Ian mckellen actor biography books

This began for me in the year when I was privileged to see Ian in the role of Salieri in the play Amadeus. Murray Abraham. Ian McKellen has yet to win a coveted Oscar trophy, even though I thought he was worthy of this honor for both his role as "Frankenstein" Director James Whale in "Gods and Monsters" as well as his classic turn as the beloved literary character Gandalf in "The Fellowship Of the Ring".

But I digress In fact, Ian did not make things easy for O'Connor as he had previously balked at other biographical works and is simply a person who is not terribly comfortable talking about himself. As I read this biography about an actor I idolize, it became more apparent why he would feel that way. McKellen has always been extremely dedicated to his craft and it is nearly impossible to keep up with the constant participation in mostly stage productions which McKellen has often thrived at.

Recapping a career of seemingly never-ending performances was surely an exhaustive process for O'Connor. The other part of McKellen's life, and one which actually held him back in some ways early on in his career, was the fact that he was an overt homosexual. You might be thinking homosexuals in the theatre, what's the big deal? It is a profession that has always been synonymous with actors who led, in many cases, a double life.

Ian was not ashamed of this fact but realized back when he was starting out that the expectation was to remain closeted lest you offend the masses and, in turn, commit career suicide. McKellen stated: 'Homosexuals are thus encouraged to disguise their true feelings. Is that why so many became professional actors? It helps that he has known the man since His parents were Denis, a civil engineer, and Margery, a traditional housewife.

His ancestry shows Scottish, Northern Irish and English for his official nationality. Denis was also a socialist and committed Nonconformist Christian. Far different to the atheistic beliefs his son Ian would grow into. Perhaps the greatest lesson Ian took from his father Denis was the ability to keep a big secret. Denis had made it through a war without anyone knowing he was a pacifist.

In much the same way that Ian would hide his homosexuality, an illegality for the early part of his acting career, even though he pretty much knew from the start of his young adulthood that he was indeed gay. Ian would lose both of his parents fairly early in his life as his mother passed from illness in and his father Denis in a car accident thirteen years later in Denis' accident would take place less then a week after he and his new wife, Gladys, would attend Ian's opening night performance in A Scent Of Flowers.

Ian's acting career takes up the majority of this book and for good reason he's simply one of the best actors of our lifetime. Reading through this biography means the reader need be prepared for a high magnitude of name-dropping. This results in a near-dizzying amount of famous thespian names that make up many of the finest actors of the past century.

McKellen fondly recalls the first director that made a lasting impression on him Tyrone Guthrie. Guthrie was a giant of a man who would cast a lasting spell over such classic performers as Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson. Fine company to be in, and ironic as Sir Ian McKellen he was officially knighted in has been named as the successor to the late, great Olivier.

Even more ironic is the fact that McKellen has won 6 Olivier Awards in his acting career. Referring back to my previous note about famous actor name-dropping, McKellen would really make a name for himself by joining the acting stable at the National Theatre that also sported a slew of British talent such as Derek Jacobi, Anthony Hopkins, Albert Finney, Jeremy Brett and Maggie Smith.

Many years later in McKellen would make a return to The National where one of his contemporaries, Antony Sher, would remark that he regarded McKellen as a better actor than Olivier. Ian would continue to act at a furious pace while also championing the cause for gay actors in the face of hurdles such as societal prejudice and the AIDS crisis.

As he personally did his part to break down these walls he remarked that he 'despised the Ian McKellen of the first 49 years of my life. The afore-mentioned Salieri as well as the role of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello brought him fame and the realization that he enjoyed playing complex, tormented characters. Following his Oscar nomination for "Gods and Monsters", Ian became world famous in two record-selling film series Magneto in the X-Men films and the role that would bring him his second Oscar nod, the beloved literary figure Gandalf from "The Lord Of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" series.

He happily professed on an episode of the British talk show The Graham Norton show, that he was now 2 action figures! Ian has also had a nice run with film director Bill Condon, who directed him in "Gods and Monsters" and "Mr. Holmes" his portrayal of an aged Sherlock Holmes that was just breath-taking. It sure would be nice to see McKellen and Mirren get Oscar nods again to show the next generation of thespians that the old guard has still got it!

There was a documentary from entitled "Playing the Part" where we get to enjoy McKellen's career displayed for all to see with clips of some of his famous roles. One part of McKellen's life that has not seen much coverage has been his private battle with prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with in Now, at age 80, McKellen realizes he may only have a few years left and in the latter part of this biography he looks back critically on his acting career.

Firstly, he provided working advice on the craft as he would never let anything stand in the way in his quest to prove that stage-acting provides the only proof of whether an actor can act greatly. Sir Ian leaves us with a summary of his acting career: 'I'm only an actor. I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter.

Marah Stevens. It took me forever to finish this book as it got boring and I had to do something else. It felt like it was all over place, it started one year then all of a sudden it's a different year. Only time it interesting was when it got to talking bout LOTR huge fan but even that died quickly.

Ian mckellen actor biography books

If there's another book about Ian McKellen I'll definitely read it, but not this one again and not by the same author as we know that Sir Ian McKellen is a great actor. Daniel Kukwa. A solid overview of the actors life, but the author gets in the way later in the book, with his rather snide opinions on everything from "X Men" to "Vicious" and other roles that he feels are somehow beneath Ian McKellen's talent.

A snobby Oxbridge elitist attitude that has been, for the most part, held in check until then comes roaring out. McKellen is a remarkable man. Still going strong at 81!!! He has had so many roles and experiences that this book becomes a bit of a catalogue of those with brief explanations of his reviews and his personal reactions to them But I did gain some insight into this man's approach to acting.

