Honour for 'Gandalf'

2009-09-11 18:19

Madrid - British actor Ian McKellen will receive a lifetime achievement award at this month's San Sebastian film festival in Spain, the organisers announced on Friday.

The 70-year-old Lord of the Rings actor will be honoured with the festival's Donostia Award, which goes to "a great film personality in recognition for their work and career", they said in a statement.

"Sir Ian McKellen is one of the leading British film, theatre and TV actors," it said.

"His tremendous versatility has led him to play enormously varying parts, from the Shakespeare classics to contemporary superheroes, from author cinema to major commercial productions."

Best-known internationally for his roles as Magneto in the X-Men series and as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings saga, McKellen has also had a long career as a Shakespearean actor on the stage.

Oscar nominations

He received Oscar nominations for his roles in Gods and Monsters in 1998 and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings in 2001.

He received the Silver Shell award for best actor at the San Sebastian festival for Gods and Monsters, in which he played the gay British film director James Whale.

The 57th edition of the San Sebastian film festival, the oldest and most prestigious event of its kind in the Spanish speaking world, takes place from September 18 to 26 in the coastal city in northern Spain.

The Donostia Award in 2008 went jointly to American Meryl Streep and Spain's Antonio Banderas. Other former recipients include Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert de Niro and Vanessa Redgrave.

A total of 15 films are competing at San Sebastian for the top Golden Shell award this year.

They include Canadian director Adam Egoyan's psychological drama Chloe starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, and Get Low by first-time feature director Aaron Schneider and starring Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.

- AFP