Michael Gambon

The Irish-English actor who took over Albus Dumbledore from Richard Harris in 2004.

Michael Gambon (19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor who began his career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. He gained wider recognition as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films from 2004 to 2011, replacing Richard Harris after his death in 2002.

Over six decades he won three Olivier Awards, four BAFTA TV Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and he was knighted in 1998 for services to drama.

Quick Facts

Honorific prefix: Sir
Birth name: Michael John Gambon
Born: 19 October 1940
Birthplace: Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
Died: 27 September 2023
Place of death: Witham, Essex, England
Citizenship: Ireland, United Kingdom
Occupation: Actor

Facts from the source article.

Background

Born in the Cabra suburb of Dublin, he moved to Camden in London at six, left school at 15 without qualifications and trained as a toolmaker with Vickers-Armstrongs before acting. At 24 he won a place at Dublin's Gate Theatre with a letter describing a wholly imaginary career.

He appeared in many Shakespeare productions, was nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards and won for A Chorus of Disapproval, A View from the Bridge and Man of the Moment, and earned a Tony nomination for his Broadway debut in David Hare's Skylight in 1997.

His films include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Gosford Park, The King's Speech and Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, and on television The Singing Detective, Wives and Daughters, Longitude and Perfect Strangers each won him a BAFTA. He and Robbie Coltrane are the only actors to have won that award three years running.