Born May 25: Ian McKellen

For anyone who still thinks being an out actor is a career-ender, study the numbers: Ian McKellen ranks #16 or #17 in all-time box office grosses, at $2.7 billion, far ahead of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, and homophobe Mel Gibson (#48), to name a few. Please note his two cash cows -- five X-Men movies so far, the sixth Tolkien movie this December -- came after he "shocked" viewers by purring down the red carpet, flaunting his four-decades-younger boyfriend Nick Cuthell, at the Oscars when he was nominated for the adaptation of Chris Bram's Gods and Monsters. Out since 1988, he co-founded Stonewall UK, the lgbt rights powerhouse, in response to the deplorable Section 28, and he's been an unabashed activist on queer issues ever since. He has won a Golden Globe, a Tony, a SAG award, two Critics' Choice awards, four Drama Desk awards, and six Olivier awards, and been nominated for two Oscars, four BAFTAs, and five Emmys. He was knighted in 1991. Playing off Sir Ian, Stephen Fry calls him Serena. He is also best chums with co-star Patrick Stewart. Their two-man show charmed everyone, which cannot be said of his BBC comedy with Derek Jacobi, Vicious. An avowed atheist, Ian got ordained online as a Unification Church minister and officiated Patrick's third wedding. Watch them together on Late Night. Or watch them fail at The Newlywed Game. Today he's 75.

Comments

[Glenn I]

I flinched at the idea of McKellen becoming a minister of the "Unification Church". Other sources say McKellen got ordained a minister in the Universal Life Church. The only "Unification Church" I've heard of is run by arch homophobe Sun Myung Moon.