# 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).

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 1964 | A Scent of Flowers | Godrey | Duke of York's Theatre |
| 1965 | Much Ado About Nothing | Claudio | National Theatre & The Old Vic |
| 1965 | Armstrong's Last Goodnight | Protestant Evangelist | National Theatre & Chichester Festival Theatre |
| 1965 | Trelawny of the 'Wells' | Capt. de Foenix | National Theatre & Chichester Festival Theatre |
| 1966 | The Man of Destiny / O'Flaherty V.C. | Corporal Napoleon / Private O'Flaherty | Mermaid Theatre |
| 1966 | A Lily in Little India | Alvin Hanker | Hampstead Theatre |
| 1966 | 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 |
| 1969 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | — | Director; Liverpool Playhouse |
| 1969 | Three Months Gone | — | Director; Liverpool Playhouse |
| 1969–1970 | Edward II | Edward II | UK and European tours |
| 1970 | Billy's Last Stand | Darkly | Royal Court Theatre |
| 1970 | The Recruiting Officer | Captain Plume | UK tour |
| 1970 | Chips with Everything | Corporal Hill | UK tour |
| 1971 | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet | UK and European tours |
| 1971 | The Swan Song | Svetlovidov | Crucible Theatre |
| 1972 | The Real Inspector Hound | — | Director; Phoenix Theatre |
| 1972 | The Erpingham Camp | — | Director; Watford Palace Theatre |
| 1972 | 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 |
| 1974 | Dr Faustus | Dr. Faustus | Edinburgh Festival & Aldwych Theatre |
| 1974 | The Marquis of Keith | The Marquis of Keith | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1975 | King John | King John | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1975 | The Clandestine Marriage | — | Director; Savoy Theatre |
| 1975 | Ashes | Colin | The Young Vic |
| 1975 | Too True to Be Good | Aubrey "Popsy" Bagot | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1976–1977 | Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Aldwych Theatre, Theatre Royal, Newcastle |
| 1976 | The Winter's Tale | King Leontes | Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
| 1976–1978 | Macbeth | Macbeth | 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 |
| 1977 | Pillars of the Community | Karsten Bernick | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1977 | The Days of the Commune | Langevin | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1978 | A Miserable and Lonely Death | Kentridge | Aldwych Theatre |
| 1978–1979 | Twelfth Night / Three Sisters | Sir Toby Belch / Andrei | Also producer; UK tour |
| 1979 | Bent | Max | Royal Court Theatre & Criterion Theatre |
| 1980–1990 | Acting Shakespeare | Himself | World tours |
| 1980–1981 | Amadeus | Salieri | Broadhurst Theatre |
| 1982 | Every Good Boy Deserves Favour | Alexander | Barbican Arts Centre |
| 1983 | Short List | Terry | Hampstead Theatre |
| 1983 | Cowardice | Boy | Ambassadors Theatre |
| 1984 | Venice Preserv'd | Pierre | Royal National Theatre |
| 1984 | Wild Honey | Michael Platonov | Royal National Theatre |
| 1984 | Coriolanus | Gaius Marcius Coriolanus | Royal National Theatre |
| 1985 | The Duchess of Malfi | Bosola | Royal National Theatre |
| 1985 | The Real Inspector Hound / The Critic | Inspector Hound / Mr. Puff | Royal National Theatre |
| 1985 | The Cherry Orchard | Yermolai Lopakhin | Royal National Theatre |
| 1986–1987 | Wild Honey | Michael Platonov | August Wilson Theatre |
| 1988–1989 | Henceforward ... | Jerome | Vaudeville Theatre |
| 1989 | Othello | Iago | The Other Place & The Young Vic |
| 1990–1992 | Richard III | Richard III | World tour |
| 1992 | Uncle Vanya | Uncle Vanya | Royal National Theatre |
| 1993–1997 | A Knight Out | Himself | UK & US tours |
| 1997–1998 | An Enemy of the People | Dr. Tomas Stockmann | Royal National Theatre & Ahmanson Theatre |
| 1997 | Peter Pan | Mr. Darling/Captain Hook | Royal National Theatre |
| 1998 | Present Laughter | Garry Essendine | West Yorkshire Playhouse |
| 1999 | The Tempest | Prospero | West Yorkshire Playhouse |
| 2001–2004 | Dance of Death | Edgar | Broadhurst Theatre, Lyric Theatre, & Sydney Arts Festival |
| 2004, 2005 | Aladdin | Widow Twankie | The Old Vic |
| 2006 | The Cut | Max | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2007–2008 | King Lear | Lear | Stratford-upon-Avon, Brooklyn Academy of Music, & New London Theatre |
| 2007–2008 | The Seagull | Sorin | Stratford-upon-Avon, Brooklyn Academy of Music, & New London Theatre |
| 2009–2010 | Waiting for Godot | Estragon | 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 | Park Theatre |
| 2017–2018 | King Lear | Lear | Chichester Festival Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre |
| 2019–2020 | Ian McKellen on Stage | Himself | UK tour; Harold Pinter Theatre & Hudson Theatre |
| 2021 | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet | Theatre Royal, Windsor |
| 2021 | The Cherry Orchard | Firs | Theatre Royal, Windsor |
| 2022 | Hamlet with Ian McKellen | Performer | Edinburgh Festival Fringe |
| 2022–2023 | Mother Goose | Mother Goose | Duke of York's Theatre; UK tour |
| 2023 | Frank and Percy | Percy | Theatre Royal, Windsor, Theatre Royal, Bath, & The Other Palace |
| 2024 | Player Kings | John Falstaff | Noël Coward Theatre |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1969 | Alfred the Great | Roger | Clive Donner | |
| 1969 | A Touch of Love | George Matthews | Waris Hussein | |
| 1969 | 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 | |
| 1985 | Zina | Arthur Kronfeld | Ken McMullen | |
| 1989 | Scandal | John Profumo | Michael Caton-Jones | |
| 1993 | Six Degrees of Separation | Geoffrey Miller | Fred Schepisi | |
| 1993 | The Ballad of Little Jo | Percy Corcoran | Maggie Greenwald | |
| 1993 | Last Action Hero | Death | John McTiernan | |
| 1994 | To Die For | Quilt Documentary Narrator | Peter Litten | Voice role |
| 1994 | The Shadow | Dr. Reinhardt Lane | Russell Mulcahy | |
| 1994 | I'll Do Anything | John Earl McAlpine | James L. Brooks | |
| 1995 | Restoration | Will Gates | Michael Hoffman | |
| 1995 | Richard III | Richard III | Richard Loncraine | Also writer and executive producer |
| 1995 | Jack and Sarah | William | Tim Sullivan | |
| 1997 | Swept from the Sea | Dr. James Kennedy | Beeban Kidron | |
| 1997 | Bent | Uncle Freddie | Sean Mathias | |
| 1998 | Gods and Monsters | James Whale | Bill Condon | |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Kurt Dussander | Bryan Singer | |
| 2000 | X-Men | Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto | Bryan Singer | |
| 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 | Peter Jackson | |
| 2003 | X2 | Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto | Bryan Singer | |
| 2003 | Emile | Emile | Carl Bessai | |
| 2003 | 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 | |
| 2005 | Asylum | Dr. Peter Cleave | David Mackenzie | |
| 2005 | The Magic Roundabout | Zebedee | Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, and Frank Passingham | Voice role |
| 2006 | Flushed Away | The Toad | David Bowers & Sam Fell | Voice role |
| 2006 | The Da Vinci Code | Sir Leigh Teabing | Ron Howard | |
| 2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto | Brett Ratner | |
| 2007 | Stardust | Narrator | Matthew Vaughn | Voice role |
| 2007 | The Golden Compass | Iorek Byrnison | Chris Weitz | Voice role |
| 2012 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Gandalf the Grey | Peter Jackson | |
| 2013 | The Wolverine | Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto | James Mangold | |
| 2013 | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Gandalf the Grey | Peter Jackson | |
| 2014 | Miss in Her Teens | The Prologue | Matthew Butler Hart | |
| 2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto | Bryan Singer | Shared role with Michael Fassbender |
| 2014 | 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 | Bill Condon | |
| 2017 | 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 | |
| 2019 | 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 |
| 2023 | The Critic | Jimmy Erskine | Anand Tucker | |
| 2024 | Dragfox | Gingersnap the Fox | Lisa Ott | Voice role; short film |
| TBA | The Christophers | TBA | Steven Soderbergh | Filming |
| Sources: |||||

