Ian Mckellen
Ian Mckellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBEis an English actor. He is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received two Academy Award nominations, four BAFTA nominations and five Emmy Award nominations...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth25 May 1939
CityBurnley, England
great liberal school tradition
Bolton School has a great tradition in the liberal arts.
clearly invited members pupils school staff
One school invited me down, as two pupils had come out, and the headmaster didn't know what to do about it. I said, 'How many students here are gay?' and he said, 'Just these two.' Clearly not. 'How many gay members of staff have you got?' He had no idea. And this was a concerned man.
acted amateur brought deal great north school theater university
Before I ever acted as an amateur - which I did a great deal at school and at university - I used to go to the theater with my parents in the north of England, where I was born and brought up... Theater of all sorts.
bullying school gay
I am going around British secondary schools, as a gay man talking about my life, and encouraging schools to get rid of homophobic bullying and to care for their gay members of staff and their gay students.
school kids needs
Kids are coming out earlier and earlier - some, as young as twelve now - and schools need to take that into account.
drama school thinking
I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.'
came days remember saying sorry tom
I remember Tom Stoppard saying to me when I came out, 'I feel so sorry for you, because you'll never have children.' These days I would say, 'Well, why not, Tom?'
imagine life pull single straight totally
There are still times in my life where I pull back from being totally honest, and I can't imagine a single straight person who would understand that.
challenged great join joys life playing seeing
'King Lear,' I've been seeing all my life. I mean, the great actors of my lifetime... to join their company, as it were, by playing a part that's challenged them, is one of the great joys of being an actor who does the classics.
audiences people
People on television have trouble with fame because audiences think they're their mates.
hope left life stage
I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films.
america awful battle belt bible gay hate marriage people reveals tells
The battle going on over gay marriage in America reveals an awful lot. The Bible belt - people hate gay people. Because the Bible tells them? No, the Bible tells them an awful lot of things that they ignore.
chapter death final upsetting
What's upsetting about an autobiography is that the final chapter is always missing. I mean, you want the death, don't you?
best careers leading men reveal romantic
Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're gay.