Sir Ian McKellen, 83, and a very cosy New Year with his panto co-star, 29
SIR Ian McKellen has struck up a warm off- stage relationship with the actor playing his son in panto.
The star saw in the New Year with Oscar Conlon-Morrey, who is 54 years his junior.
The younger actor is appearing alongside the six-time Olivier Award-winner in the much-lauded show Mother Goose at the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End.
Sir Ian, 83, is Mother Goose and Mr Conlon-Morrey, 29, plays his son Jack.
Conlon-Morrey announced to his 15,500 followers on Twitter yesterday: ‘Happy New Year! I saw in 2023 at the house of the new love of my life.’ He finished the message with a heart emoji.
The post was accompanied by a photograph of the two men smiling at the camera,
‘The new love of my life’
Happy New Year! I saw in 2023 at the house of the new love of my life.
their arms around each other’s shoulders.
It is not clear whether the relationship is platonic or romantic. Friends of Conlon-Morrey have been congratulating the actor, who has also appeared in the stage production of Only Fools And Horses and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Earlier this month, he complained on social media about being single, tweeting: ‘I need a boyfriend, purely so he can cuddle me and bring me Baileys whilst I sob uncontrollably at Call The Midwife.’
In another post he revealed: ‘A friend just said that if I want to meet someone I need to go clubbing! I fear this won’t bode well, if in year[s] to come the man I meet wants to get wrecked on a Saturday night and dance to pop music and all I want is to sit on the sofa watching the Cash In The Attic omnibus.’
Sir Ian came out as gay in 1988 and has become a distinguished advocate and campaigner for LGBTQ rights. His first partner was history teacher Brian Taylor, with whom he had a relationship from 1964 to 1972. From 1978 to 1988 he dated Welsh actor and director Sean Mathias, now 66. Sir Ian was in Laurence Olivier’s company at the Old Vic but is perhaps now best known for playing the wizard Gandalf in the film versions of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit.
He was nominated for an Oscar in 2002 for The Fellowship Of The Ring, having already been nominated for one three years earlier for Gods And Monsters.
The star is well known to younger fans as the mutant Magneto in the X-Men film franchise. On stage, the renowned Shakespearean
actor portrayed Hamlet in an ‘age-blind’ production of the play last year.
His turn as Mother Goose – in a production that also stars comedian and TV presenter John Bishop – has won acclaim.
One critic wrote: ‘Ian McKellen... darts about in gorgeous frocks in a way that suggests he’s waited a lifetime for this role. He probably has. Despite being a giant of the stage, playing Lear and Hamlet in the past few years, McKellen has done relatively few pantomimes, and none for over 15 years. It’s joyous seeing him have so much fun;
his energy seems derived from the audience, working like some kind of endothermic reaction.’
The Mail’s critic Luke Jones noted: ‘The old ham is fantastic. Hair full of rollers, a voice of rattling thunder, chunky pearls, and a bosom that could interfere with tides.’
The pantomime, which has been running at the Duke of York’s since December 15, ends on January 29, after which it will go on tour across the UK.
Representatives for Sir Ian and Conlon-Morrey did not respond to requests for comment.