McKellen's modesty.When terrorists attacked on September 11, 2001, gay British actor Ian McKellen was working in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. rehearsing for his role as Helen Mirren's husband in the Broadway production of Dance of Death. In an Advocate cover story not long after that day, McKellen's calm--and perspective--was evident. The actor's close friend Armistead Maupin Armistead Jones Maupin Jr.[1] (born May 13 1944) is an American writer best known for his Tales of the City series of novels based in San Francisco. recalled his old chum's response when asked about his composure during 9/11: "Well, darling, you forget--I slept under a steel plate [during the Battle of Britain Battle of Britain, in World War II, series of air battles between Great Britain and Germany, fought over Britain from Aug. to Oct., 1940. As a prelude to a planned invasion of England, Germany attacked British coastal defenses, radar stations, and shipping. On Aug. ] until I was 4 years old." McKellen's earlier hardships--which included coming out publicly in Thatcher-era Britain--may have contributed to the knighted actor's self-effacing nature. Even as he was basking in the success of X-Men, where he played supervillain Magneto magneto: see generator. magneto Permanent-magnet alternating generator used mainly to produce electrical current for the ignition system in various types of internal-combustion engines, such as aircraft, marine, tractor, and motorcycle engines. , McKellen described himself as "just a gay man living in the world, really." |
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