Ian McShane Biography

Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is a British actor, who has also worked as a voice actor. Despite appearing in numerous films, he is best known for his television roles, particularly BBC's Lovejoy (1986-1994), and HBO's drama series Deadwood (2004-2006). He also starred as King Silas Benjamin in the NBC series Kings, Bishop Waleran in The Pillars of the Earth, Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda, and as Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Early life

McShane was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 29 September 1942, the son of Irene (ne Cowley) (b. 1921) and footballer Harry McShane (1920-2012). His father was Scottish and his mother, who was born in England, was of Irish and English descent. McShane grew up in Davyhulme, Lancashire, and attended Stretford Grammar School. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was still a student there when he appeared in his first film, 1962's The Wild and the Willing. McShane was a member of National Youth Theatre.

Career

In Great Britain, McShane's best known role may be that of antiques dealer Lovejoy in the hit BBC drama series of the same name. He also enjoyed fame in the United States as English cad Don Lockwood in the soap opera Dallas and as an English cockfighting aficionado in the miniseries Roots. Even before Lovejoy, McShane was a pin-up as a result of appearances in television series such as Wuthering Heights (1967, as Heathcliff), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969, as Charlie), Jesus of Nazareth (1977, as Judas Iscariot), and Disraeli (1978)"?as well as films like Sky West and Crooked (1965) and Battle of Britain (1969).

In the United States, he is perhaps best known for the role of historical figure Al Swearengen in the HBO series Deadwood, for which he won the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama. He was also nominated for at the 2005 Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Within the science fiction community, McShane is best known for playing the character Dr Robert Bryson in Babylon 5: The River of Souls. In 1985, he appeared as an iconic MC on Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm, a concept album which featured his narration interspersed throughout, and which sold over a million copies worldwide.

Other recent roles include Captain Hook in Shrek the Third, Iofur Raknison (known as Ragnar Sturlusson in the film) in The Golden Compass, Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda (for which he received an Annie Award nomination), and Mr. Bobinsky in Coraline. In live-action, he has performed in the comedy Hot Rod, the action/thriller Death Race, and The Seeker. He has appeared on the NBC television drama series The West Wing as a Russian diplomat. During 2007-08, he starred as Max in the 40th anniversary Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, co-starring Eve Best, Ral Esparza and Michael McKean, and directed by Daniel Sullivan, at the Cort Theatre (16 December 2007 to 13 April 2008).

In 2009, McShane appeared on the short-lived NBC television drama series Kings, which was based on the biblical story of David. His portrayal of King Silas Benjamin, an analogue of King Saul, was highly praised, with one critic saying, "Whenever Kings seems to falter, McShane appears to put bite marks all over the scenery."

In 2010, McShane starred in the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth as Bishop Waleran Bigod. The series was a historical drama set in 12th century England and adapted from Ken Follett's novel of the same name.

Also in 2010, the Walt Disney Company confirmed that McShane would play Blackbeard in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides. In 2013, McShane played King Brahmwell in Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Slayer.

Since 2010, McShane has narrated the opening teases for each round of ESPN's coverage of The Open Championship. In 2012, McShane had a guest role for two episodes as Murder Santa, a sadistic serial killer in the 1960s in the second season of American Horror Story, alongside Jessica Lange and Zachary Quinto. In 2016 he will join the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 6.

Personal life

McShane has been married three times: he first married and divorced Suzanne Farmer in the 1960s. In 1977, McShane began a relationship with actress Sylvia Kristel (star of the sex film Emmanuelle) after meeting her on the set of The Fifth Musketeer. The affair ended his marriage to his second wife, the model Ruth Post, who is the mother of his two children, Kate and Morgan.

