Michael Gambon, who played Professor Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” films and was hailed by Arthur Miller and others as one of Britain’s greatest actors, has died. He was 82.
Mr Gambon’s family confirmed his death in a brief statement released through a public relations firm on Thursday. “Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside from complications of pneumonia,” the statement said.
The breakthrough that led actor Ralph Richardson to call him “the Great Gambon” came with Mr. Gambon’s performance in Brecht’s “The Life of Galileo” at London’s National Theater in 1980, although he had already achieved modest success, particularly in Pieces by Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter.
Peter Hall, then artistic director of the National Theatre, described Mr Gambon as “unsentimental, dangerous and tremendously powerful” and recalled in his autobiography how he had approached four leading directors to accept him in the title role, but they refused dismissed him as “not starry enough”.
After John Dexter agreed to direct him in what Mr. Gambon described as the most difficult role he had ever played, he brought the mix of volcanic energy and tenderness, sensuality and intelligence to a role – in which he was between 40 and 75 years old – not only impressed critics, but also his fellow artists.
As Mr. Hall recalled, in the National’s dressing room windows, which overlook a courtyard, “after the first night there were actors in various states of nakedness leaning out and applauding him – a unique tribute.”
This earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Olivier Awards and, in another great role, as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the National in 1987, the award itself. Again, it was his mix of vulnerability and inner strength that impressed the audience, with Miller stating that Mr Gambon’s performance as the embattled dockworker was the best he had ever seen. Mr Ayckbourn, who directed, described Mr Gambon as impressive.
“One day he was just standing in the rehearsal room and just burst into tears – no appearance on stage, no hands in front of his face,” Mr Ayckbourn said. “He just stood there and cried like a child. It was heartbreaking. And he was very good at getting angry too. That could be scary.”
His television roles ranged from Inspector Maigret to Edward VII, from Oscar Wilde to Winston Churchill. And in film he played characters as diverse as Albert Spica, the rough and violent gangster in Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, and the kind Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. who he played took over from Richard Harris, who died in 2002.
Although he answered “I just do it” to interviewers who asked him about acting, he prepared for the roles very diligently. He took on a script and then used rehearsals to adapt and deepen his discoveries.
“I’m very physical,” he said. “I want to know what the person looks like, what their hair is like, how they walk, how they stand and sit, what they sound like, what their rhythms are, how they dress, what shoes they wear. It’s important how your feet feel on stage.”
A full obituary will appear shortly.