Michael Gambon

Biography

Michael Gambon (19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-born actor whose career spanned six decades across the stage, television and film. He is closely associated with the National Theatre company founded under Laurence Olivier, with major Shakespearean roles, and with a long working relationship with Harold Pinter. Wider international fame came late, through his portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.

Born in the Cabra district of Dublin during the Second World War, Gambon moved with his family to London as a child, when his father, an engineer, sought work in the rebuilding of the city. His father arranged for him to become a British subject, a step that later bore on his official honours. He was raised in a strict Catholic household and left school at fifteen to train as an engineering technician, a trade he practised for some years and which left him with a lasting interest in antiques and classic cars.

His entry into acting was unconventional. At twenty-four he wrote to Micheál Mac Liammóir, who ran Dublin's Gate Theatre, enclosing a CV describing an invented stage career, and he was taken on. He made his professional debut in 1962 in Othello. Laurence Olivier soon recruited him for the new National Theatre company, where he worked with directors such as William Gaskill and John Dexter. After several years at the Old Vic, Olivier advised him to gain more experience in regional repertory, and in 1967 he joined the Birmingham Repertory, where he played leading Shakespearean parts.

His breakthrough came in 1974 with Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests, and he became a regular interpreter of Harold Pinter's work, forming a close friendship with the playwright. He was praised for The Life of Galileo in 1980 and for Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1988. On television, his performance in The Singing Detective (1986) earned a BAFTA, and he later played Inspector Maigret in a series adapted from Georges Simenon's novels. On screen he often played imposing villains with a watchful presence, appearing in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, directed by Peter Greenaway, The Insider, directed by Michael Mann, and Sleepy Hollow, directed by Tim Burton.

His widest recognition came with Dumbledore, a role he took over after Richard Harris's death and kept through the last six films of the series. He later appeared in The King's Speech and Victoria & Abdul. In 2015 he announced his retirement from the stage because of memory problems, though he continued to take short roles. His legacy rests on a long career in British theatre, his many awards and his ability to move between Shakespeare and family comedy with the same seriousness.

Key films

• Othello (1965): film debut, directed by Laurence Olivier, in a supporting role.
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989): leading role as the violent gangster Albert Spica in Peter Greenaway's film.
• The Insider (1999): supporting role opposite Al Pacino and Russell Crowe in the drama about a real tobacco industry case.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004): first of the Dumbledore films, followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), which made him an international name.
• The King's Speech (2010): supporting role in the film about King George VI, which won several Academy Awards.