Harry Potter Actor, Sir Michael Gambon Dies Aged 82
The actor Sir Michael Gambon has lost his life at the age of 82, his family announced.
He was best known for playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
The Dublin-born star worked in TV, film, theatre, and radio over his six-decade career. He won four Baftas.
His widow Lady Gambon and son Fergus said their “beloved husband and father” died peacefully in hospital with his family by his side, following a bout of pneumonia.
Sir Michael’s family had moved to London when he was a child but he made his very first stage performance in Ireland, in a production of Othello in Dublin in 1962.
His career took off when he became one of the original members of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre acting company in London. He went on to win three Olivier awards for performances in National Theatre productions
Fellow actor Dame Helen Mirren led tributes to her “naughty but very, very funny” friend.
In an interview for this weekend’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Dame Helen recalled how he had kept her “constantly in laughter” as they appeared on stage in Antony and Cleopatra, and during filming of 1989’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.
She added that the two had discussed growing older, and how that affected their work: Sir Michael was “utterly realistic” about his situation, she said.”He found it increasingly difficult to remember lines, which I have the greatest of sympathy with, and that sort of took him away from the theatre,” she said.’Magnificent trickster‘
He played French detective Jules Maigret in the ITV series Maigret and was also known for his role as Philip Marlow in Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective on the BBC.
Sir Michael took on the role of Dumbledore – headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts – in the hit Harry Potter series, based on JK Rowling’s novels, after the death of Richard Harris in 2003.
His other film work includes the big screen adaptation of Dad’s Army, Gosford Park, and the King’s Speech, in which he portrayed King George V, father of the stammering King George VI.
He was nominated for Emmy awards for his role as Mr. Woodhouse in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma in 2010, and for playing President Lyndon B. Johnson in Path to War in 2002. He also got a Tony nomination in 1997 for a role in David Hare’s play Skylight.
He was knighted for services to the entertainment industry in 1998. Although Irish-born, he had become a British citizen in his childhood.
The actor, known as “The Great Gambon” in acting circles, had last appeared on stage in 2012 in a London production of Samuel Beckett’s play All That Fall.
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar paid tribute, saying: “A great actor. Whether performing in Beckett, Dennis Potter, or Harry Potter, he gave his all to every performance.”
