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Name: Ian McShane
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Date of Birth:
September 29, 1942
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Place of Birth:
Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK
Mini-bio:
Another distinguished product of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lancashire-born Ian McShane made his professional stage, film and TV debut all in the same year: 1962. McShane's subsequent stage c... read moreredits were as extensive as they were impressive, ranging from centuries-old classics to Tennessee Williams and Joe Orton. His TV resumé includes any number of TV-movies and miniseries: he played Judas in the internationally produced Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and was seen as the title character in the British "mini" Disraeli (1979). In America, he was a regular on the 1989-90 season of Dallas, playing Don Lockwood. McShane gained an international fan following as a result of his starring role in the widely-distributed TV series The Lovejoy Mysteries, originally filmed in 1986, then brought back by popular demand in 1990. Throughout the 90s, McShane was mostly absent from both the big screen and the small one. However, in 2000, he received recognition for playing a tough crime boss in the critically acclaimed Sexy Beast. It was certainly this hard-edged persona that attracted the producers of HBO's Deadwood to McShane. In 2004, he found himself with a regular gig on the foul-mouthed Western series, starring as an unscrupulous tavern-owner in a lawless 19th-century American prospecting town. He stayed with the show for its entire run, soon moving on to star as Max in the Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, before signing on to star in the NBC drama Kings in 2008. Loosely based on the story of King David, the show followed the story of a dynastic family in present-day America, but was cancelled after just a season. He went on to appear in the quirky thriller A 44 Inch Chest, before joining the likes of Donald Sutherland in the fantasy mini-series The Pillars of the Earth in 2010. Sticking with the fantastical theme, McShane next signed on to play the legendary pirate Blackbeard in the 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.From 1965 to 1968, Ian McShane was married to actress Suzanne Farmer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Ian McShane mini-bio: Award-winning character actor Ian McShane was born on September 29, 1942, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, the son of professional footballer (soccer player) Harry McShane, who played for Manchester United, and wife Irene. Ian attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and made his motion picture debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962). Although primarily known for his appearances on film and television, McShane has a long stage career, appearing in London in the original staging of Joe Orton's "Loot" and supporting Judi Dench and Ian McKellen in Aleksei Arbuzov's "The Promise," which transferred to Broadway in 1967.
McShane has long excelled at playing menacing heavies, from his turn as Richard Burton's criminal underboss in Villain (1971) to his small but very memorable role as the shadowy crime boss "Teddy Bass" in Sexy Beast (2000). His assays in villainy reached their apogee with his characterization of the dastardly bordello impresario Al Swearengen in the HBO western series _"Deadwood" (2004/I)_ , for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a TV Drama in 2005 (he was also nominated for an Emmy that year as Best Lead Actor in a TV Series). It was the topper to a career spanning five decades.
He formed McShane Productions in the 1980s to produce the popular BBC series "Lovejoy" (1986), which he not only starred in but directed. He has also appeared on stage, making his musical debut in 2000 in London's West End in the male lead of Cameron Mackintosh's "The Witches of Eastwick."
Trade Mark
Frequently plays cold-eyed, calculating villains.
Trivia
Children: Kate (b. 1971), Morgan (b. 1975)
Father was Harry McShane, the Manchester United footballer.
Grew up in Manchester.
After over 40 years in the business, he has finally struck it big internationally with his performance as the macho, gruffly-complex villain, Al Swearengen, on the HBO series, "Deadwood" (2004).
An appealing romantic lead in several hit movies of the sixties, by the late seventies he had progressed to character parts, such as the title roles in the BBC "Disraeli" and the very popular TV series "Lovejoy."
