Ian McShane

Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, director, producer and voice artist.

Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly BBC’s Lovejoy and HBO’s drama series Deadwood. McShane 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 and footballer Harry McShane. His father was Scottish and his mother, who was born in England, was of Irish and English descent.

McShane grew up in Urmston, 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. He also was a member of National Youth Theatre.

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In 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 (as Heathcliff), If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (as Charlie), Jesus of Nazareth (as Judas Iscariot), and Disraeli—as well as films like Sky West and Crooked and Battle of Britain.

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.

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. In 1980, he married actress Gwen Humble. They live in the Venice Beach community of Los Angeles.