 McKellen and his first partner , Brian Taylor , a history teacher from Bolton , began their relationship in 1964 . Their relationship lasted for eight years , ending in 1972 . They lived in London , where McKellen continued to pursue his career as an actor . For over a decade , he has lived in a five @-@ story Victorian conversion in Narrow Street , Limehouse . In 1978 he met his second partner , Sean Mathias , at the Edinburgh Festival . This relationship lasted until 1988 . According to Mathias , the ten @-@ year love affair was tempestuous , with conflicts over McKellen 's success in acting versus Mathias 's somewhat less @-@ successful career . Mathias later directed McKellen in Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2009 . The pair entered into a business partnership with Evgeny Lebedev , purchasing the lease on The Grapes public house in Narrow Street . 