### 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 |
| 1965 | 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 |
| 1982 | Walter | Walter | Television film |
| 1983 | Walter and June | Walter | Television film |
| 1988 | Windmills of the Gods | Chairman | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Countdown to War | Adolf Hitler | Television film |
| 1990 | Othello | Iago | Television film |
| 1993 | Tales of the City | Archibald Anson Gidde | Miniseries, episodes 3 and 5 |
| 1993 | And The Band Played On | Bill Kraus | Television film |
| 1995 | Cold Comfort Farm | Amos Starkadder | Television film |
| 1996 | Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny | Tsar Nicholas II | Television film |
| 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: ||||

### 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 | Gandalf | Voice |
| 2004 | The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age | Gandalf | Voice |
| 2004 | The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth | Gandalf | Voice |
| Source: ||||

### Music videos

| Year | Artist | Song |
| 1988 | Pet Shop Boys | "Heart" |
| 2008 | Guillemots | "Falling Out of Reach" |
| 2014 | George Ezra | "Listen to the Man" |

#### 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.
* Appears on the Scissor Sisters track "Invisible Light" from their 2010 album Night Work, reciting a passage regarding the "Invisible Light" of the title.

### Audiobooks

* Audiobook narrator of Michelle Paver's series Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker, Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker, and Ghost Hunter, as well as a version of Homer's Odyssey.