R.I.P. Michael Gambon: ‘Harry Potter’s Dumbledore Dead at 82 

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

His death was reported by The Guardian this morning, which shared a confirmation statement from his wife, Lady Gambon, and their son, Fergus.

“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” the statement began.

“Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82,” it continued. “We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support and love.”

Gambon’s time at Hogwarts as Harry’s (Daniel Radcliffe) wise professor began in 2002, when he took over the role of Dumbledore from Richard Harris after his death.

Gambon played Dumbledore in six Harry Potter films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. While he perfectly embodied the powerful wizard, he previously admitted that he had never read J.K. Rowlings‘ books on which the films are based.

“There’s no point reading the books because you’re playing with the screenwriter’s words,” he said at the time, per Digital Spy. “Besides, you’d get upset about all the scenes the script is missing from the book, wouldn’t you?”

The Irish actor, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for his services to drama, began his career working on the stage. He had his first big break in the production of Hamlet in 1963, before going on to star as the lead role in Life of Galileo. He later won the  Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor three times and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards twice. However, he decided to retire from theater in 2015 after struggling to remember his lines in front of an audience.

Before today’s generation got to know him as Professor Dumbledore, Gambon also starred in films like The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999) and The Insider (1999). He later voiced Uncle Pastuzo in both Paddington movies as well as narrated the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar! 

On television, Gambon appeared in the BBC hit The Singing Detective (1986), which won him his first British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He went on to win the same award for his work on shows like Wives and Daughters, Longitude and Perfect Strangers. His most recent role was in the British psychological thriller series, Fortitude, which he starred on from 2015 to 2019. He also appeared in Judy, the biographical drama about actress Judy Garland, in 2019.