Ian McKellen on screen and stage

Sir Ian McKellen is an English stage and screen actor. He is the recipient of seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Academy Award nominations, four BAFTA nominations and five Emmy Award nominations. McKellen's work spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. His notable film roles include Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Magneto in the X-Men films, Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code (2006), Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes (2015) and Cogsworth in the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017).

McKellen in 2013

Theatre

The hands of McKellen on a 1999 Gods and Monsters plaque in London's Leicester Square.

Year	Title	Role	Director	Venue
1964	A Scent of Flowers	Godrey		Duke of York's Theatre
1965	Much Ado About Nothing	Claudio		National Theatre & The Old Vic
	Armstrong's Last Goodnight	Protestant Evangelist		National Theatre & Chichester Festival Theatre
	Trelawny of the 'Wells'	Capt. de Foenix
1966	The Man of Destiny / O'Flaherty V.C.	Corporal Napoleon / Private O'Flaherty		Mermaid Theatre
	A Lily in Little India	Alvin Hanker		Hampstead Theatre
	Their Very Own and Golden City	Andrew Cobham		Mermaid Theatre
1967	The Promise	Leonidik		Fortune Theatre & Henry Miller's Theatre
1968	The White Liars / Black Comedy	Tom / Harold Gorringe		Lyric Theatre
1968–1970	Richard II	Richard II		UK tour
1969	The Bacchae	Pentheus		Liverpool Playhouse
	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	—		Director; Liverpool Playhouse
	Three Months Gone	—
1969–1970	Edward II	Edward II		UK and European tours
1970	Billy's Last Stand	Darkly		Royal Court Theatre
	The Recruiting Officer	Captain Plume		UK tour
	Chips with Everything	Corporal Hill
1971	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet		UK and European tours
	The Swan Song	Svetlovidov		Crucible Theatre
1972	The Real Inspector Hound	—		Director; Phoenix Theatre
	The Erpingham Camp	—		Director; Watford Palace Theatre
	Ruling the Roost / Tis Pity She's a Whore / The Three Arrows	Page-boy / Giovanni / Prince Yoremitsu		UK tour
1973	A Private Matter	—		Director; Vaudeville Theatre
1973–1974	The Way of the World / The Wood Demon / King Lear	Lady Wishfort's Footman / Kruschov / Edgar		UK tour; Brooklyn Academy of Music
1974	Tis Pity She's a Whore	Giovanni		Wimbledon Theatre
	Dr Faustus	Dr. Faustus		Edinburgh Festival & Aldwych Theatre
	The Marquis of Keith	The Marquis of Keith		Aldwych Theatre
1975	King John	King John
	The Clandestine Marriage	—		Director; Savoy Theatre
	Ashes	Colin		The Young Vic
	Too True to Be Good	Aubrey "Popsy" Bagot		Aldwych Theatre
1976–1977	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	Trevor Nunn	Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Aldwych Theatre, Theatre Royal, Newcastle
1976	The Winter's Tale	King Leontes	John Barton, Barry Kyle, and Trevor Nunn	Royal Shakespeare Theatre
1976–1978	Macbeth	Macbeth	Trevor Nunn	The Other Place, The Young Vic, & Warehouse
1977–1978	The Alchemist	Face		Royal Shakespeare Theatre & Aldwych Theatre
1977	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Alexander		Barbican Arts Centre
	Pillars of the Community	Karsten Bernick	John Barton	Aldwych Theatre
