IAN McKELLEN (Magneto) reprises his role as the master of magnetism and the champion of mutant supremacy. McKellen has been honored with more than 40 international awards for his performances on screen and stage, most recently a Lifetime Achievement Golden Bear from the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.
He was born and raised in the industrial north of England and started acting professionally in 1961. After Cambridge University and a three-year apprenticeship with regional British theatre companies, he rapidly established himself as the leading actor of his generation in Shakespeare and other classical plays in London. His legendary performances as Shakespeare's "Richard II" and Marlowe's "Edward II" stormed the 1969 Edinburgh Festival, and they were televised. In pursuit of the ideal theatre ensemble, McKellen was a founder-member of the Actors' Company. As leading man for the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Macbeth opposite Dame Judi Dench, Romeo, Iago and Toby Belch in plays by Brecht, Chekhov, Ibsen, Jonson, Shaw and Stoppard. He has regularly starred at the National Theatre, most recently in "Peter Pan.”
McKellen also works regularly on stage in the U.S. In New York, he won every available award for his Salieri in Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" and more recently starred in "Dance of Death" and hosted "Saturday Night Live." He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2005.
McKellen has also worked extensively in television in such productions as Stephen Frears' "Walter," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "And the Band Played On," "Rasputin,” "Cold Comfort Farm" and in the longest running British soap, "Coronation Street.”
McKellen has made more than 40 movies and, of late, has been discovered by a new generation of cinemagoers as Magneto in the “X-Men” films, as well as his Oscar nominated performance in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. In 1996, he co-produced, co-scripted and starred in his film version of “Richard III.” Four years later he won his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of film director James Whale in “Gods and Monsters.” He has just voiced ‘Toad’ in Dreamworks' “Flushed Away.”
McKellen recently delighted his fans by triumphantly playing Dame in the traditional pantomine "Aladdin" at Kevin Spacey's Old Vic Theatre and with Mark Ravenhill's "The Cut" at the Donmar Warehouse.
He has been an eloquent advocate for gay rights since he came out in 1988. The following year he was knighted for his contribution to the performing arts. A complete biography plus occasional diary entries and regular e-posts by McKellen can be found on www.mckellen.com
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