On 30 August 1980, McShane married American actress Gwen Humble (born 4 December 1953), whose credits include the Buccaneers, Barnaby Jones, CHiPs, The Greatest American Hero, Three's Company, Remington Steele, Absolutely Fabulous, Lovejoy, The Rebels, and JAG. They live in the Venice Beach community of Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Wild and the Willing	Harry Brown
1965	The Pleasure Girls	Keith Dexter
1966	Sky West and Crooked	Roibin
1967	Wuthering Heights	Heathcliff
1969	If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium	Charlie Cartwright
1969	Battle of Britain	Sgt. Pilot Andy
1970	Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You	Fred C. Dobbs
1970	Tam-Lin	Tom Lynn
1971	Freelance	Mitch
1971	Villain	Wolfe Lissner
1972	Left Hand of Gemini	Unknown
1972	Sitting Target	Birdy Williams
1973	The Last of Sheila	Anthony
1975	Ransom	Ray Petrie
1975	Journey into Fear	Banat
1977	Code Name: Diamond Head	Sean Donovan
1979	The Great Riviera Bank Robbery	The Brain
1979	The Fifth Musketeer	Fouquet
1979	Yesterday's Hero	Rod Turner
1981	Cheaper to Keep Her	Dr. Alfred Sunshine
1983	Exposed	Greg Miller
1985	Ordeal by Innocence	Philip Durant
1985	Too Scared to Scream	Vincent Hardwick
1985	Torchlight	Sidney
1987	Grand Larceny	Flanagan
1999	Babylon 5: The River of Souls	Robert Bryson, Ph.D.
2000	Sexy Beast	Teddy Bass
2002	Bollywood Queen	Frank
2003	Agent Cody Banks	Dr. Brinkman
2003	Nemesis Game	Jeff Novak
2005	Nine Lives	Larry	Nominated"?Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2006	Scoop	Joe Strombel
2006	We Are Marshall	Paul Griffen
2007	Shrek the Third	Captain Hook	Voice
2007	Hot Rod	Frank Powell
2007	The Seeker	Merriman Lyon
2007	The Golden Compass	Ragnar Sturlusson
2008	Kung Fu Panda	Tai Lung	Voice Nominated"?Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
2008	Death Race	Coach
2009	Coraline	Mr. Bobinsky	Voice
2009	Case 39	Detective Mike Barron
2009	44 Inch Chest	Meredith	Also executive producer San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2010	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Narrator	Uncredited
2011	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	Blackbeard	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain
2012	Snow White & the Huntsman	Beith
2013	Jack the Giant Slayer	King Brahmwell
2014	Cuban Fury	Ron Parfitt
2014	Hercules	Amphiaraus
2014	John Wick	Winston
2014	El Nio	El Ingls
2015	Bolden!	Judge Perry
2016	Bilal	Umayya	Voice
2016	Grimsby		Post-production
2016	John Wick 2	Winston	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	You Can't Win	Joe Lunn	7 episodes
1967	Wuthering Heights	Heathcliff	4 episodes
1972	Whose Life Is It Anyway?	Ken Harrison	Television play
1975	Space: 1999	Anton Zoref	Episode: "Force of Life"
1975	The Lives of Jenny Dolan	Saunders	Television film
1976	The Fantastic Journey	Sir James Camden	Episode: "The Fantastic Journey" (Pilot Film)
1977	Roots	Sir Eric Russell	Episode: "Part Nine"
1977	Jesus of Nazareth	Judas Iscariot	2 episodes
1978	Will Shakespeare	Christopher Marlowe	Episode: "Dead Shepherd"
1978	Disraeli	Benjamin Disraeli	4 episodes
1978	The Pirate	Rashid	Television film
1980	Armchair Thriller	Curtis	4 episodes
1981-1982	Magnum, P.I.	David Norman / Edwin Clutterbuck	2 episodes
1982	Marco Polo	Ali Ben Yussouf	2 episodes
1983	Bare Essence	Niko Theophilus	11 episodes
1983	Grace Kelly	Prince Rainier of Monaco	Television film
1985	Evergreen	Paul Lerner	3 episodes
1985	A.D.	Sejanus	5 episodes
1985	Braker	Alan Roswell	Television film
1986	American Playhouse	Willy Wax	Episode: "Rocket to the Moon"
1986-1994	Lovejoy	Lovejoy	73 episodes
1987	Miami Vice	Esteban Montoya	Episode: "Knock, Knock... Who's There?"
1988	War and Remembrance	Philip Rule	8 episodes
1989	Dallas	Don Lockwood	13 episodes
1989	Minder	Jack Last	Episode: "The Last Video Show"
1989	Miami Vice	Gen. Manuel Borbon	Episode: "Freefall"
1989	Dick Francis Mysteries - Blood Sport	David Cleveland	Television film
1989	Dick Francis Mysteries - Twice Shy	David Cleveland	Television film
1990	Perry Mason	Andre Marchand	Television film
1990	Columbo	Leland St. John	Episode: "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"
1996	Madson	John Madson	6 episodes
1997	The Naked Truth	Leland Banks	2 episodes
2002	The West Wing	Nikolai Ivanovich	Episode: "Enemies Foreign and Domestic"
2002	In Deep	Jamie Lamb	2 episodes
2003	Trust	Alan Cooper-Fozzard	6 episodes
2003	The Twilight Zone	Dr. Chandler	Episode: "Cold Fusion"
2004-2006	Deadwood	Al Swearengen	36 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated"?Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
2008	SpongeBob SquarePants	Gordon	Voice Episode: "Dear Vikings"
2009	Kings	King Silas Benjamin	12 episodes
2010	The Pillars of the Earth	Waleran Bigod	8 episodes Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated"?Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
2010	Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special	Tai Lung	Voice Television film
2012	American Horror Story: Asylum	Leigh Emerson	2 episodes
2015	Ray Donovan	Andrew Finney	9 episodes
2016	Game of Thrones