	The Days of the Commune	Langevin	Howard Davies
1978	A Miserable and Lonely Death	Kentridge	Walter Donohue
1978–1979	Twelfth Night / Three Sisters	Sir Toby Belch / Andrei	John Amiel / Trevor Nunn	Also producer; UK tour
1979	Bent	Max	Robert Chetwyn	Royal Court Theatre & Criterion Theatre
1980–1990	Acting Shakespeare	Himself		World tours
1980–1981	Amadeus	Salieri	Peter Hall	Broadhurst Theatre
1982	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Alexander	Trevor Nunn	Barbican Arts Centre
1983	Short List	Terry	Mike Ockrent	Hampstead Theatre
	Cowardice	Boy	Anthony Page	Ambassadors Theatre
1984	Venice Preserv'd	Pierre	Peter Gill	Royal National Theatre
	Wild Honey	Michael Platonov	Christopher Morahan
	Coriolanus	Gaius Marcius Coriolanus	Peter Hall
1985	The Duchess of Malfi	Bosola	Philip Prowse
	The Real Inspector Hound / The Critic	Inspector Hound / Mr. Puff	Tom Stoppard / Sheila Hancock
	The Cherry Orchard	Yermolai Lopakhin	Mike Alfreds
1986–1987	Wild Honey	Michael Platonov	Christopher Morahan	Virginia Theatre
1988–1989	Henceforward ...	Jerome	Alan Ayckbourn	Vaudeville Theatre
1989	Othello	Iago	Trevor Nunn	The Other Place & The Young Vic
1990–1992	Richard III	Richard III	Richard Eyre	Royal National Theatre & World tour
1992	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya	Sean Mathias	Royal National Theatre
1993–1997	A Knight Out	Himself		UK & US tours
1997–1998	An Enemy of the People	Dr. Tomas Stockmann	Trevor Nunn	Royal National Theatre & Ahmanson Theatre
1997	Peter Pan	Mr. Darling/Captain Hook	John Caird	Royal National Theatre
1998	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine	Malcolm Sutherland	West Yorkshire Playhouse
1999	The Tempest	Prospero	Jude Kelly
2001–2004	Dance of Death	Edgar	Sean Mathias	Broadhurst Theatre, Lyric Theatre, & Sydney Arts Festival
2004, 2005	Aladdin	Widow Twankie		The Old Vic
2006	The Cut	Max	Michael Grandage	Donmar Warehouse
2007–2008	King Lear	Lear	Trevor Nunn	Stratford-upon-Avon, Brooklyn Academy of Music, & New London Theatre
	The Seagull	Sorin
2009–2010	Waiting for Godot	Estragon	Sean Mathias	Theatre Royal Haymarket, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Fugard Theatre, & Cape Town
2011	The Syndicate	Don Antonio		Chichester Festival Theatre
2013–2014	Waiting for Godot / No Man's Land	Estragon / Spooner		Cort Theatre
2016	No Man's Land	Spooner		Wyndham's Theatre
2016–2019	The Exorcist	Demon (voice)		Birmingham Repertory Theatre & Phoenix Theatre; UK tour
2017	Shakespeare, Tolkien, Others and You	Himself	Jez Bond	Park Theatre
2017–2018	King Lear	Lear	Jonathan Munby	Chichester Festival Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre
2019–2020	Ian McKellen on Stage	Himself	Sean Mathias	UK tour; Harold Pinter Theatre & Hudson Theatre
2021	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet		Theatre Royal, Windsor
	The Cherry Orchard	Firs
2022	Hamlet with Ian McKellen	Performer	Peter Schaufuss	Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2022–2023	Mother Goose	Mother Goose	Cal McCrystal	Duke of York's Theatre; UK tour
2023	Frank and Percy	Percy	Sean Mathias	Theatre Royal, Windsor, Theatre Royal, Bath, & The Other Palace
2024	Player Kings	John Falstaff	Robert Icke	Noël Coward Theatre

