"Lost" McKellen unearthed images

May 24, 2011 updated 13: 53 GMT Sir Ian McKellen was 25 when he made his first appearance of TV footage of the actor Sir Ian McKellen in his first TV role was found in the decades of U.S. after it was believed lost.

Actor veteran plays a character named Plowden in the 1964 BBC period drama the tomb of his ancestors.

The program, based on a short story of Rudyard Kipling, author of the Jungle thought is no longer to exist.

It is used as the BBC policy to delete records to recycle the expensive stock tape, as well as two of the original series of 25-party were known to exist.

"find Important.

A copy of the episode featuring Sir Ian was discovered in a collection private in Illinois and purchased by a consortium led by the classic organization of TV Kaleidoscope.

Chris Perry the company described the McKellen drama as a "significant find."

He said: "the tomb of his ancestors is a vintage of the drama of the BBC in the days of the British Empire and it is particularly important because of its connection with Sir Ian McKellen."

Sir Ian has made many appearances on television since its inception

"For the first time in nearly 50 years we can once more see the very first TV appearance by one of the largest players in the life of the United Kingdom.".

Mr. Perry added that Sir Ian had not been informed of the discovery, because he probably was "too busy filming the Hobbit".

The program was shot in a series called Kipling: The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling.

Broadcast between July and December 1964, Kipling featured the performances of David Hemmings, Michael Bates, Alfred Burke, Barbara Murray, Keith Barron and Patrick Troughton.

Sir Ian became a much loved British actor, appearing in Hollywood, including the Lord of the rings and X Men blockbusters.

He is also known for his stage acting and in recent years, he returned to TV, appearing in the prisoner and Coronation Street.

Also recovered by the consortium were two other programs of BBC believed to be lost - a production of the ballet of the 1950s, Giselle, and an episode of the Suspense series, with Sylvia Simms 1963.

All three discoveries have been made available on loan to the BBC for digitization, after which the original film prints will reside in the Archive of Disney Tim Nottingham facilities.