Harry Potter star Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore, dies
Michael Gambon, the actor who played Dumbledore in most of the Harry Potter films, has died.
The 82-year-old passed away after a short bout of pneumonia in hospital, his family has said in an announcement.
Gambon played the Hogwarts school headmaster Professor Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
Sir Michael Gambon was also a lauded stage actor. He made his debut in 1962 as Othello in Dublin and he would win three Olivier Awards for National Theatre productions.
Gambon also had a long film career, most notably encompassing films like Gosford Park and The King’s Speech.
Gambon’s Harry Potter co-star Fiona Show was one of the first to comment on his passing, telling BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “He varied his career remarkably and never judged what he was doing, he just played.”
She described Gambon as “a trickster, just a brilliant, magnificent trickster… With text, there was nothing like him. He could do anything.”