Queen Dubs Jethro Tull’s Anderson MBE
Ian Anderson, the flute player who fronts the rock band Jethro Tull and a man your Editor once shared an Indian dinner with, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.
Sir Ian McKellen - Gandalf to “Lord of the Rings” fans - has joined the elite circle of Britain’s Companions of Honor. Companion of Honour is the top of the heap in the British system, limited to 65 living people. It adds to a sack of honours collected by McKellen, whose recent work has ranged from “King Lear” to the TV soap opera “Coronation Street.”
McKellen, 68, earned a Tony Award for “Amadeus” on Broadway; Olivier awards for “Pillars of the Community,” “Bent,” “Wild Honey” and “Richard III;” a Screen Actors Guild award for “The Fellowship of the Ring” and a Golden Globe for “Rasputin.”
He was nominated for a best-actor Academy Award in 1998 for his portrayal of director James Whale in “Gods and Monsters,” and for supporting actor in 2001 for Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
He was knighted in 1991 after being made CBE in 1979.
Stan Tracey, who has been called “the godfather of British jazz,” was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE.
Richard Griffiths, whose film career extends from Uncle Monty in “Withnail & I” to Uncle Vernon in the “Harry Potter” series, got an OBE.
The honours are bestowed by the Queen, but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.