Gail O'Connor. I absolutely adore Ian McKellen. I tried reading the first chapter and I'm sure it's chock full of interesting information. Just too dry for me. I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters when it became clear it was written from press cuttings and hearsay. And the writing itself is poor. Every actor who has ever made it in the business, or is still out there trying to do so, always has their personal idols who they follow closely and seek to emulate.

As a lifelong actor, I have long admired the impeccable Ian McKellen. Murray Abraham for the film version. But I digress. In fact, McKellen did not make things easy for O'Connor as he previously had balked at other biographical works and is simply not terribly comfortable talking about himself. As I read this book about an actor I idolize, it became more apparent why he would feel that way.

McKellen always has been extremely dedicated to his craft, and it is nearly impossible to keep up with the constant participation in mostly stage productions at which he has often thrived. The other major part of McKellen's life, and one that actually held him back in some ways early on in his career, is his homosexuality. You might be thinking Homosexuals in the theater?

What's the big deal? It is a profession that has always been synonymous with actors who, in many cases, lead a double life. McKellen was not ashamed of this, but realized when he was starting out that the expectation was to remain closeted lest you offend the masses and, in turn, commit career suicide. Denis was also a socialist and a committed Nonconformist Christian, which is far different from the atheistic beliefs that his son would eventually adapt.

Perhaps the greatest lesson he took from his father was the ability to keep a big secret. Denis had made it through a war without anyone knowing he was a pacifist, in much the same way that McKellen would hide his homosexuality, even though he pretty much knew from the start of his young adulthood that he was gay. He would lose both of his parents fairly early in his life Margery passed away from an illness in , and Denis died in a car accident 13 years later.

Readers need be prepared for a high magnitude of name-dropping, which results in a near-dizzying amount of famous thespian names that make up many of the finest actors of the past century. McKellen fondly recalls the first director who made a lasting impression on him: Tyrone Guthrie, a giant of a man who would cast an enormous spell over such classic performers as Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson.

This is fine company to be in, and it is ironic as Sir Ian McKellen he was officially knighted in has been named as the successor to the late, great Olivier. Even more ironic is the fact that McKellen has won six Olivier Awards. Many years later, in , McKellen returned to the National Theatre where one of his contemporaries, Antony Sher, stated that he regarded McKellen as a better actor than Olivier.

McKellen would continue to act at a furious pace, while also championing the cause for gay actors in the face of hurdles such as societal prejudice and the AIDS crisis. Holmes his portrayal of an aged Sherlock Holmes was just breathtaking. It sure would be nice to see them get Oscar nods again to show the next generation of thespians that the old guard still has it.

I'm not going to leave any legacy…All I've ever done is learn the lines and say them. He indeed will leave behind a worthy legacy, which O'Connor has admirably captured in this outstanding biography. Reviewed by Ray Palen. I thought this was 'The Biography' the cover photo is beautiful and I thought - this is it! This is not it. In the very first page it pretty much says he didn't have Ian's blessing, he went to ask, but was turned down.

From there it was no longer a book about Ian McKellan, with Ian's input, personal touches and anecdotes. It was a book about all the theatre Ian's been in, because that must be what the author could research extensively and write about. If you want to know the history of his acting career from his school days on, this is for you. Disappointing, could not finish - if you live in the Melbourne area it is on a free community bookshelf for the taking.

Teagan Prentice. I love Ian but this author barely wrote about him. Too many quotes from ancient authors and lists yes, slabs of names of people that had barely anything to do with Ian were in this book. I wanted to know more about him and it was a disappointing read, I would have a more enlightening time on Wikipedia. Very overwritten.

I skimmed through and found some interesting parts, but the author goes off on tangents about other people who crossed paths with Ian, about his personal feelings about Ian, and about every role in every theater that Ian ever played, along with his approach to the role, his reviews, and other minuscule details. A repertoire of vast commercial success coupled with critically acclaimed and authoritative Shakespearian roles.

A man whose gargantuan personality and varied achievements inspire both admiration and affection. McKellen has been feted and admired in every country across the globe, and has been knighted by, and received the Companionship of Honour from Queen Elizabeth II. He is an icon of, and ardent campaigner in, the cause for LGBT rights. The inside story of the person himself: a constantly developing drama and a work in progress.

I am a huge fan of Ian McKellen, so I was very excited to read this book. Unfortunately for me, I was disappointed with it. I have read many biographies yet for some reason I found this one really frustrating. I felt it was emotionless and at times boring. I had some genuine moments when it felt like I was reading an Academic Text instead of a Biography of someone I actually like and am interested in.

I was excited to go and do some of my own research on the things I found out. I also really loved the photographs in this book. Overall I found this book thoroughly underwhelming. While I enjoyed the photographs and the new facts this book contained, I think as a whole it missed the mark. Geramie Kate Barker gemsbooknook. Nine months later, he returned the advance, saying, "I don't want to go on a voyage of discovery.

O'Connor, who befriended McKellen in at Cambridge, offers an intimate, critical and comprehensive biography that incisively evaluates his extensive stage and screen career. He also delves into McKellen's private life, sharing his struggles, triumphs, sacrifices and foibles to create a fully drawn portrait of an actor who found his greatest rewards after he publicly came out as gay at the age of Encounter with a Giant.

SelfAwakening to Spirit. Who Was Oliviers True Heir? Underneath All the Tolerance. Shining a Light through Celluloid. New Labour Interlude. Hollywood God Hubris. Your Double Goes Before. We Cant Match. Travels with My Peers. Wolfitting down Hamlet. Actors Seize Power. The Matching of Equals. The Robot Factory. The Other Strong Yearning.

Payoff Performance. Not So Much in the Cupboard but in the Safe. A Footfall of Memory Interlude. Saturnalia Time. Double Standards. The McKellen Banterland.