Ian McKellen Biography

Biography

productions until his graduation in 1961. Afterwards quickly landed his stage debut in "A Man for All Seasons" in Conventry's Belgrade Theatre, he managed to show up in the company's numerous plays before by 1962 crossed to the Arts Theatre Company in Ipswich where audience saw him for another year enacting in “Becket”, “The Amorous Prawn”, and “David Copperfield” to name few. Next moved to Nottingham Playhouse in December 1963, he surprisingly drew the attention of director Michael Codron who eagerly cast him without any single audition in his 1964 West End feature of “A Scent Of Flowers” through which his performance unknowingly attracted actress Maggie Smith.

As Smith then recommended him to Laurence Olivier, Ian subsequently was invited by the great man to play at his National Theatre Company and so found himself involved in several of its productions which wonderfully led him to more stints in various stages for the rest of 1960s, notably those of “Richard II” and “Edward II” at Prospect Theatre during the 1969 Edinburgh Festival. It was through these two classical plays that the blue-eyed guy became widely known around England, establishing him to be one of the leading stage actors of his generation, ...

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even later prompted Royal Shakespeare Company to include him in by 1974. Smoothly continued to pop up onstage, he also used some of his time to flourish his screen career he has started since 1965, mostly appearing in either TV-movie, like “Hamlet” (1970) and “Macbeth” (1979), or TV series, such as "Play of the Month" in early 1970s and "Jackanory" in 1978.

Though already considered to be a noted thespian in his homeland, Ian's name did not make sound in United States until he portrayed Salineri in the Broadway production of “Amadeus” (1980), primarily due to his attainment of acquiring a Tony Award for Best Actor (Play) category in 1981. This consequently paved his path in the country as he later was seen in CBS TV-movie "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1982), Michael Mann's thriller flick of “The Keep” (1983), plus Meryl Streep's 1985 vehicle entitled “Plenty” among others while he proceeded to maintain his stage career along the way. Gradually gained U.S. public notice, the lean-figured actor thus hit harder upon entering the '90s with a stunning enactment in TV-movie “And the Band Played On” (1993) which brought him an Emmy nomination of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a ...