Ian McKellen

ActorProductionProducerWriter May 25 (age 86) Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK 1944–2027 (83 year career)

6.4 avg rating

Biography

Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards. McKel…

Known For

Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Gandalf

Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Gandalf

Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Gandalf

Film

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Magneto

Film

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Gandalf the Grey

Film

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Gandalf the Grey

Film

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Gandalf the Grey

Film

Beauty and the Beast

Cogsworth

Filmography

Acting (231)

Movies (179)

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

2027 Upcoming

as Gandalf

Dec 15

El Señor de los Anillos: La Caza de Gollum

2027 Upcoming

as Gandalf

Dec 17

Avengers: Doomsday

2026 Upcoming

as Magneto

Dec 16

Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol

2026 Upcoming

as Jacob Marley

Nov 12

The Christophers

2026 Upcoming

as Julian Sklar

Apr 10

Becoming Victoria Wood

2026

as Self (archive footage)

6.0

Lowry: The Lost Tapes

2026

as L.S. Lowry

LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes

2026

as L S Lowry

A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'

2025

as Self (archive footage)

Dragged Through Time

2025

Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness

The Critic

as Jimmy Erskine

Dragfox

as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)

9.0

Hamlet

2024

as Hamlet

7.6

The Life and Death of Lily Savage

2024

as Self

7.0

The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved

2024

The One Note Man

2023

as Narrator (voice)

7.0

Quintessentially British

2022

as Self

3.8

Hamlet Within

2022

Freedom: 50 Years of Pride

2022

as Self

8.0

Hating Peter Tatchell

2021

as Self

4.1

Infinitum: Subject Unknown

2021

as Dr. Charles Marland-White

5.4

The Hobbit: M4 Book edit

2021

as Gandalf the Grey

9.0

Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet

2020

10.0

Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU

2020

6.0

Cats

2019

as Gus, the Theatre Cat

The Good Liar

as Roy Courtnay

On Broadway

as Self

Animal Crackers

as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)

6.3

All Is True

2018

as Earl of Southampton

6.0

McKellen: Playing the Part

2018

as Self

7.2

National Theatre Live: King Lear

as King Lear

Beauty and the Beast

as Cogsworth

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

2017

as Self

6.3

The Paul O'Grady Story

2017

as Self

8.3

How a Kite Flies

2017

as Mr. Kite (voice)

Edmund the Magnificent

2017

as Self - Narrator (voice)

7.3

Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen

2016

6.0

Shakespeare Live! From the RSC

as Self - Performer

Shakespeare on Film

Play the Devil: Making Richard III

2016

National Theatre Live: No Man's Land

2016

as Spooner

7.5

The Roof

2016

as And Even Yet Another Fan

6.3

Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage

2016

as Self

7.8

All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film

2016

as Prospero's Speech Reader (voice)

Mr. Holmes

as Sherlock Holmes

The Dresser

as Norman

The Appendices, Part Eleven: The Gathering Storm

2015

as Self

Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC

2015

as Self (archive footage)

The Appendices, Part Twelve: Here at Journey's End

2015

as Self

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

2014

as Gandalf the Grey

7.3

X-Men: Days of Future Past

as Magneto

Miss in Her Teens

as The Prologue

Nelson Mandela Redrawn

2014

as Self

The Appendices, Part Ten: The Journey to Erebor

2014

as Self

The Appendices, Part Nine: Into the Wilderland

2014

as Self

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

as Gandalf the Grey

The Egg Trick

as Magician

The Wolverine

as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)

6.4

Muse of Fire

2013

as Self

6.5

The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin

2013

as Self

6.9

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

2013

as Self

7.8

The Appendices, Part Seven: A Long-Expected Journey

2013

as Self

The Appendices, Part Eight: Return to Middle-earth

2013

as Self

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2012

as Gandalf the Grey

7.4

London 2012: Paralympics Opening Ceremony

2012

as Self

7.5

Doctor Who: The Snowmen

2012

as The Great Intelligence (voice)

7.7

The Betty Driver Story

2011

as Self

10.0

Looking for Lowry

2011

as Himself

Small-Time Revolutionary

2010

as Hamish Miller (voice)

3.0

Lady Grey London

2010

7.0

A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation

2010

as Narrator (voice)

7.0

Theatreland

2009

as Himself

King Lear

as King Lear

Stardust

as Narrator (voice)

The Golden Compass

as Iorek Byrnison (voice)

6.1

Guerrilla Distribution

2007

as Self

The Art of Breaking Character

2007

as Self

For the Love of God

as The Jackdaw

The Da Vinci Code

as Sir Leigh Teabing

Flushed Away

as The Toad (voice)

Doogal

as Zebedee (voice)

X-Men: The Last Stand

2006

as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto

Saint of 9/11

as Narrator

The Magic Roundabout

as Zebedee (voice)

Eighteen

as Jason Anders (voice)

Neverwas

as Gabriel Finch

Asylum

as Dr. Peter Cleave

The Hobart Shakespeareans

2005

as Self

4.0

Ringers: Lord of the Fans

2005

as Self

6.3

The Making of 'The Return of the King'

2004

as Self

8.8

The Appendices, Part Six: The Passing of an Age

2004

as Self

Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!

2004

as Self

6.7

The Appendices, Part Five: The War of the Ring

2004

as Self

Peter Tatchell: Just Who Does He Think He Is?

