Sir Michael John Gambon CBE (19 October 1940 - 27 September 2023) was an acclaimed Irish-English actor from Dublin.
Probably best known worldwide for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series of films following Richard Harris' death, but his career was much broader than this. He was already an accomplished stage actor when he got his big break on television in The Singing Detective. Since that breakthrough role, he divided his time between stage, film, and television, with equal panache in each medium.
On the Top Gear track, the final corner ("Gambon") is named after him after he nearly rolled the car and went around it on two wheels. In addition to the above, Gambon is also known for his roles in these works. His last major role as Godfrey in Dad's Army (2016), The Film of the Series of the classic Brit Com Dad's Army.
Gambon later had to retire from stage acting due to his deteriorating memory, though he continued to work in film and television. He passed away from pneumonia on 27 September 2023 at the age of 82.
As his title at the top shows, he was knighted but people were advised to never refer to him by the title.
Selected Filmography:
- Nothing but the Night (1973)
- The Singing Detective (1986)
- Ghosts (1987)
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)
- The StoryTeller: Greek Myths (1991)
- Mobsters (1991)
- Maigret (1992-1993)
- Toys (1992)
- Clean Slate (1994)
- Mary Reilly (1996)
- The Wind in the Willows (1995)
- The Wings of the Dove (1997)
- The Insider (1999)
- Sleepy Hollow (1999)
- Endgame (2000)
- Gosford Park (2001)
- High Heels and Low Lifes (2001)
- Path to War (2002)
- Open Range (2003)
- Harry Potter
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
- Layer Cake (2004)
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
- The Omen (2006)
- The Good Shepherd (2006)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- The King's Speech (2010)
- The Book of Eli (2010)
- Quartet (2012)
- Dad's Army (2016)
- Victoria & Abdul (2017)
- Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
- King of Thieves (2018)
