Ian McKellen, the British cultural icon and one of the most well-known actors in the world, has a career spanning seven decades and is an English actor and is best known as our very own Magneto from X-Men movies.
Seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe have all been presented to him. At the Belgrade Theatre, he started his professional career in 1961, and his first West End performance came four years later.
He became one of the nation’s top classical actors when he joined the Prospect Theatre Company in 1969 and took on the lead roles in Marlowe’s Edward II and Richard II by Shakespeare. He was born in Lancashire’s Burnley. He was the second child to his parents, after his sister Jean.
At Balton School, where he started his education, Ian McKellen also started his acting career in the Bolton Little Theatre. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to study English Literature at St Catherine’s College in Cambridge.
The Golden Globe-winning actor, who has won every significant theatre award in the UK, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 in recognition of his contributions to the performing arts.
A few years later, in 1991, the Queen of the UK ennobled him for the same reasons, and in 2008, he was awarded the distinction of Distinguished Companion of Honour for his contributions to both play and equality as a result of his fight for gay rights.
Ian’s private life
Although Sir Ian McKellen had confided in some actors about his sexuality early in his career, he did not come out as gay until 1988, on a radio program.
Ian is a co-founder of Stonewall, a British LGBT rights advocacy organization. He also serves as the patron of FFLAG, Pride London, Oxford Pride, GAY-GLOS, LGBT Foundation, and LGBT History Month.
He did so as he became an ardent supporter of LGBT rights while simultaneously challenging British legislation aimed at restricting such rights. McKellen has actively worked for LGBT rights since that time, co-founding Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights lobbying organization.
His Relationships over the years
In 1964, he started dating Brian Taylor, a history teacher at his school in Bolton. Brian Taylor was his first partner. For eight years, they were together, as per records.
Sean Mathias, his second partner, was someone he met in 1978. Despite their divorce in 1988, they have remained close friends and business partners. Nevertheless, it is uncertain if they are still dating or if they have exchanged vows.
Actor Ian McKellen and Mathias were romantically involved from 1978 through 1988. But later, in 2007, Mathias wed his partner Paul de Lange.
Although the relationship, which was deemed to be difficult, began in 1978 and lasted until 1988, they stayed as business partners later. With Ian McKellen and Evgeny Lebedev, Mathias shares ownership of The Grapes in Limehouse.
Later in 2002, McKellen apparently dated painter Nick Cuthell for roughly a year after Mathias.
Who is Sean Mathias?
In 1977, Mathias made his acting debut on television in a small role on an episode of the iconic BBC TV show Survivors. He portrayed an Irish Guards lieutenant in the movie A Bridge Too Far, which was released in 1977.
Mathias met actor Ian McKellen while performing in a play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978. In the 1980s, Mathias continued to work as an actor, making cameos in TV shows and movies like Priest of Love (1981), which starred Ian McKellen as D. H. Lawrence.
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In 2006, the Independent on Sunday named Sean as one of the top 101 gay and lesbian figures in Britain. However, there have been various speculations about Ian, with numerous actors like Rupert Everett, Greg Nickles, to name a few.
There are many rumors over the internet linking him with his X-Men co-star, Patrick Stewart, but none of the rumors are confirmed yet, and they continue bonding as best friends.
Ian McKellen has kept his relationships discreet in recent years, and the public is unaware whether he is dating someone. It is presumed he isn’t married yet and is leading a single life now.
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