Theatrical knight Sir Ian McKellen has received the Society’s Special Award at the 2006 Laurence Oliver Awards. The Special Award is given to McKellen in recognition of his outstanding contribution to theatre and his continuing support of the industry. McKellen was presented with the award by Michael Grandage, the Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director who is currently directing him in The Cut.
The man himself was thrilled with his Special Award and particularly modest about the whole thing: "I didn’t have to do a thing for it, just survive, I suppose!" he told officiallondontheatre.co.uk. "But yes it’s an absolute thrill, particularly looking at the list of people who’ve been given it before, beginning with Olivier and then going through Gielgud and Richardson and Judi Dench and all those actors I’ve so admired."
McKellen made his professional stage debut in 1961 in a production of A Man For All Seasons at Coventry’s Belgrade theatre. After spending time in both Ipswich and Nottingham, McKellen made his London stage debut in 1964 in A Scent Of Flowers. After spending time working as part of Laurence Olivier’s new National theatre, McKellen earned much acclaim as Richard II and Edward II at the 1969 Edinburgh festival.
McKellen formed the Actors’ Company with Edward Petherbridge in 1972, aiming to create a company without hierarchy, where decisions were made as a democracy. Trevor Nunn then tempted McKellen to join the Royal Shakespeare Company where, in 1976, he performed one of his most famous roles, the eponymous Macbeth opposite Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth.
After a Tony-winning sojourn to Broadway in Amadeus, McKellen returned to the National Theatre which had, by then, moved to its current South Bank home, where he would both act and produce.
McKellen already has four Laurence Olivier Awards in his growing collection, having collected statuettes in each of the last four decades. His first came in 1977, when he was crowned Actor of the Year in a Revival for Pillars Of The Community; two years later he was named Actor of the Year in a New Play for Bent. In 1984 McKellen was once again given the Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival for his performance in Wild Honey. His most recent Laurence Olivier Award success came in 1991 when he won Best Actor for Richard III.
Ian McKellen’s most recent appearances on the West End stage have included Dance Of Death, with Frances De La Tour, the Old Vic pantomime Aladdin and the current Donmar production of Mark Ravenhill’s new play, The Cut.
Nigel Havers, who was at the awards to present Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, was delighted for McKellen, and recalled when the two first worked together: "I started my whole career with Ian McKellen in Prospect 1969 so for him to win this special award is like we’ve come full cycle. It's thanks to him that I’m here really. I guess I’m here because of him or he’s here because of me, whichever way you want to put it."
MA
