FILM star and theatre actor Sir Ian McKellen has told how he loves performing in Brighton as he announced a return to the city as part of his 80th birthday tour.

The actor, who is best known for playing Shakespearean roles and as Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings films will celebrate turning 80 next May with an 80-date tour of theatres in major cities including the Theatre Royal in Brighton as well as the Minerva Theatre in Chichester.

He said: “I was first on stage at the Theatre Royal as Shakespeare’s Richard II, one of the parts I shall reprise in my new solo show of anecdote and acting. I’ve always relished playing in Brighton.”

He will visit Brighton in July with his show Ian McKellen On Stage, which will encompass his wide-ranging career and include anecdotes, acting and audience participation.

He said: “They will expect to see Gandalf, they will. They probably will expect Shakespeare, and there will be a lot of that. There will be other stuff, which will perhaps be more surprising.

“There will be a chance for me to tell a story or two and it will be different perhaps in each place I go to.”

Announcing the tour, Bolton-born Sir Ian will spend his 80th birthday at The Albert Halls Theatre in Bolton, where he spent his teenage years and first experienced the stage, and he will also appear at the Wigan Little Theatre, where he saw Shakespeare performed for the first time.

He said he saw no reason why some parts of the country should remain under-served while larger cities and London receive the best productions. “If I had had to have been dependent, when I was a boy, simply on a lot of wonderful theatre in London I would never have seen any theatre at all,” he said.

Ian McKellen On Stage will be at Theatre Royal Brighton from July 15-18 and at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester on April 5. Profits and Sir Ian’s wage from his show will go to the theatre, with the actor suggesting each space spend the money on whatever it needs, “whether it’s painting dressing rooms or new seats”.