Michael Gambon Dies: Actor Who Played Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter’ Was 82

Martin Holmes September 28, 2023, 9:04 am

Michael Gambon in Harry Potter — Murray Close/Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

Sir Michael Gambon, the veteran actor perhaps best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film franchise, has died. He was 82.

“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” his family said in a statement (issued by the actor’s publicist Clair Dobbs). “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.”

Born October 9, 1940, in Dublin, Ireland, Gambon began his acting career on the stage, making his professional debut in a 1962 production of Othello. He was soon spotted by Laurence Olivier and recruited for his new National Theatre Company.

He would go on to star in several Shakespeare productions, top West End plays, and made his Broadway debut in 1997 in David Hare’s Skylight. Throughout his stage career, Gambon was nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards (winning three) and a Tony Award for Best Actor for his role in Skylight.

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Gambon made his film debut in Olivier’s Othello alongside Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi in 1965. He also started to appear in many British television series, including a TV adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing and the BBC historical series The Borderers.

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His first major lead role on television came in Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective (1986), which earned him his first British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

Gambon’s prolific career also saw him amass over 150 TV and film credits, including appearances in the films The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Wings of the Dove, Gosford Park, The King’s Speech, and The Life Aquatic.

But his most recognizable role came as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, which Gambon took over after the death of Richard Harris, who had played the role in the first two films.

More recently, Gambon starred in the British horror psychological thriller television series Fortitude, the PBS miniseries Little Women, and the British crime drama Fearless.