Sir Ian McKellen today revealed he is having ‘physiotherapy, light exercise and a lot of essential rest at home’ after three nights in hospital following a fall from the stage during a production of Player Kings.
The veteran screen and stage actor, 85, was performing at the Noel Coward Theatre when he lost his footing in a fight scene and fell from the stage.
After the accident, he was taken to hospital to receive treatment and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s performances were cancelled to allow him to rest. His understudy will now take his place in tonight’s show.
Sir Ian said in a statement: ‘After three nights in hospital, the effects of my fall onstage have been fully analysed and I’m now having physiotherapy, light exercise and a lot of essential rest at home.
‘Meanwhile, my part in Player Kings is filled by the redoubtable David Semark supported by Robert Icke’s amazing production and cast. The many messages of love and support will, I am sure, aid the speedy recovery that my doctors have promised me.’
A post on the Player Kings X account said: ‘David Semark will be playing the role of Sir John Falstaff for the final three scheduled performances of Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre in London while Ian McKellen recuperates following his fall on Monday 17 June.’
It added: ‘We look forward to Ian returning to the production, which begins a national tour in Bristol on Wednesday 3 July, before visiting Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle.’
The final London performances are taking place today, Friday and Saturday.
Following his fall, The Lord Of The Rings star and Olivier Award winner said he was ‘hugely indebted’ to the medical staff who have assured him his recovery will be ‘complete and speedy’.
‘I want to thank everyone for their kind messages and support.
‘Since the accident, during a performance of Player Kings last night, my injuries have been diagnosed and treated by a series of experts, specialists and nurses working for the National Health Service.
‘To them, of course, I am hugely indebted. They have assured me that my recovery will be complete and speedy and I am looking forward to returning to work.’
Sir Ian – who plays John Falstaff in the play – was circling a battle scene involving the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy, when he tripped and fell off the stage.
As the house lights came up, the actor known for Lord Of The Rings and X-Men cried out in pain as ushers and two medics in the audience rushed to help him.
Charlie Johnson, a journalist for the Kingston Courier who was in the audience, told ITV: ‘As we approached the interval of the play, there was a fight scene going on.
‘There were strobe lights and then it all went dark, at which point you could see the silhouette of Sir Ian come out from the wings. And the way the stage works at the Noel Coward is there’s sort of a step down just as the stage meets the audience.
‘I think what happened was he put his foot too far, sort of went off that initial step, at which point he lost his balance and pretty much just went head first into the audience.
‘And within seconds a blood-curdling scream arose from the actor. He was clearly in a lot of pain, he was screaming ”help me”.’
Kol Baker, who was watching the show from the second tier, told that Sir Ian had been ‘berating the villain and moving around’ during the scene when he ‘tripped over’ some props and fell off the stage ‘in almost a belly flop fashion’.
‘Instantly he screamed and honestly the noises were bone-chilling,’ the 23-year-old added – as he recalled Sir Ian yelling ‘help me, help me’ followed by ‘my arms, my arms’ and ‘help me, help me’ again.
‘The lights were on so quickly the curtains drawn and within seconds they asked to evacuate the whole auditorium. Whilst leaving the theatre within ten minutes he was in the back of an ambulance speeding down Trafalgar Square.’
Describing what caused the actor to fall, he explained: ‘The scene in question was a warzone so there was broken up bricks and daggers from the battle and the set which was all torn up for that scene.’
He said there was ‘so much concern and shock for Sir Ian’, adding: ‘Everyone I think is just such huge fans of his work and just really empathetic and almost terrified that it could be life-threatening because of his age.’
Mr Baker said that Sir Ian had been ‘performing amazingly with great vigour’ before he fell.
When asked how the audience reacted, the theatregoer added: ‘Instantly people were standing up, the first two rows completely went to rush to go help Sir Ian and everyone was explaining ‘oh my god’ and ‘that poor man’.
‘It was very sincere and so much concern for his well-being,’ he added. ‘He had made everyone laugh so much this evening.’
Many in the audience shared their shock at the incident on social media.
Paul Critchley, a Methodist minister from Downham Market, Norfolk, said: ‘Sir Ian seemed to trip as he moved downstage to take a more active part in the scene.
‘He picked up momentum as he moved downstage which resulted in him falling off the stage directly in front of the audience.
‘The house lights came up very quickly as the stage management and front of house team dealt with the incident. We were evacuated immediately so that Sir Ian could be treated in privacy.
‘An announcement was made by theatre management that the show had been cancelled, that Sir Ian was receiving treatment and an ambulance had been called.
‘It was a shock to witness his fall and I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with his fellow cast members, stage crew and front of house team at the Noel Coward Theatre.’
Others expressed their horror online. One tweeted: ‘Just witnessed an awful accident with Sir Ian McKellen tripping off the stage in London. He seems badly hurt. We are all in shock and tears.’
