British actor and television presenter Michael Gambon, who played the role of Dumbledore in Harry Potter, has died aged 82, his family announced on Thursday.
In his fifty-year career he won five Baftas and played the headmaster of the wizarding school in Harry Potter.
“Michael, a beloved husband and father, died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside from complications of pneumonia,” his family’s statement said.
For British audiences, he also played Inspector Maigret in the series of the same name, which was broadcast on ITV.
Michael Gambon made his first stage appearance in a production of Othello in Dublin in 1962.
He was knighted in 1998 for his contribution to the entertainment industry.
He also gave his name to a curve on the race track at the Top Gear car show, which he negotiated in spectacular fashion, narrowly missing an accident.
The show’s former host, Jeremy Clarkson, praised on the social network