Ian McShane

By FocusFeatures.com  | January 21, 2009 @ 08:55 am

Ian McShane recently starred on Broadway in Daniel Sullivan’s staging of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming, for which he shared with his fellow actors a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.

His potent portrayal of Al Swearengen on the television series Deadwood earned him a Golden Globe Award and a Television Critics Association Award, as well as Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Mr. McShane is currently at work on the new NBC series Kings, in which he stars as King Silas. His upcoming movies are Christian Alvart’s Case 39 (opposite Renée Zellweger and Jodelle Ferland); and Malcolm Venville’s 44 Inch Chest (with John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Tom Wilkinson, and Ray Winstone).

His many other film credits include Paul W.S. Anderson’s Death Race; Woody Allen’s Scoop (also for Focus Features); McG’s We Are Marshall; Rodrigo García’s Nine Lives (in the segment with Sissy Spacek and Amanda Seyfried); Harald Zwart’s Agent Cody Banks; Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast; James Toback’s Exposed; Herbert Ross’ The Last of Sheila; Michael Tuchner’s Villain (opposite Richard Burton); Caspar Wrede’s The Terrorists (opposite Sean Connery); and Guy Hamilton’s Battle of Britain.

Additionally, Mr. McShane was memorably heard in voiceover roles in two hit animated features. In Chris Miller and Raman Hui’s Shrek the Third, he played Captain Hook; more recently, in Mark Osborne and John Stevenson’s Kung Fu Panda, he played the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung.

Born in Blackburn, England, he has enjoyed a long career in both Britain and America. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and promptly made his film debut in Ralph Thomas’ The Wild and the Willing.

Mr. McShane has starred in several classic television miniseries. These include Roots; Jesus of Nazareth (in which he portrayed Judas Iscariot, under Franco Zeffirelli’s direction); Disraeli (in the title role, under Claude Whatham’s direction); Wuthering Heights (as Heathcliff, under Peter Sasdy’s direction); Fielder Cook’s Evergreen; and Dan Curtis’ War and Remembrance.

In the late 1980s, he formed McShane Productions. The company made the series Lovejoy, in which he starred as the title character. Mr. McShane also directed several episodes of the globally popular comedy/drama. McShane Productions subsequently made the telefilm Soul Survivors and the dramatic series Madson, both of which starred Mr. McShane.

In addition to the aforementioned The Homecoming, his many stage credits include the original production of Joe Orton’s Loot; Promise, with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen; The Witches of Eastwick (as Darryl Van Horne); The Glass Menagerie (as Tom Wingfield); and two productions for which he was honored with the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, Betrayal and Inadmissible Evidence.