Actor Ian McKellen, 85, in ‘good spirits’ and expected to recover from fall off stage in London
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LONDON — Actor Ian McKellen is expected to make a full recovery after he toppled off a London stage Monday during a fight scene and was hospitalized, a spokesperson said.
Actor Sir Ian McKellen speaks Feb. 8, 2015, at the 2015 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany. McKellen, 85, was hospitalized Monday after toppling off a London stage during a fight scene in a play.
McKellen, 85, was in “good spirits” after doctors said a scan showed he was expected to fully recover from the fall, a spokesperson for the Noel Coward Theatre said.
The stage and screen veteran known for playing Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” films and many stage roles over a six decade career cried out in pain after the fall, according to a BBC journalist at the theater.
McKellen was playing John Falstaff in “Player Kings,” a production of Henry IV, parts one and two, adapted and directed by Robert Icke, at the Noel Coward Theatre.
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He lost his footing and fell off the stage in a scene with the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy. The tumble startled theatergoers.
“Sir Ian seemed to trip as he moved downstage to take a more active part in the scene,” audience member Paul Critchley told the PA news agency, saying it was a shock. “He picked up momentum as he moved downstage which resulted in him falling off the stage directly in front of the audience.”
Staff and two doctors in the audience helped the ailing actor, the spokesperson said.
The theater was evacuated and the play was canceled. The production for Tuesday was also canceled to give McKellen time to rest.
McKellen’s career includes playing Magneto in the X-Men films and several Shakespearean characters including Richard II, Macbeth and King Lear.
He has won a Tony Award for “Amadeus,” several Laurence Olivier Awards and has been nominated for two Oscars and several BAFTA awards.
Photos: Ian McKellen through the years
In this Sept. 10, 2015, file photo, British actor Ian McKellen poses in front of beach huts on the Deauville promenade during the 41st American Film Festival in Deauville, western France. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
In this Oct. 30, 2019, file photo, actor Sir Ian McKellen poses for photographers at a photo call for the film "The Good Liar" at a central London hotel. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
British actor Ian McKellen poses for media during Kashish 2016, a South Asia queer film festival in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP Photo/ Rajanish Kakade )
Actors Sir Ian McKellen, left, and Dame Helen Mirren pose for photographers at the photo call for the film "The Good Liar" at a central London hotel, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Actor Ian McKellen poses on the red carpet as he arrives at the 12th edition of the Rome Film Fest, in Rome, Nov. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Actors Susan Sarandon and Ian McKellen pose for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film 'Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story' in London, Thursday, March 8, 2018. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
From top left, actor Luke Evans, actor Orlando Bloom, director Peter Jackson, actor Martin Freeman, Sir Ian McKellen and Evangeline Lilly, front, pose for photographers upon arrival at the world premiere of the film "The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies" in London, Dec. 1, 2014. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender arrive for the UK premiere of "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" at a central London cinema, Monday, May 12, 2014. (Photo by Jonathan Short/Invision/AP)
British actor Ian McKellen is helped by opposition Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock and Kinnock’s wife Glenys to collect AIDS cash from the audience of his hit one-man show “Acting Shakespeare” in London, Jan. 6, 1987. McKellen give all revenue from the London run of the show, just back from a U.S. tour, to keep a treatment center for AIDS victims open in the British capital. (AP Photo/Robert Dear)
Ian McKellen, 42, stars in Broadway’s hit “Amadeus” in New York, July 30, 1981. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)
British actor Ian McKellen is shown in costume at the Ahmanson Theatre, appearing in “Wild Honey” in Los Angeles, Oct. 17, 1986. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Ian McKellen and Susan Sarandon together in New York City, Dec. 1986. (AP Photo)
Sir Ian McKellen speaks at "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" panel at Comic-Con on Saturday, July 14, 2012 in San Diego, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Actor Ian McKellen, right, uses binoculars as he and actor Patrick Stewart attend an NBA basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks Feb. 24, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Actor Sir Ian McKellen attends the premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Dec. 6, 2012, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Sir Ian McKellen speaks during the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics in London, Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Ian McKellen attends the Broadway opening of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" on March 20, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
British actor Ian McKellen poses in front of beach huts on the Deauville promenade during the 41st American Film Festival, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in Deauville, western France. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
British actor Ian McKellen arrives at the 41st American Film Festival, Sept. 10, 2015, in Deauville, Normandy, western France. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Sir Ian McKellen poses for photographers ahead of a screening for the "Beauty and the Beast" premiere in London, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Ian McKellen poses for photographers during a photo call for the launch of the Heuristic Shakespeare iPad app in London, April 22, 2016. "The Tempest" was the first in a series of 37 individual apps covering all of Shakespeare’s plays. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Ian McKellen attends the Miss Golden Globe InStyle Party held at Ysabel on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP)
Actress Judi Dench is photographed as she is joined by Ian McKellen after unveiling a blue plaque commemorating Sir John Gielgud in central London, outside the Westminster home where he lived for 31 years, Thursday, April 27, 2017. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter go up onto the National Theater stage in Washington after viewing the production of "Amadeus" to meet the play’s stars, Ian McKellen, left, and Jane Seymour, Nov. 26, 1980. (AP Photo/Jeff Taylor)
British actor Ian McKellen signs autographs as he arrives at a hotel before receiving the Donostia Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
British actor Ian McKellen looks at the Donostia Prize for his contribution to film as he wears a typical Basque beret at the 57th San Sebastian Film Festival in San Sebastian, northern Spain, Sept. 23, 2009. The San Sebastian Film Festival is the oldest and most prestigious in the Spanish-speaking world with a strong focus on European and U.S. movies. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
British actor Ian McKellen, right, talks to other protesters as they gather for a rally across the street from the Belarusian embassy in London, Dec. 21, 2010. Dozens of protesters gathered to protest against the clampdown in Belarus following recent elections. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Actor Gordon Kaye, left, holds a glass goblet and Ian McKellen holds a clay pipe, uncovered during the present excavations at the site of The Rose playhouse, the site of the first of four famous Tudor/Jacobean theatres to be built on London’s South Bank, Feb. 23, 1989. The Rose was built in or shortly after 1587. In 1592 a young actor, William Shakespeare, trod the boards of The Rose and in 1594 one of his early plays, "Titus Andronicus," first performed there. (AP Photo/Tony White)
Sir Ian McKellen poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Mr. Holmes" in London on June 10, 2015. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)