British actor (born 1939)
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He's Gandalf and Magneto to millions, but long before wizards and mutants, McKellen was a stage virtuoso who could make Shakespeare crackle — then came out in 1988 and turned his fame into a lever for rights most actors still won't name.
McKellen made his stage debut in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre and by 1969 was playing lead Shakespearean roles for Prospect Theatre Company. Through the 1970s he became a fixture at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, collecting five Olivier Awards along the way for work in plays like Bent and Richard III. He won a Tony in 1980 for Amadeus on Broadway. His film breakthrough came in 1998 with Gods and Monsters, but worldwide recognition arrived when he took on Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy starting in 2001 and Magneto in the X-Men franchise from 2000 onward. He ca…
Sourced, dated quotes from Ian McKellen
Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world.
Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don't exist.
Any actor who has had his marriage photographed by the press has proclaimed his heterosexuality.
You must accept that there are very very few famous homosexuals in this country.
The audience I play to really is the bright 14-year-old: someone who is capable of sitting still and listening and watching and feeling for even three hours.
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