Ian McKellen, 85, Won’t Return to Tour After Falling on Stage

The famed British actor Ian McKellen , of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, won’t be returning to the stage for the remainder of his Player Kings tour in the U.K. because he’s still recovering from injuries he sustained in a mid-performance fall last month, he announced. That tumble, which led him to be hospitalized, came after he mistakenly stepped off the front of a London stage during a fight scene on June 17—a fall that left him with unspecified injuries. In a statement, the 85-year-old said he was disappointed to miss out on the next round of shows in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich, and Newcastle. “Two weeks after my accident onstage, my injuries improve day by day,” he said. “It’s with the greatest reluctance that I have accepted the medical advice to protect my full recovery by not working in the meantime.” McKellen still urged show-goers to attend the performances, which are an edition of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV , despite his absence. He added that those performing in his stead would still be “as dazzling as ever.”

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