In a statement released by their family, they expressed their devastation for having to announce the passing of Sir Michael Gambon. “Michael died peacefully in the hospital,” they said, “his wife Anne and son Fergus were at his side when it happened, he had been suffering from pneumonia.”
Michael Gambon, the Irish actor known for his roles in the Harry Potter films as Albus Dumbledore and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy TV series, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1940, he began acting in the early 1960s and appeared on several British television shows and movies. He became a Tony Award winning actor in 1974 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance on The Life of Galileo.
Throughout the 80s to the late 90s, Gambon continued to act on both film and television. He appeared on movies like The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and Gosford Park (2001). In 2004, he became Albus Dumbledore after Richard Harris’s death. Gambon played Dumbledore from Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to Part Two of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (2011).
Gambon did more than just film and television. He was a prodigy stage actor as well. His versatility on the big screen is unmatched by any other actor. He can play a comedic role in one scene, then change it up to be gripping in the next.
Winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor four times was no easy feat either. His roles in Albus Dumbledore and George Smiley made him an icon of the industry.
Here are some of Michael Gambon’s most notable roles:
- Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films (2004-2011)
- George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
- Uncle Vanya in Uncle Vanya (1995)
- Winston Churchill in The King’s Speech (2010)
- Professor Tom Ryan in The Insider (1999)
- Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
- Sir Richard Croft in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
- Percy Alleline in Gosford Park (2001)
- Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow (1999)
- Albert Spica in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky in The Gambler (1979)
- Oswald Mosley in The Four Feathers (1978)
The world of entertainment lost a star when Gambon passed away. He was a truly gifted actor and his memory will forever live on through the many roles he played. A couple of these roles include Albus Dumbledore and George Smiley, both of which were iconic.
