Witham (UK), Sep 28 (UNI): ‘Harry Potter’ actor Sir Michael Gambon passed away on Thursday due to a bout of pneumonia, his family said. He was 82.
He was best known for playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
The Dublin-born star worked in TV, film, theatre and radio over his six-decade career. He won four Baftas, according to media reports. His widow Lady Gambon and son Fergus said their “beloved husband and father” died peacefully in hospital with his family by his side, following a bout of pneumonia.
Gambon’s family had moved to London when he was a child but he made his very first stage performance in Ireland, in a production of Othello in Dublin in 1962, BBC reports.
His career took off when he became one of the original members of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre acting company in London and went on to win three Olivier awards for performances in National Theatre productions.
Gambon took on the role of Dumbledore – headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts – in the hit Harry Potter series, based on JK Rowling’s novels, after the death of Richard Harris in 2003.
His other film work includes the big screen adaptation of Dad’s Army, Gosford Park and the King’s Speech, in which he portrayed King George V, father of the stammering King George VI.
