Who played Gandalf the Gray?

Answer 1

---- Gandalf is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth stories. He is a Maia, a minor god or angel. In the Third Age, he and a few others like him were sent on a mission to help the peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron. For this mission they have been given the shape of old men. In Middle-earth this group is known as the Istari, and mortals have called them "wizards". ---- One of the wizards from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He is the one who sets them on their quest and protects them along the way. He first appears in the Hobbit, leading the dwarves to Bilbo's door and coaxes Billbo to leave the shire to help free the lonely mountain from the dragon. In the LOTR series he sacrifices his life while fighting the Balrog in the Mines but is sent back in the second novel as Gandalf The White. Gandalf represents the good magic used to help others while Sauromon, his old friend and ally is the embodiment of evil magic used for selfish goals. It is said that Gandalf was a kind of angel, he is a member of the council and if things had have gone as planned he would have headed the council. ----

Gandalf is not a mortal, nor a human, nor a "wizard" of the generic fantasy spellcasting type. (In Tolkien's world, "generic fantasy wizards" with spells, and magic tomes and potions do not exist.)

Gandalf is a Maia, a minor god or angel, created before the creation of the phsical world. He is naturally incorporeal, but can take on any form. He and a few others have been sent on a mission to help the peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron, a mission for which they have been clothed and bound in the form of old men; they are called the Istari, and mortals have called them "wizards".

Gandalf, in his current form of an old man, arrived in Middle-earth in the 11th century T.A. The physical body he has been clothed in limits him, his power and knowledge, but it does not really age. How we get to see him in the LotR has been his appearance for the past two thousand years.
Gandalf Greyhame is the wizard who later in The Two Towers becomes Gandalf the White. He is a friend of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.

Answer 2

Yes, pretty much. He belongs to a race called the Istari, commonly referred to as 'wizards'. They look like men, and feel the same feelings and desires as man, and their goal is to guide and lead by example rather than by dominance. But they are in fact spirits called Maiar, which exist to serve the greater 'Valar' (delegates to the creator himself) in shaping the world. Five Maiar were given human form, sent as agents to help guide the races of the world into opposing Sauron.

Answer 3

Sir Ian McKellen.