2004

My First Time

2004

as Narrator

2.0

A Filmmaker's Journey: Making 'The Return of the King'

2004

as Self

6.0

Cast & crew User reviews IMDbPro The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Special Extended Edition Scenes

2004

as Gandalf

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

as Gandalf

Emile

as Emile

X-Men: Premieres Around the World

2003

as Self

5.9

The Making of 'The Two Towers'

2003

8.8

The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2

2003

as Self

7.0

Evolution X - The Making of X-Men

2003

4.5

2003

as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto

7.0

Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King

2003

as Self

8.1

The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision

2003

as Self

6.2

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition Scenes

2003

as Gandalf

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2002

as Gandalf

8.4

The Appendices, Part Two: From Vision to Reality

2002

as Self

The Appendices, Part One: From Book to Vision

2002

as Self

10.0

The Fellowship of the Ring: Weta Workshop

2002

as Self

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001

as Gandalf

8.4

Passage to Middle-Earth: The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'

as Self

Quest for the Ring

as Self

Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001

as Self

6.5

Larry & Vivien: The Oliviers in Love

2001

as Narrator (voice)

Now You See Him: 'The Invisible Man' Revealed!

2000

as Self

6.2

X-Men: The Mutant Watch

as Self - 'Magneto'

X-Men

as Magneto

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

as Narrator (voice)

After Stonewall

as Self

The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale

as Self

Gods and Monsters

as James Whale

Apt Pupil

as Kurt Dussander

Swept from the Sea

as Dr. James Kennedy

A Bit Of Scarlet

as Narrator

Bent

as Uncle Freddie

Surviving Friendly Fire

1997

1.0

An Evening with Lily Savage

1996

as Self

Rasputin

as Tsar Nicholas II

Richard III

as Richard III

Jack & Sarah

as William

Restoration

as Will Gates

Cold Comfort Farm

as Amos Starkadder

The Shadow

as Dr. Reinhardt Lane

6.1

I'll Do Anything

1994

as John Earl McAlpine

5.5

David Macaulay: Roman City

1994

as Augustus Caesar (voice)

9.0

Stonewall 25: Global Voices of Pride and Protest

1994

as Self

To Die For

1994

as Quilt Documentary Narrator (voice)

2.0

Last Action Hero

1993

as Death

6.5

Six Degrees of Separation

as Geoffrey

Camp Christmas

And the Band Played On

1993

as Bill Kraus

6.4

The Ballad of Little Jo

1993

as Percy Corcoran

5.8

Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up

1993

as Narration (voice)

Gladio

as Aldo Moro (voice)

Othello

as Iago

Countdown to War

as Adolf Hitler

Scandal

as John Profumo

Scarfe's Follies

Süleyman the Magnificent

1987

as Narrator

Zina

1985

as Kronfeld

5.4

Plenty

1985

as Sir Andrew Charleson

The Keep

as Dr. Theodore Cuza

Walter and June

as Walter

The Scarlet Pimpernel

as Chauvelin

Walter

as Walter

Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare

Priest of Love

as D.H. Lawrence

Dying Day

as Antony Skipling

Macbeth

1979

as Macbeth

7.3

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

1979

as Alexander Ivanov

Graceless Go I

1974

as Tony

Hedda Gabler

1972

as George Tesman

Edward II

1970

as King Edward

4.2

Hamlet

1970

as Hamlet

The Tragedy of King Richard II

1970

as King Richard II

A Touch of Love

as George

The Promise

Alfred the Great

as Roger

The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne

1965

as Wolf

Untitled Anthony Hopkins Documentary

as Self

Frank and Percy

as Percy

Schadenfreude

as Continuity Announcer

Richard II

as Richard II

The Hobbit: The M4 Book Edit

as Gandalf The Grey

9.0

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

as Gandalf

No Man's Land

as Spooner

Television (52)

Billy & Dom Eat the World

as Self

ted

as Narrator (voice)

Great British Theatre

2021

Amol Rajan Interviews

2021

as Self - Interviewed Guest

Reunited Apart

2020

as Self

5.5

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015

as Self

6.2

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014

as Self - Guest

5.2

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

as Self

Trailblazer Honors

as Self - Speaker

Vicious

as Freddie Thornhill

Perspectives

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

as Self - Guest

The Prisoner

as 2 / Curtis

The Graham Norton Show

as Self - Guest

The One Show

as Self - Guest

Doctor Who

as Voice of the Snowman

7.6

Extras

2005

as Ian McKellen

7.8

Who Do You Think You Are?

2004

as Self

6.7

The Paul O'Grady Show

2004

4.6

Real Time with Bill Maher

as Self

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

as Self

Churchill

as Self - Narrator (voice)

7.0

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway

2002

as Self

6.1

Family Guy

1999

as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)

David Copperfield

as Creakle

Parkinson

as Self

The View

as Self - Guest

HARDtalk

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

1994

as Self

Inside the Actors Studio

1994

as Self

7.5

Late Show with David Letterman

1993

as Self - Guest

6.4

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

1993

as Self - Guest

7.2

Tales of the City

1993

as Archibald Anson Gidde

7.7

Have I Got News for You

1990

as Self

7.1

The Simpsons

1989

as Ian McKellen (voice)

8.0

Windmills of the Gods

as Chairman

Playing Shakespeare

Pillar of Fire

as Narrator

An Audience with...

as Self

Armchair Thriller

as Anthony Skipling

Saturday Night Live

as Self - Host

Playhouse

as Alexander

Country Matters

as David Masterman

Sesame Street

as Self

Omnibus

as Self - Reading Poetry

7.2

David Copperfield

1966

as David Copperfield

5.0

BBC Play of the Month

as Simon Bliss

The Wednesday Play

as Wolf

Coronation Street

as Mel Hutchwright

Tony Awards

as Self - Winner

The Oscars

as Self

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Winner

Crew (3)

Movies (3)

The Isle

Associate Producer

Richard III

Executive Producer

Richard III

Screenplay