The London Times May 25, 2006

Birthdays

The actor Sir Ian McKellen is everywhere at the moment. Those filmgoers to have ignored hostile critics and seen The Da Vinci Code will also have noted the trailer for his next film, which opens this week, The X-Men: The Last Stand. Like Olivier and Brando last century, attaching McKellen's name to a project seems to ensure advance funding for films. He is already booked to play King Lear at Stratford next year, and he keeps his international fans up to date with his hectic life through his website and a stream of notes and blogs. He says: "Although a vegetarian, a New Labour Party supporter and a donor to various charities, I prefer to restrict my public views to what I know best: acting and [gay] activism." Sir Ian McKellen is 68 today. RGT

Spot the undeliberate mistake above and never believe what you read in the papers - Ian McKellen