Sir Ian, who now lives in Limehouse, was born in Burnley, Lancashire, in 1939 and, alongside his sister Jean, was raised by his mother Margery and his father Denis.
He has often credited his parents for encouraging his interest in becoming a performer, previously claiming in a 2017 interview with the Irish Examiner: ‘Apparently she said, ‘If Ian decides to be an actor, it’s a good job, because it brings pleasure to people’.’
His mother died when he was just 12 and he would lose his father at the age of 22.
Sir Ian acted at all the schools he attended. When at Bolton School he was able to take on his first Shakespeare performance at Hopefield Miniature Theatre when, as a 13-year-old Malvolio, he performed the letter scene from Twelfth Night.
He then won a scholarship to read English at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and was soon appearing in regular productions, including appearing alongside now famous alumni such as Derek Jacobi, David Frost and Margaret Drabble.
By the time Sir Ian graduated in 1961 he had decided to become an actor, and landed his first job in a production of A Man For All Seasons at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.
Since then, he has gone on to become a household name for his acclaimed performances in everything from Shakespearean tragedies to Hollywood blockbusters.
He shot to international acclaim for his film work, receiving an Academy Award nomination in 1998 for Best Actor after he starred in Gods and Monsters.
In 2019, the actor topped the The Stage 100 list of most influential people in British Theatre following his UK Tour of Ian McKellen on Stage.
Sir Ian was knighted in 1991 for services to theatre and was later appointed a Companion of Honour for services to drama and equality by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008.
Sir Ian has been nominated for 12 Olivier Awards and won six for his roles in Pillars Of The Community, The Alchemist, Bent, Wild Honey, Richard III and his one-man show Ian McKellen On Stage.
Over the past six decades, Sir Ian has taken on the role of almost every Shakespeare male protagonist – but he was ‘never attracted to’ playing the character of Falstaff until he was persuaded to by director Robert Icke.
After Player Kings’ run at the Noel Coward theatre, the show will tour the country. It is due to move to the Bristol Hippodrome in July and will also be staged in Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle.
The play brings together Shakespeare’s two history plays (Henry IV, parts 1 and 2) with the cast including Toheen Jimoh as Hal and Richard Coyle as King Henry IV.
In April, Sir Ian had to take drastic, and speedy, measures to ensure he made it across London in time for his daily performance of the show – riding on the back of a motorbike.
One source said at the time: ‘Sir Ian tried getting picked up by a car provided by theatre bosses but it took so long to get across town it was pointless.
‘One night it took him 90 minutes to get from his home. After that, it was decided a motorbike was the only option.’
He has also previously had to pull out of performances due to injuries.
In 2018, he had to apologise to theatre-goers after a leg injury forced him to pull out of a performance of King Lear. Sir Ian had been rushing to catch the train and pulled his calf muscle.
Last September, Sir Ian opened up about his life changing ‘overnight’ when he came out as gay 35 years ago. Very few people knew of his homosexuality at a young age, including his parents.
In 1988, he publicly came out on a BBC Radio 4 programme while discussing Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 legislation, which made the promotion of homosexuality as a family relationship by local authorities an offence.
He said of the law: ‘I think it’s offensive to anyone who is, like myself, homosexual, apart from the whole business of what can or cannot be taught to children.’ Section 28 was eventually fully repealed in 2003.
Sir Ian has spoken about his experiences on coming out on several occasions.
Back in July 2000, he wrote in The Independent: ‘The only good thing I can think to say about Section 28 is that it finally encouraged me to come out. A bit late in the day, but it remains the best thing I ever did.’
He told Variety about coming out in 1988: ‘Almost overnight everything in my life changed for the better – my relationships with people and my whole attitude toward acting changed.’
Sir Ian told how coming out actually had a huge impact on his acting work.
He explained: ‘The kind of acting that I had been good at was all about disguise – adopting funny voices and odd walks.
‘It was about lying to the world. I was no longer in the situation where I was running along beside the character explaining it to the audience. I just became the character.’
Then in 2015, he said that coming out actually made him a better performer, saying: ‘What happened immediately, according to friends, is I became not just a happier person, but a better actor.’
Ian also said he felt that it was difficult for non-gay people to relate to his struggle.
The veteran actor said: ‘People who are not gay just simply don’t know how it damages you to be lying about what you are and ashamed of yourself.
‘I was brought up at a time when it was illegal for me to have sex with a man. And that was not that long ago,’ he added.
He previously revealed how he had to ‘swear he wasn’t gay’ in order to work on Broadway in the 1960s.
Just last week, Sir Ian made headlines after he took a swipe at former US president Donald Trump – accusing him of being ‘one of the worst public speakers there has ever been’.
He told The Times: ‘Trump is an absolute bewilderment. I haven’t seen him live. But he’s one of the worst public speakers there has ever been. Whether he’s reading a script or not, it’s so patent what he is.’