Sir Ian McKellen
Born: Ian Murray McKellen on May 25, 1939
Hometown: Burnley, Northern England
Quote: "I became an actor as I wasn't fit for anything else!"
Whether performing in highbrow Shakespearian plays, taut thrillers, or
big-budget comic extravaganzas, proudly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen
stands out.
A stage actor since his youth in England, the young Ian attended summer
camp at Stratford-upon-Avon. He graduated from Cambridge in 1961 and lost no time in taking the
British and American theater worlds by storm. For eight years he lived in London
with his lover,
director Sean Mathias, with whom Sir Ian worked on the film version of
Bent.
But McKellen may be best known for a defiant act offstage. As a form of
protest against the anti-gay Thatcher
administration's age-of-consent laws, McKellen refused a knighthood,
outing himself to the media. (He was later knighted under a different
administration.)
An Oscar nomination followed his performance as gay film director James
Whale in Gods and Monsters.
He worked with gay director Bryan Singer on
Apt Pupil,
portraying an aging Nazi. Singer also cast him in the superhero film
X-Men, as the malevolent Magneto.
McKellen has an affable nature and a keen interest in pop culture. His
next role: Gandalf the Wizard in a three-part cinematic version of
The Lord of the Rings.
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Visit Ian's site
More on X-Men
Sir Ian on his Gods and Monsters awards
Apt Pupil
Gods and Monsters
Richard III
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