He said after: "Since coming out, I feel buoyant, self content and deeply happy … The way I want to try and help is to convince those of us who have been teetering on the edge and are ready to jump, that flying is a delightful experience."

In response to Section 28, McKellen co-founded the gay rights lobby group, Stonewall (www.stonewall.org.uk). The organisation has since continued to argue the case against the discriminatory clause, and lobbied successfully to equalise the UK's age of consent - now 16 for all.

In 1989, McKellen was knighted in recognition of his services to the British theatre and, ironically, for his work to overcome discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Criticised for accepting a knighthood from the same government which instigated Section 28, various gay and lesbian artists defended McKellen in an open letter printed in the Guardian: "We regard the knighthood as a significant landmark in the history of the British Gay Movement. Never again will public figures be able to claim that they have to keep secret their homosexuality in fear of it damaging their careers."

As well as a prodigious stage career, Ian McKellen has also appeared in many films, including Scandal, Richard III, Gods and Monsters and X-Men.

You can find out more about Ian McKellen from his official website: www.mckellen.com