The Oxford community has sent its best wishes to Sir Ian McKellen after the iconic actor fell off a theatre stage during a Monday performance. 

Sir Ian is a patron of Oxford Pride and played a key role in the creation of the local festivities, and the organisers have sent their support to the 85-year-old. 

Sir Ian fell during a fight scene at the Noel Coward Theatre in London, and is now recovering - with the Tuesday, June 18, performance of Player Kings cancelled. 

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The Lord of the Rings and X-Men star is expected to return to the theatre on Wednesday night where he will continue his role as John Falstaff. 

A spokesperson for Oxford Pride said: "The Oxford Pride team were saddened to hear about Sir Ian McKellen’s accident when performing in London last night.

"As a patron to Oxford Pride, a long-time champion of LGBTQIA+ causes and a much-loved member of our community, we are sending Sir Ian our best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery." 

Sir Ian McKellen Sir Ian wrote the foreword in the 2024 Oxford Pride guide and described how the first annual celebration was held in May 2003 with Paul O'Grady, Peter Tatchell and Sir Ian himself as patrons. 

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Sir Ian wrote: "By 2008, we added the parade through the city, and then a week-long festival became part of the annual celebrations. 

"We became a charity in 2012, supporting different groups in Oxfordshire and donating as much surplus as we could to other charities and networks, such as Ark T, a young arts project, Witney Pride, Topaz, and others along the way. 

"In 2015, Pride moved into the heart of the city, in the grounds of the Castle Quarter and Oxford Prison, gained Lord Cashman as a new patron, and, in 2019, added a second community stage championing local talent and acts. 

"Last year we celebrated 20 years, and we are looking to move again in 2026 to a larger site, as we have outgrown our current location." 

As patron of Oxford Pride, Sir Ian said he was proud of the city's past and to be in a city "where we feel welcome and appreciated". 

He apologised that he could not attend this year's events due to work commitments. 

The Player Kings production has been on at the Noel Coward Theatre on the West End since April 1 and will continue until June 22 before the play travels to Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle throughout July. 

The play, adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke, is a new version of Shakespeare's Henry IV - bringing together two plays, parts one and two. 

Oxford Union, where Sir Ian has spoken in the past, has been contacted for comment.