Ian McKellen Not Dead: ‘Lord of the Rings’ Actor Is Still Alive

Ian McKellen, the star of Lord of the Rings, is still alive as of June 19. The death of McKellen’s Lord of the Rings co-star Ian Holm on June 19 led to confusion among movie fans.

Holm’s death was confirmed by the actor’s agent, according to The Guardian. Holm was 88 year old. His agent told the newspaper that Holm died after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. The actor, who also appeared in Alien, Chariots of Fire and Garden State, died at a hospital surrounded by his family.

There have been no reports from the United Kingdom, where McKellen, 81, is based, that the actor has died.

In July 2015, McKellen admitted in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he was suffering from memory loss and that he had trouble remembering lines. The actor, who was 76 at the time, said:

We all have limitations, don’t we, however old we are. But there are times in life when the memory really does get worse and the mind doesn’t work as it should. And if you were to get to the stage where you couldn’t remember anything at all, well, that would be very distressing. Fortunately, I’m not there yet.

In the same interview, McKellen joked that “age should come with a health warning.”

McKellen was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006. McKellen was quoted in his 2019 biography, Ian McKellen: A Biography, telling the Daily Mirror newspaper about the diagnosis:

When you have got it you monitor it and you have to be careful it doesn’t spread. But if it is contained in the prostate it’s no big deal.

You do gulp when you hear the news. It’s like when you go for an HIV test, you go ‘arghhh is this the end of the road?’

McKellen then joked that the interviewer was going to write that the actor was “decrepit,” “can’t see, “can’t pee” and is “having his teeth done.”

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