Ian McKellen: Gandalf, Magneto and a Lifetime on Stage

Sir Ian McKellen is one of the great British actors of his generation. He has played Shakespeare's kings on the stage and Gandalf and Magneto on the screen. Now 87, he is still working, with a new stage production and a Marvel return on the way.

Early life and training

McKellen was born on 25 May 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, and grew up in the north of England. He studied English literature at Cambridge, where he acted in student productions. He made his professional stage debut in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.

Through the 1960s he built his reputation in repertory theatre and in classical roles. By the end of the decade he was one of the most admired young actors on the British stage.

A career built on the stage

Theatre has always been McKellen's home ground. He became closely linked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and he played many of Shakespeare's leading parts. His Macbeth, opposite Judi Dench in the 1970s, is still talked about by theatregoers who saw it.

On Broadway, he won a Tony Award for playing Salieri in Amadeus. He has also won several Olivier Awards. In the 2000s he returned to the RSC for King Lear, and he later played Lear again in a production that reached a wider audience on screen.

Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land

In 2009 he appeared in Beckett's Waiting for Godot alongside his close friend Patrick Stewart. The two later toured No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot together in repertory, including a Broadway run. After Stewart's death was announced in October 2026, McKellen paid tribute to him on Instagram. He praised Stewart's Yorkshire honesty and wrote that he wore his heart on his sleeve.

Late-career stage work

McKellen has kept returning to demanding roles well into his eighties. In 2024 he played Falstaff in Player Kings, a condensed version of Shakespeare's Henry IV. He fell from the stage during a performance that June and went to hospital. His team said at the time that he was expected to make a full recovery. He is now due to play the title role in Lear at London's Yard Theatre, with Taylor Russell as Cordelia.

Best known screen roles

McKellen's film career took off later than his stage work, but it brought him global fame.

• Richard III (1995): he co-wrote this adaptation, which moved Shakespeare's tyrant to a fictional 1930s fascist Britain.
• Gods and Monsters (1998): he played the film director James Whale and earned an Academy Award nomination for best actor.
• The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003): as Gandalf the Grey, and later Gandalf the White, he earned another Oscar nomination for The Fellowship of the Ring.
• X-Men (2000 onwards): as Magneto he gave the Marvel villain a sense of tragedy and moral conviction. Many fans still rate the role among the best in superhero cinema.
• The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014): he returned to Middle-earth as Gandalf.
• Mr. Holmes (2015): he played an elderly Sherlock Holmes struggling with memory.

On television he has been just as willing to take on comedy. He guest-starred in Extras and appeared in Coronation Street, showing a lighter side to the classical actor.

Selected credits, newest first

Campaigning and honours

McKellen came out publicly in 1988, during the national debate over Section 28, a law that restricted how local authorities could discuss homosexuality. He became a prominent campaigner for LGBT+ rights and was a co-founder of the charity Stonewall in 1989. His openness is widely credited with helping to change attitudes in the British arts world.

He was knighted in 1991 and made a Companion of Honour in 2008. He has also raised money for theatres and charities, and he took an active interest in the Park Theatre in London and in small venues around the country.

What comes next

McKellen has said he would be open to playing Gandalf again, and he has reprised Magneto for Avengers: Doomsday. The film is due out in December 2026 and brings together a large lineup of Marvel Stars. Reports from the set say the directors asked him to look more furious while Magneto used his powers. On the same set, he reportedly offered Anthony Mackie warm congratulations on becoming Captain America.

On stage, Lear gives him one of Shakespeare's hardest roles once more. Audiences who have followed him from the RSC to Middle-earth will be keen to see how he handles it.

Legacy

Few actors have moved so easily between the stage and big-budget cinema. McKellen's Gandalf and Magneto introduced him to millions who had never seen him in the theatre. His Shakespeare work and his activism show a career built on craft and conviction. For a new generation, his is still the voice that makes the classics feel alive.