Sir Ian Murray McKellen CH CBE (born 25th May 1939 in Burnley) appeared on Coronation Street in May 2005 as conman, Lionel Hipkis (aka supposed author, Mel Hutchwright).
Raised in nearby Wigan, his parents took him to the theatre and encouraged his interest in the theatre and in acting. He performed in many school plays and began attending theatre festivals in places such as Stratford-upon-Avon. He graduated from St. Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1961 with a BA in English Literature and began his career in rep at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. He came out and became open about his homosexuality in 1988, very courageous at the time, and has been active in gay rights organisations ever since. That same year, he appeared in the music video for the Pet Shop Boys song Heart, dressed as a vampire.
His television credits include roles in The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, David Copperfield, Jackanory, Armchair Thriller, The English Programme, Windmills of the Gods, Tales of the City, Churchill, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, Vicious and Ted.
Film roles include A Touch of Love, The Promise, Priest of Love, The Keep, Plenty, Zina, Scandal, Last Action Hero, The Ballad of Little Jo, Six Degrees of Separation, I'll Do Anything, The Shadow, To Die For, Jack & Sarah, Richard III, Restoration, Bent, Amy Foster, Gods and Monsters, Apt Pupil, The Book That Wrote Itself, Emile, The Magic Roundabout, Asylum, Neverwas, Eighteen, Doogal, The Da Vinci Code, Flushed Away, Displaced, Stardust, The Golden Compass, The Wolverine, Miss in Her Teens, Mr. Holmes, Look Back in Anger, Beauty and the Beast, Animal Crackers, All is True, The Good Liar, Cats, Infinitum: Subject Unknown, Hamlet Revenant and The Critic, but is best known for his roles of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit strands and as Magento in the X-Men franchise.
On stage, he appeared in productions of A Man for All Seasons, When We Are Married, You Never Can Tell, Black Coffee, Celebration, End of Conflict, Mr Pickwick, Toad of Toad Hall, The Seagull, Much Ado About Nothing, The Irregular Verb to Love, Noah and Semi-Detached for the Belgrade Theatre, Doctor Faustus, The Marquis of Keith, King John, Too Good to be True, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, The Alchemist, The Boy Friend, Precincts, Groupings-Gropings, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Pillars of the Community, The Days of the Commune, A Miserable and Lonely Death, Twelfth Night, And Is There Honey Still For Tea?, Three Sisters, Where There's a Will, Othello and King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Trelawny of the Wells, Venice Preserv'd, Wild Honey, Coriolanus, The Duchess of Malfi, The Real Inspector Hound, The Critic, The Cherry Orchard, Napoli Milionaria, Uncle Vanya, An Enemy of the People and Peter Pan for the National Theatre. Other works include Becket, Caste, The Amorous Prawn, The Keep, A Lily in Little India, Black Comedy, Edward II, The Recruiting Officer, A Private Matter, The Wood Demon, The Clandestine Marriage, Bent, Tribute to Sir Michael Redgrave, Present Laughter, The Dance of Death, Waiting for Godot (with Sir Patrick Stewart), The Exorcist, Ian McKellen on stage, Frank and Percy and Player Kings.
He was awarded the CBE in 1979, knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts and made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to drama and equality.
