‘I just put on a beard and play me’: How Michael Gambon said ‘he never had to act’ after taking on iconic Albus Dumbledore role when Richard Harris died after the Chamber of Secrets
- He was iconic in his role as the Hogwarts headmaster in the Harry Potter series
Actor Sir Michael Gambon once revealed he never had to put on an act while in his role as Albus Dumbledore, saying: ‘I just put on a beard and play me’.
The Dublin-born star of the stage and screen has died peacefully in hospital aged 82 following a bout of pneumonia, his family has said.
He was iconic in his role as Hogwarts headmaster in the Harry Potter series, taking over following the death of Richard Harris who played the character in the first two films.
But Sir Michael once spoke about how little effort it was to transform into Dumbledore, saying: ‘Well, I don’t have to play anyone really.’
He told a question and answer session for Future Movies: ‘I just stick on a beard and play me, so it’s no great feat.
Michael Gambon, pictured as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, has died aged 82
Jeff Rawle (left) as Amos Diggory and Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Irish actor Richard Harris in the role of Professor Dumbledore – he played the character in the first two films
Michael Gambon with his wife Lady Gambon, with whom he had a son, Fergus
Michael Gambon and his partner Philippa Hart, with whom he had two young sons
‘I never ease into a role – every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. I’m not really a character actor at all.’
Gambon, who has won four TV Baftas, is known for his extensive back catalogue of work across TV, film, radio and theatre over a career spanning five decades.
In recent years he played Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
Irish film and TV actress Fiona Shaw has said she will remember her Harry Potter co-star Sir Michael Gambon for being a ‘brilliant, magnificent trickster’.
Shaw, who played Petunia Dursley in the film franchise, told BBC Radio 4: ‘I will remember him because he was also a gun maker, he could he could make guns, he always said he could fool the V&A into believing that they were 18th century guns.
‘So I will think of him as a trickster, just brilliant, magnificent trickster, but with text, there was nothing like him, he could do anything.’
She also recalled working with him on the Harry Potter films: ‘He took over from Richard Harris and of course, he began to mimic Richard Harris, who had recently died, and he would do his accent, the slight Irish accent.
‘Which of course he always loved having an excuse to do because his family had come from Ireland, and gone to live in Camden. He just loved the precariousness of reality and unreality and, of course, that made him a very great actor.’
Shaw added: ‘He did once say to me in a car ‘I know I go on a lot about this and that, but actually in the end, there is only acting’. I think he was always pretending that he didn’t take it seriously, but he took it profoundly seriously, I think.’
Sir Michael as Dumbledore and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter ‘the Half-Blood Prince’
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), with Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore
Actor James Phelps, who played Fred Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, paid tribute to Sir Michael, describing him as ‘a legend’.
‘Very sorry to hear about the passing of Michael Gambon. He was, on and off the camera, a legend,’ he tweeted.
The actor shared a screenshot of text describing ‘one of the highlights’ of his time on set with Sir Michael.
Read more: Michael Gambon’s tangled love life: How star juggled life with two families as he split time with his wife of 61 years with set designer who was 25 years his junior
The excerpt read: ‘In between setups Michael asked what I was up to that weekend. As it happened my brother and I were reading Peter and the Wolf with the Manchester Halle Orchestra.’
Phelps said Sir Michael offered to share notes with him and his twin brother, Oliver, who played George Weasley in the films.
‘We spent what should have been his downtime going over my weekend gig. It is a memory that I’ve always had as one of the highlights of my (Harry Potter) days.’
Sir Michael is also known for playing French detective Jules Maigret in ITV series Maigret, and for his 1986 role as Philip Marlow in Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective.
A statement issued on behalf of Lady Gambon and son Fergus Gambon said: ‘We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon.
‘Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.’
Sir Michael made his first appearance on stage in a production of Othello at the Gates Theatre, Dublin in 1962 when he returned to Ireland following his move to the UK.
He was knighted for his contribution to the entertainment industry in 1998.
Gambon in a Harry Potter scene – filmed inside the Great Hall where students in the film gathered for meals
He played Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films
He put in a memorable performance in the BBC’s 2015 adaptation of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy and his illustrious theatre career includes appearances in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, The Life Of Galileo and Nicholas Hytner’s National Theatre production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2.
In 2016 he appeared as Private Godfrey in the big screen adaptation of Dad’s Army, and his other film roles included period dramas such as 2010’s The King’s Speech, 2001’s Gosford Park and 2017’s Victoria & Abdul.
Sir Michael was also recognised by American awards with Emmy nominations for Mr Woodhouse in 2010 for an adaption of Jane Austen’s Emma and as former US president Lyndon B Johnson in Path To War in 2002.
His turn in David Hare play Skylight, about the fallout of an affair, also led to a Tony nod in 1997 and earlier in 1990 he secured an Olivier Award for comedy performance of the year for diplomatic comedy Man Of The Moment at the Globe, now the Gielgud Theatre.
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