Reception and Legacy
Gandalf was chosen by Mary Hoffman as one of her favourite fictional characters, saying he was "the best white wizard in fiction".
Ian McKellen has received widespread acclaim for his performance as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, particularly in The Fellowship of the Ring, for which he received both a Screen Actors Guild Award and Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as an Academy Award nomination under the same category (making him the only individual cast member of the films to be nominated for an Oscar). In addition, Empire named him the 28th greatest movie character of all time.
Gandalf's name is occasionally used allusively to indicate a wise mentor or wizard-like advisor. For example, British politician Oliver Letwin has been called "the Gandalf of the process" of policy formation for the Conservative Party under David Cameron.
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