Michael Gambon, the actor most known for portraying Dumbledore for a majority of the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 82, his publicist announced Thursday.
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” a statement from his family read. “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside.”
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Gambon worked in the world of acting for over 50 years, beginning in 1963 and retiring in 2015. He died following “a bout of pneumonia,” according to his family.
“We are incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Michael Gambon. He brought immeasurable joy to Harry Potter fans from all over the world with his humour, kindness, and grace. We will forever hold his memory in our hearts,” a statement on the film series’s Instagram account read.
J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, issued a statement of her own online, praising Gambon as a “brilliant actor.
“Michael was a wonderful man in addition to being an outstanding actor, and I absolutely loved working with him, not only on Potter but also The Casual Vacancy,” Rowling’s statement read. “My deepest condolences go to Michael’s family and everyone who loved him.”
I’ve just heard the awful news about Michael Gambon. The first time I ever laid eyes on him was in King Lear, in 1982, and if you’d told me then that brilliant actor would appear in anything I’d written, I’d have thought you were insane. Michael was a wonderful man in additional…
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 28, 2023
The actor began playing Dumbledore, the mentor character of Harry Potter, in the third film of the series, 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The role of Dumbledore was played in the first two movies by Richard Harris, who died in 2002.
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Beyond Dumbledore, Gambon also played roles in a multitude of movies, including voicing a character in 2014’s Paddington and playing King George V in 2010’s The King’s Speech, which was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won four of them, including Best Picture. In 1998, Gambon was knighted for his services to drama.
Gambon’s death comes less than a year after Robbie Coltrane, the actor who played Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, died in October 2022. A month later, actor Leslie Phillips, who voiced the Sorting Hat in the franchise, died at 98.
