Unable to resist his seduction, the women whose hearts he crushed referred to him as the devil incarnate. Ian McShane was called the “sexiest TV villain” by the American magazine “People” in 2005. Based on his career, it is evident that he is most comfortable playing villains and scoundrels.
Even though McShane made his film debut in 1962 at the age of 20, and he went on to become well-known in his home country of Britain throughout the years, Hollywood didn’t start to take notice of him until much later. Ian gave the theater a lot of his time and energy; he performed all over Broadway and won several renowned theatrical prizes.
He was also known for being an actual heartbreaker. At the age of 23, he tied the knot for the first time with actress Suzanne Farmer, whom he had met while working on the set of “The Wild and the Willing.” Nevertheless, the couple’s marriage was short-lived, as they divorced after only three years.
He married Ruth Post a few years later, and the two had a boy named Morgan and a daughter named Kate. Even yet, after six years of marriage, they decided to call it quits.
Rumor has it that Ian’s intense relationship with the alluring Sylvia Kristel—star of sexual films and well-known as “Emmanuelle”—was the cause of their split.
Their tragic encounter occurred on the set of “The Fifth Musketeer,” as their romance resembled a volcano and they were both overcome with love. Sylvia thought back with nostalgia on her friendship with McShane. But Ian was never able to commit to one woman for very long, and he quickly broke up with Sylvia as well. He threw himself into an extravagant life filled with drinking, many partners, and reckless living. His career started to suffer as a result of this way of living, and casting directors started to avoid him.
The 2000s were the pinnacle of his artistic abilities as a worldwide celebrity. He won a Golden Globe for his outstanding portrayal of bar owner Al Swearengen in the television series “Deadwood.” In addition, he portrayed Winston in the action movie “John Wick,” Amphiaraus in “Hercules,” Blackbeard in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and Mr. Wednesday in the television series “American Gods.”
