Ian McShane
Born
September 29, 1942
Episode appearances
36 episodes
Ian David McShane (born September 29, 1942) is a British actor who portrayed Al Swearengen in HBO's Deadwood Deadwood: The Movie Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock ) were also listed as Executive Producers for the latter. McShane won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama and a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama for his role on the show, and furthermore was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award , a Satellite Award , a TCA and two Screen Actors Guild Awards .
Biography [ ] McShane was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the only child of Irene (née Cowley; born 1921) and professional footballer Harry McShane (1920–2012). His father was Scottish, from Holytown, Lanarkshire, and his mother, who was born in England, was of Irish and English descent. McShane grew up in Davyhulme in Lancashire (now part of Greater Manchester), and attended Stretford Grammar School. After being a member of the National Youth Theatre, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), alongside Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. McShane shared a flat with Hurt, whom he called his "oldest friend in the business", and was still a student at RADA when he appeared (along with Hurt) in his first film The Wild and the Willing (1962).[1]
He is known for his television performances, particularly the title role in the BBC series Lovejoy (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in Deadwood (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and currently portrays Mr. Wednesday in American Gods (2017–present). His film roles include Harry Brown in The Wild and the Willing (1962), Charlie Cartwright in If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), Wolfe Lissner in Villain (1971), Teddy Bass in Sexy Beast (2000), Frank Powell in Hot Rod (2007), Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda (2008), Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), and Winston in the John Wick film series (2014–2019).[1]
Credits [ ] Season 1 [ ] Season 2 [ ] Season 3 [ ] Movie [ ] Filmography [ ] Films [ ]
Young and Willing as Harry Brown (1962) The Pleasure Girls as Keith Dexter (1965) Gypsy Girl as Roibin (1966) If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium as Charlie Cartwright (1969) Battle of Britain as Sgt. Pilot Andy (1969) Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You as Fred C. Dobbs (1970) Performance as Noel (voice) (1970) Tam Lin as Tom Lynn (1970) Villain as Wolfe Lissner (1971) Sitting Target as Birdy Williams (1972) Left Hand of Gemini (1972) The Last of Sheila as Anthony (1973) The Terrorists as Petrie (1974) Journey Into Fear as Banat (1975) The Lives of Jenny Dolan as Saunders (TV Movie, 1975) Code Name: Diamond Head as Sean Donovan / Father Horton / Colonel Millard Butler (TV Movie, 1977) A Month in the Country as Beliayev (TV Movie, 1977) The Great Riviera Bank Robbery as The Brain (1979) The Fifth Musketeer as Fouquet (1979) Yesterday's Hero as Rod Turner (1979) Cheaper to Keep Her as Dr. Alfred Sunshine (1980) The Letter as Geoff (TV Movie, 1982) Freelance as Mitch (1982) Exposed as Greg Miller (1983) Ordeal by Innocence as Philip Durrant (1984) Torchlight as Sidney (1984) Too Scared to Scream as Vincent Hardwick (1984) Braker as Alan Roswell (TV Movie, 1985) The Murders in the Rue Morgue as Prefect of Police (TV Movie, 1986) Grand Larceny as Flanagan (TV Movie, 1987) The Great Escape II: The Untold Story as Roger Bushell (TV Movie, 1988) Chain Letter as The Messenger of Death (TV Movie, 1988) Dick Francis: Blood Sport as David Cleveland (TV Movie, 1989) Dick Francis: In the Frame as David Cleveland (TV Movie, 1989) Dick Francis: Twice Shy as David Cleveland (TV Movie, 1989) Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception as Andre Marchand (TV Movie, 1990) White Goods as Ian Deegan (TV Movie, 1994) Soul Survivors as Otis Cooke (TV Movie, 1995) Babylon 5: The River of Souls as Robert Bryson, Ph.D. (TV Movie, 1998) D.R.E.A.M. Team as Oliver Maxwell (TV Movie, 1999) Sexy Beast as Teddy