Ian McShane's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Deadwood Al Swearengen Kings King Silas … The Pillars Of The Earth Waleran Lovejoy (UK) Lovejoy In Deep (UK) Jamie Lamb Trust (UK) Alan Cooper…

Main Movie Roles 2011 - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2010 - The Sorcerer's Apprentice 2009 - 44 Inch Chest 2009 - Coraline 2009 - Case 39 2008 - Kung Fu Panda 2008 - Death Race 2007 - The Golden Compass 2007 - The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising 2007 - Shrek The Third 2007 - Hot Rod 2006 - Scoop 2006 - We Are Marshall 2005 - Nine Lives 2003 - Agent Cody Banks 2003 - Nemesis Game 2002 - Bollywood Queen 2000 - Sexy Beast 1979 - The Fifth Musketeer 1973 - The Last of Sheila 1971 - Freelance 1971 - Villain 1969 - Battle of Britain 1969 - If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

BIOGRAPHY:

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 (I)'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 (I)'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), 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."


TRIVIA:

• Father was Harry McShane, the Manchester United footballer.
• 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)_ (qv).
• 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."
• Grew up in Manchester.
• Children: Kate (b. 1971), Morgan (b. 1975)