The biography of Briton Ian McShane began on September 29, 1942, in the city of Blackburn, located on the territory of the ceremonial English county of Lancashire.
As a child, a boy raised in a family of Scottish and Irish nationality, along with his parents, he wanted to devote his life to sports. The reason for this desire was the football career of Harry McShane's father, who played for the Manchester United football team and sincerely hoped that his son would continue his work and become an outstanding attacker or goalkeeper.
However, training with the ball was of little interest to the young Ian, but, not wanting to disappoint the parent, the boy continued to work on his speed and endurance. At the same time, in the secondary school at Stanford, young McShane attended acting classes and enjoyed playing small roles in student performances.
As a result, the father, who watched his son's theatrical successes, agreed to continue his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and sincerely rejoiced at the success of his debut work in the movie called The Wild and Willing.
Performing main roles in the years of study at the university, Ian decided not to stop and, to the detriment of education, began to regularly appear on the British TV shows. And when only a month remained before getting a diploma, the young man stopped attending classes, devoting all his time to film and theater career.
Ian McShane Career
In the late 1960s, after roles in the drama “The Pleasure Girls” and “Sky West and Crooked”, a young actor was talked about, and, in a short period of time, he appeared on the big screen in several films by leading English directors.
The most remembered works were the images of an armed terrorist and a gangster in “Freelance” and “Villain”, released on the screens in the early 1970s. The audience fell in love with McShane, entrenched in the role of a scoundrel, and began to expect him to appear in all sorts of thrillers and action movies.
However, such projects were not typical for the British film industry of that time, and Ian set off to conquer Hollywood in search of popularity. The directors at first cautiously reacted to the charismatic Englishman and offered him only occasional appearances in films and television series.
McShane, who had the role of the traitor Judas Iscariot and the ambiguous politician Benjamin Disraeli, had to work hard before getting a job in the drama called “The Last of Sheila” and “Ransom”.
However, these projects of the American entertainment industry did not bring satisfaction to the actor, and he decided to take advantage of the offer of British producers and joined the film crew of the comedy-detective series “Lovejoy”. Thanks to the story of the main character - a crook, Ian gained international fame and founded his own company called McShane Productions.
Then, the actor’s career had skyrocketed. In 2000, he got a role in Jonathan Glazer’s thriller “Sexy Beast”. Having played the brutal crime boss of Teddy Bass, McShane experienced a new surge in popularity and continued to cultivate his own success in the American television project Deadwood, presented to viewers in 2004.
At the same time, Ian's filmography was replenished with the films Nine Lives, Scoop, We Are Marshall and The Golden Compass. The experiments continued with the action film “Death Race” with Jason Staten and voicing the villain Tai Lung in the animated film “Kung Fu Panda”.
The experience gained subsequently helped McShane to get the role of Blackbeard in the adventure blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and take part in the 2nd season of the famous TV project of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk “American Horror Story”.
The success of the films like “Snow White and the Huntsman”, “Jack is the Giant Slayer” and “Hercules” pushed Ian’s career even further.
It is not surprising that the creators of the world-famous series “Game of Thrones” noticed the talent of Ian and invited him to join the cast of the project in the 6th season where he got the role of Ray.
And in 2017, McShane got the main role in the television series “American Gods”, based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman. In the mythic story, Ian played Mr. Wednesday, who became the embodiment of Odin.
The mythical characters involved in the conflict between old and new deities and McShane great performance brought the show so much popularity with critics and the public that, at the end of the filming of the 1st season, it was decided to continue the series.
Ian McShane Wife
In his youth, Ian, who received unlimited attention from women along with popularity, did not think about marriage and family but enjoyed a life full of entertainment and pernicious addictions. The British actress Susan Farmer, with whom McShane met on the set of a movie, persuaded him to formalize a relationship and play a wedding with a lot of guests.
Ian McShane and Susan Farmer
The actor saw this as just another adventure and in 1965 agreed to get married. During the 3 years spent together, the couple realized their own mistake and, having no strength to continue coexisting, decided to divorce. There were no good morning messages and lots of romance going on, they both agreed that it was a mistake. Ian spent a couple of years alone and then married Ruth Post, who preferred a peaceful lifestyle and soon after the wedding became the mother of two children.
The lack of thrill Ian compensated for a stormy romance with sexy beauty Sylvia Kristel, the main character of the five out of seven Emmanuelle films. This relationship put an end to family happiness and ended a few years later.
In 1980, Gwen Humble appeared in the personal life of Ian, while working with the actor on the set of the British TV series Lovejoy. Thanks to marriage with this patient and kind woman, Ian settled down and stopped consuming alcohol and illicit drugs.
This union brought happiness to both spouses, and, despite the busy work schedule, they now lead a measured life, traveling between houses located in London and Los Angeles.
Ian McShane Now
In 2019, fans of Ian McShane were pleased with quite a few movies that included Ian. In April, the fantastic movie “Hellboy” came out and the first episodes of the continuation of the series “American Gods” were shown, and sometime later, he also appeared in “John Wick 3”. He starred in all of the John Wick movies.
In addition, in the near future, viewers of the cable channel HBO will be able to watch the full-length version of the television project “Deadwood”, which tells a story of the unknown events in the life of the central character Al Swearengen, played by McShane.
Nothing is known about the latest events in the actor’s personal life because neither he nor her spouse has open accounts on Instagram and other social networks, they don’t like journalists either.
Ian McShane Net Worth
Estimated Net Worth of Ian McShane is $8.660.440
