Biographie

Began acting as a means of escape from mourning after his mother's death and constant bullying at school from fellow students.

Revealed in December 2012 that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

At 74 years old, he is the oldest actor to be cast in the role of Sherlock Holmes.

Before performing the role of Gandalf, he listened to a recording of J.R.R. Tolkien reading Gandalf lines from the novel. He used this as a base for creating the character, and imitated the accent used by Tolkien in the recording.

According to an interview, one of the last things Margaret Thatcher did as Prime Minister was recommending him for a knighthood.

[on his first theatre experience, "Peter Pan"] I wasn't over-impressed. For one thing it wasn't a real crocodile and I could see the wires.

I think it's one thing to declare your sexuality, if you care about what that is. It's another thing to start talking in public about what you do in private and who you do it with. It's not that they [my significant others] don't want to be identified as gay, but that they don't want to be identified as ... with me.

Many unthinking people just don't like the idea of gays joining in their games, nor in the military and, it would seem, in the movies.

When I, as Gandalf, meet Bilbo or Frodo at home, I bump my head on the rafters. [J.R.R. Tolkien] didn't think to mention it.

I am encouraged by the theatricality of [J.R.R. Tolkien's] readings - full of rhythm and humor and characterization. Without question Gandalf is like Tolkien but then so, I suspected, are Frodo and Aragorn.