Ian McKellen (1939)

Sir Ian McKellen (Male)

Nationality: English

Born: 25 May 1939 Confidence Level

Actor, producer and activist. McKellen's career started at the Bolton Little Theatre, of which he is now a patron. His schoolmaster the semi-professional actor Geoffrey Banks (1921 - 2008) had some influence on his chosen career path. His first professional appearance Was at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in 1961, and that instigated a number of years in repertory works. He joined the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1965. In the 1970s he became a popular actor at the Royal Shakespeare company and the National Theatre, notably for his roles of Macbeth and Iago in productions by Trevor Nunn. He is recognised internationally for his performance of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films (Peter Jackson, 2001-3) and their prequel trilogy The Hobbit (Peter Jackson, 2012-4), and also for his portrayal of Magneto in four of the X-Men series of films between 2000 and 2014. He is a co-founder of 'Stonewall' which works for social and legal equality.