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1969	Alfred the Great	Roger	Clive Donner
	A Touch of Love	George Matthews	Waris Hussein
	The Promise	Leonidik	Michael Hayes
1981	Priest of Love	D. H. Lawrence	Christopher Miles
1983	The Keep	Dr. Theodore Cuza	Michael Mann
1985	Plenty	Sir Andrew Charleson	Fred Schepisi
	Zina	Arthur Kronfeld	Ken McMullen
1989	Scandal	John Profumo	Michael Caton-Jones
1993	Six Degrees of Separation	Geoffrey Miller	Fred Schepisi
	The Ballad of Little Jo	Percy Corcoran	Maggie Greenwald
	Last Action Hero	Death	John McTiernan
1994	To Die For	Quilt Documentary Narrator	Peter Litten	Voice role
	The Shadow	Dr. Reinhardt Lane	Russell Mulcahy
	I'll Do Anything	John Earl McAlpine	James L. Brooks
1995	Restoration	Will Gates	Michael Hoffman
	Richard III	Richard III	Richard Loncraine	Also writer and executive producer
	Jack and Sarah	William	Tim Sullivan
1997	Swept from the Sea	Dr. James Kennedy	Beeban Kidron
	Bent	Uncle Freddie	Sean Mathias
1998	Gods and Monsters	James Whale	Bill Condon
	Apt Pupil	Kurt Dussander	Bryan Singer
2000	X-Men	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
2001	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Gandalf the White
2003	X2	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Bryan Singer
	Emile	Emile	Carl Bessai
	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Gandalf the White	Peter Jackson
2004	Eighteen	Older Jason Anders	Richard Bell	Voice role
2005	Neverwas	Gabriel Finch	Joshua Michael Stern
	Asylum	Dr. Peter Cleave	David Mackenzie
	The Magic Roundabout	Zebedee	Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, and Frank Passingham	Voice role
2006	Flushed Away	The Toad	David Bowers & Sam Fell
	The Da Vinci Code	Sir Leigh Teabing	Ron Howard
	X-Men: The Last Stand	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Brett Ratner
2007	Stardust	Narrator	Matthew Vaughn	Voice role
	The Golden Compass	Iorek Byrnison	Chris Weitz
2012	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2013	The Wolverine	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	James Mangold	Cameo; mid-credits scene
	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2014	Miss in Her Teens	The Prologue	Matthew Butler Hart
	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Bryan Singer	Shared role with Michael Fassbender
	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Gandalf the Grey	Peter Jackson
2015	Mr. Holmes	Sherlock Holmes	Bill Condon
2017	Beauty and the Beast	Cogsworth		also voice
	Animal Crackers	Horatio P. Huntington	Scott Christian Sava & Tony Bancroft	Voice role
2018	All Is True	Earl of Southampton	Kenneth Branagh
2019	The Good Liar	Roy Courtnay	Bill Condon
	Cats	Gus the Theatre Cat	Tom Hooper
2021	Infinitum: Subject Unknown	Dr. Charles Marland-White	Matthew Butler-Hart
2023	The One Note Man	Storyteller	George Siougas	Voice role; short film
	The Critic	Jimmy Erskine	Anand Tucker
2024	Dragfox	Gingersnap the Fox	Lisa Ott	Voice role; short film
2026	Avengers: Doomsday †	Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto	Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo	Filming
TBA	The Christophers †	TBA	Steven Soderbergh	Filming
Sources:[1][2][3][4]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling	Plowden	Episode: "The Tomb of His Ancestors"
1965	Sunday Out of Season	Victor Leech	Television film
	The Wednesday Play	Wolf	Episode: "The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne"
1966	David Copperfield	David Copperfield	9 episodes
1970	Solo	John Keats	Episode: "Ian McKellen as John Keats"
1972	Country Matters	David Masterman	Episode: "Craven Arms"
1978	Jackanory	Reader	5 episodes reading "The Moon in the Cloud"
1979	Macbeth	Macbeth	Television film
1980	Armchair Thriller	Anthony Skipling	4-episode story: "Dying Day"
1981	Pillar of Fire	Narrator	Documentary
1982	The Scarlet Pimpernel	Paul Chauvelin	Television film
	Walter	Walter
1983	Walter and June	Walter
1988	Windmills of the Gods	Chairman	2 episodes
1989	Countdown to War	Adolf Hitler	Television film
1990	Othello	Iago
1993	Tales of the City	Archibald Anson Gidde	Miniseries, episodes 3 and 5
	And The Band Played On	Bill Kraus	Television film
1995	Cold Comfort Farm	Amos Starkadder
1996	Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny	Tsar Nicholas II
1999	David Copperfield	Mr. Creakle	2 episodes
2002	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Ian McKellen/Kylie Minogue"
2003	The Simpsons	Himself	Voice; Episode: "The Regina Monologues"
2005	Coronation Street	Mel Hutchwright/Lionel Hipkiss	10 episodes
2006	Extras	Himself	Episode: "Sir Ian McKellen"
2008	King Lear	King Lear	Television film
2009	The Prisoner	Number Two	6 episodes
2012	Doctor Who	The Great Intelligence	Voice; Episode: "The Snowmen"
2013–2016	Vicious	Freddie Thornhill	14 episodes
2015	The Dresser	Norman	Television film
2018	Family Guy	Dr. Cecil Pritchfield	Voice; Episode: "Send in Stewie, Please"
2024	Ted	Narrator	2 episodes
Sources:[2][5]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Gandalf	Voice
2003	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004	The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
Source:[6]

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
1988	Pet Shop Boys	"Heart"[7]
2008	Guillemots	"Falling Out of Reach"[8]
2014	George Ezra	"Listen to the Man"[9]

Other musical appearances

• In 1987, McKellen appeared reciting Shakespeare while rock group The Fleshtones improvised behind him on Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes which ran on MTV.^[10]
• Appears on the Scissor Sisters track "Invisible Light" from their 2010 album Night Work, reciting a passage regarding the "Invisible Light" of the title.^[11]

Audiobooks

• Audiobook narrator of Michelle Paver's series Wolf Brother,^[12] Spirit Walker,^[13] Soul Eater,^[14] Outcast,^[15] Oath Breaker,^[16] and Ghost Hunter,^[17] as well as a version of Homer's Odyssey.^[18]

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Ian McKellen