Bass (2000) Man and Boy as Marty Mann (TV Movie, 2002) Bollywood Queen as Frank (2002) Agent Cody Banks as Brinkman (2003) Nemesis Game as Jeff Novak (2003) Nine Lives as Larry (2005) Scoop as Joe Strombel (2006) We Are Marshall as Paul Griffen (2006) Shrek the Third as Captain Hook (voice) (2007) Hot Rod as Frank Powell (2007) The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising as Merriman Lyon (2007) The Golden Compass as Ragnar Sturlusson (voice) (2007) Kung Fu Panda as Tai Lung (voice) (2008) Death Race as Coach (2008) Coraline as Mr. Sergei Alexander Bobinsky / Other Bobinsky (voice) (2009) Case 39 as Detective Barron (2009) 44 Inch Chest as Meredith (2009) The Sorcerer's Apprentice as Narrator (2010) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as Blackbeard (2011) Snow White and the Huntsman as Beith (2012) Jack the Giant Slayer as King Brahmwell (2013) Cuban Fury as Ron Parfitt (2014) Hercules as Amphiaraus (2014) El nino as Inglés (2014) John Wick as Winston (2014) Bilal: A New Breed of Hero as Umayya (voice) (2015) The Brothers Grimsby as MI6 Spy Boss (2016) The Hollow Point as Leland (2016) John Wick: Chapter 2 as Winston (2017) Jawbone as Joe Padgett (2017) Pottersville as Bart (2017) A Wizard's Tale as The Grump (voice) (2018) Hellboy as Professor Broom (2019) Bolden as Judge Perry (2019) John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum as Winston (2019) Deadwood: The Movie as Al Swearengen (TV Movie, 2019) My Father's Dragon as Saiwa (voice) (2022) John Wick: Chapter 4 as Winston (2023)
TV Series [ ]
First Night as Max (1963) Z Cars as Barry Hepworth (1964) Love Story as George Mason (1964) The Sullavan Brothers as David Hemming (1964) Redcap as Sapper Russell (1964) You Can't Win as Joe Lunn (1966) Armchair Theatre as Geoffrey / Roddy Cain (1962, 1966) ITV Play of the Week as Mick / Frank Barnes / Arthur / Alan Gauge (1963-1964, 1966) The Wednesday Play as Frank (1966) Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff (1967) Rogues' Gallery as David Garrick (1969) ITV Sunday Night Theatre as Ken Harrison / David Garrick (1969, 1972) ITV Playhouse as Derek / Tom / Caulfield (1968, 1970, 1974) Space: 1999 as Anton Zoref (1975) Matt Helm as Paul (1975) Police Woman as Dan Markson (1975) Most Wanted as Colin Wyatt (1976) Roots as Sir Eric Russell (1977) The Fantastic Journey as Sir James Camden (1977) Jesus of Nazareth as Judas Iscariot (1977) Will Shakespeare as Christopher Marlowe (1978) Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic as Benjamin Disraeli (1978) The Pirate as Rashid (1978) Armchair Thriller as Curtis (1980) Magnum, P.I. as Edwin Clutterbuck / David Norman (1981-1982) The Quest (1982) Marco Polo as Ali Ben Yussouf (1982) Grace Kelly as Prince Rainier of Monaco (1983) Bare Essence as Niko Theophilus (1983) A.D. as Sejanus (1985) Evergreen as Paul Lerner (1985) American Playhouse as Willy Wax (1986) CBS Summer Playhouse as Marbury (1987) The Dirty Dozen as Lindberger (1988) Minder as Jack Last (1989) Young Charlie Chaplin as Charles Chaplin Snr (1989) War and Remembrance as Philip Rule (1988-1989) Dallas as Don Lockwood (1989) Miami Vice as Gen. Manuel Borbon / Esteban Montoya (1987, 1989) Columbo as Leland St. John (1990) Chillers as Steven Castle (1990) Lovejoy as Lovejoy (1986-1994) Madson as John Madson (1996) The Naked Truth as Leland Banks (1997) Thieves as Jack (2001) In Deep as Jamie Lamb (2002) The West Wing as Russian Negotiator Nikolai Ivanovich (2002) Trust as Alan Cooper-Fozzard (2003) The Twilight Zone as Chandler (2003) Deadwood as Al Swearengen (2004-2006) SpongeBob SquarePants as Gordon (voice) (2008) Kings as King Silas Benjamin (2009) The Pillars of the Earth as Waleran Bigod (2010) American Horror Story as Leigh Emerson (2012) Ray Donovan as Andrew Finney (2015) Doctor Thorne as Sir Roger Scatcherd (2016) Game of Thrones as Brother Ray (2016) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sir Tobias Moore (2019) American Gods as Mr. Wednesday (2017-2021) The Simpsons as Artemis (voice) (2021) One Piece as Narrator (voice) (2023)
Video Games [ ] John Wick Hex as Winston (voice) (2019) External Links [ ] Sources [ ] 
