyActor
- 2012Doctor Who: The Snowmen · as The Great Intelligence (voice)Actor
- 2012London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony · as SelfActor
- 2013The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug · as Gandalf the GreyActor
- 2013The Wolverine · as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)Actor
- 2013The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot · as SelfActor
- 2013The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin · as SelfActor
- 2013Muse of Fire · as SelfActor
- 2013The Egg Trick · as MagicianActor
- 2014X-Men: Days of Future Past · as MagnetoActor
- 2014The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies · as Gandalf the GreyActor
- 2014Miss in Her Teens · as The PrologueActor
- 2014Nelson Mandela Redrawn · as SelfActor
- 2014Double Take: Xavier & Magneto · as SelfActor
- 2015Mr. Holmes · as Sherlock HolmesActor
- 2015The Dresser · as NormanActor
- 2015Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC · as Self (archive footage)Actor
- 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSC · as Self - PerformerActor
- 2016National Theatre Live: No Man's Land · as SpoonerActor
- 2016Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage · as SelfActor
- 2016The Roof · as And Even Yet Another FanActor
- 2016Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellenActor
- 2016Shakespeare on FilmActor
- 2016Play the Devil: Making Richard IIIActor
- 2016All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film · as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)Actor
- 2017Beauty and the Beast · as CogsworthActor
- 2017The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin · as SelfActor
- 2017Edmund the Magnificent · as Self - Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2017The Paul O'Grady Story · as SelfActor
- 2017How a Kite Flies · as Mr. Kite (voice)Actor
- 2018Animal Crackers · as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)Actor
- 2018All Is True · as Earl of SouthamptonActor
- 2018McKellen: Playing the Part · as SelfActor
- 2018National Theatre Live: King Lear · as King LearActor
- 2019The Good Liar · as Roy CourtnayActor
- 2019Cats · as Gus, the Theatre CatActor
- 2019On Broadway · as SelfActor
- 2020Du Fu: China's Greatest PoetActor
- 2020Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOUActor
- 2021Infinitum: Subject Unknown · as Dr. Charles Marland-WhiteActor
- 2021Hating Peter Tatchell · as SelfActor
- 2022Quintessentially British · as SelfActor
- 2022Freedom: 50 Years of Pride · as SelfActor
- 2022Hamlet WithinActor
- 2023The One Note Man · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2024The Critic · as Jimmy ErskineActor
- 2024Hamlet · as HamletActor
- 2024Dragfox · as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)Actor
- 2024The Life and Death of Lily Savage · as SelfActor
- 2024The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I LovedActor
- 2025Ken Dodd: A Legacy of HappinessActor
- 2025A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' · as Self (archive footage)Actor
- 2025Schadenfreude · as Continuity AnnouncerActor
- 2026The Christophers · as Julian SklarActor
- 2026Tea with Judi Dench featuring Ian McKellen · as SelfActor
- 2026Avengers: Doomsday · as MagnetoActor
- 2026Ebenezer · as Jacob MarleyActor
- 2026Frank and Percy · as PercyActor
- 2026LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes · as L S LowryActor
- 2027The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum · as GandalfActor
Filmography data from TMDB. The profile text is a draft written for Cinespective.