born May 25, 1939, Burnley, Lancashire, Eng.
British actor.
Educated at Cambridge University, he made his professional stage debut in 1961 and won acclaim as Richard II and Edward II at the Edinburgh Festival in 1969. He cofounded the Actors' Co. in 1971 but left in 1974 to join the Royal Shakespeare Co. A versatile and passionate actor, he has played in a repertory ranging from Elizabethan to contemporary. In 1981 he won a Tony Award for Amadeus . His films include Plenty (1985), Scandal (1988), Richard III (1995), and Gods and Monsters (1998), and in 2001 he played the wizard Gandalf in the film version of J.R.R. Tolkien 's Lord of the Rings . He has been a vocal supporter of gay rights since 1988. He was knighted in 1991.