Ian McShane Biography
Summary
"Ian McShane" (born 29 September 1942) is a Golden Globe-winning English actor.
Biography
Personal life
McShane was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of Irene (née Cowley) and Harry McShane, a Scottish-born professional footballer with Manchester United. McShane grew up in Urmston, Manchester and attended Stretford Grammar School.
In 1977, he began a turbulent five-year relationship with Sylvia Kristel after meeting her on the set of "The Fifth Musketeer". He is married to Gwen Humble.
Career
In the United Kingdom, his best known role may be that of roguish but dashing antiques dealer "Lovejoy" in the BBC drama series of the same name. He also enjoyed fame in the United States as bounding English cad Don Lockwood in the soap opera "Dallas". Even before "Lovejoy", McShane was a pin-up as a result of appearances in television series such as "Wuthering Heights" (1967, as Heathcliff), "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977, as Judas Iscariot), and "Disraeli" (1978) -- as well as films like "Sky West and Crooked" (1966) and "Battle of Britain" (1969).
In 1983, he starred in the short-lived NBC prime time soap opera "Bare Essence". In 1985, he featured as guest vocalist on Grace Jones' hit Slave to the Rhythm. Work in the 2000s has included roles in movies "Scoop", "Sexy Beast", "Agent Cody Banks", and "We Are Marshall". In the United States, he is perhaps best known for the role of historical figure Al Swearengen in the HBO series "Deadwood". For his performance in this role as the storm centre of the series, he won the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama.
In 2000, he appeared as Darryl Van Horne in Cameron Mackintosh's musical "The Witches of Eastwick" - his first London stage appearance since he starred with Dame Judi Dench in "The Promise" in the late 1960s. He also made a guest appearance in the third season of "The West Wing", playing Russian negotiator Nikolai Ivanovich in the episode Enemies Foreign and Domestic. His most recent roles are the part of Captain Hook in "Shrek the Third", the voice of Iofur Raknison (known as Ragnar Sturlusson in the film) in "The Golden Compass", the comedy "Hot Rod", and the voice of Mr. Bobinski, a beet-eating Russian giant in the film "Coraline". He is also noteworthy in the pivotal role of Merriman Lyon in The Seeker.
Currently, he is in rehearsals for the 40th Anniversary Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming", co-starring Eve Best, Raul Esparza, and Michael McKean. "The Homecoming" will begin previews at the Cort Theater on November 23, 2007, in preparation for a December 9th opening.
External links
(Official "The Homecoming" on Broadway website)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Ian McShane.
