English actor, director and activist Ian McKellen was BOTD in 1939. Born in Burnley, Lancashire, he studied at Cambridge University, where he acted in plays and befriended Derek Jacobi. He made his stage debut in repertory theatre in 1961, joining the National Theatre in 1965 under the direction of Laurence Olivier. In the 1970s, he became a leading man in the Royal Shakespeare Company, winning acclaim for a minimalist production of Macbeth opposite Judi Dench, which was filmed for television. Alongside classical roles, he appeared in the 1979 premiere of Martin Sherman‘s gay-themed play Bent, appearing in a revival decade later, directed by his then-boyfriend Sean Mathias and co-starring Ian Charleson. In 1980, he starred as composer Antonio Salieri in the Broadway transfer of Peter Shaffer‘s play Amadeus, winning a Tony Award. A relative latecomer to film, he received acclaim and his first Oscar nomination for playing gay director James Whale in Bill Condon‘s film Gods and Monsters, before hitting mega-stardom in the 2000s with roles as Magneto in the X-Men franchise and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also co-wrote, directed and starred in an all-star adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III, reimagining the crooked king as a 1930s Fascist dictator. In 2015, he reunited with Condon to play a retirement-age Sherlock Holmes in Mr Holmes. He returned to the stage in 2017 to play the title role in King Lear, impressively appearing naked onstage at the age of 78. To celebrate his 80th birthday, he performed a one-man show throughout Britain, discussing his life and career. In 2024, he appeared as John Falstaff in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V, breaking his leg after falling off the stage during a fight scene. Closeted for much of his early career, he came out as gay in 1988, in protest at the Thatcher government’s anti-gay Section 28 law. He accepted a knighthood in 1991, drawing criticism from filmmaker Derek Jarman for kowtowing to a homophobic establishment. Now one of the world’s most well known gay men, he is active in LGBTQ causes, including gay rights organisations Stonewall and the Albert Kennedy Trust. McKellen was in a ten-year relationship with Mathias during the 1980s, with whom he co-owns a pub in London’s East End. His current relationship status is unknown.