Michael Gambon
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1940-10-19
Day of Death
2023-09-27 (82 years old)
Place of Birth
Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
Michael Gambon
Biography
Sir Michael John Gambon (October 19, 1940 – September 27, 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.
Gambon appeared in many productions of works by William Shakespeare such as Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and Coriolanus. Gambon was nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards, winning three times for A Chorus of Disapproval (1985), A View from the Bridge (1987), and Man of the Moment (1990). In 1997, Gambon made his Broadway debut in David Hare's Skylight, earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination.
Gambon made his film debut in Othello (1965). His other notable films include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), The Wings of the Dove (1997), The Insider (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Amazing Grace (2006), The King's Speech (2010), Quartet (2012), and Victoria & Abdul (2017). Gambon also appeared in the Wes Anderson films The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). Gambon gained wider recognition through his role of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series from 2004 to 2011, replacing Richard Harris following his death in 2002.
For his work on television, he received four BAFTA Awards for The Singing Detective (1986), Wives and Daughters (1999), Longitude (2000), and Perfect Strangers (2001). He also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Path to War (2002) and Emma (2009). Gambon's other notable projects include Cranford (2007) and The Casual Vacancy (2015). In 2017, he received the Irish Film & Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, he was listed at No. 27 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Known For
Acting
(2024)
Doctor Who at the Proms
as Kazran Sardick (archive footage)
(2019)
Judy
as Bernard Delfont
(2019)
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
as Man in Diner
(2019)
Cordelia
as Mr. Moses
(2018)
Johnny English Strikes Again
as Agent Five
(2018)
King of Thieves
as Billy 'The Fish' Lincoln
(2018)
The Last Witness
as Frank Hamilton
(2018)
Citizen Lane
as Lord Ardilaun
(2017)
Paddington 2
as Uncle Pastuzo (voice)
(2017)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
as Arthur
(2017)
Viceroy's House
as General Hastings Ismay
(2017)
Victoria & Abdul
as Lord Salisbury
(2017)
Mad to Be Normal
as Sidney Kotok
(2016)
Hail, Caesar!
as Narrator (voice)
(2016)
Dad's Army
as Private Godfrey
(2016)
Churchill's Secret
as Winston Churchill
(2015)
Unity
as Narrator (voice)
(2015)
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
as Self (archive footage)
(2014)
Paddington
as Uncle Pastuzo (voice)
(2014)
Common
as Judge
(2014)
On Angel Wings
as Grandfather
(2013)
(2013)
Muse of Fire
as Self
(2013)
Lucan
as John Burke
(2012)
Quartet
as Cedric Livingston
(2012)
London: The Modern Babylon
as Self (voice)
(2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
as Albus Dumbledore
(2011)
Page Eight
as Benedict Baron
(2011)
When Harry Left Hogwarts
as Self
(2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Albus Dumbledore
(2010)
The Book of Eli
as George
(2010)
The King's Speech
as King George V
(2010)
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol
as Old Kazran / Elliot Sardick
(2009)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
as Albus Dumbledore
(2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
as Franklin Bean (voice)
(2008)
Brideshead Revisited
as Lord Marchmain
(2007)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
as Albus Dumbledore
(2007)
The Good Night
as Alan Weigert
(2007)
Joe's Palace
as Elliot Graham
(2007)
The Baker
as Leo
(2007)
Celebration
as Lambert
(2007)
The Alps - Climb of Your Life
as Narrator (voice)
(2006)
The Omen
as Bugenhagen
(2006)
The Good Shepherd
as Dr. Fredericks
(2006)
Amazing Grace
as Lord Charles Fox
(2006)
John Duffy's Brother
as Narrator
(2005)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
as Albus Dumbledore
(2005)
(2004)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
as Albus Dumbledore
(2004)
Layer Cake
as Eddie Temple
(2004)
(2004)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
as Oseary Drakoulias
(2004)
(2004)
Being Julia
as Jimmie Langton
(2004)
Stories of Lost Souls
as Larry
(2003)
Open Range
as Denton Baxter
(2003)
Sylvia
as Professor Thomas
(2003)
Deep Blue
as Narrator (voice)
(2003)
Path to War
as Lyndon Johnson
(2003)
The Actors
as Barreller
(2003)
(2003)
Little Wolf's Book of Badness
as Uncle Bigbad (voice)
(2002)
Ali G Indahouse
as Prime Minister
(2002)
The Making of 'Gosford Park'
as Self
(2001)
Gosford Park
as William McCordle
(2001)
Charlotte Gray
as Levade
(2001)
High Heels and Low Lifes
as Kerrigan
(2001)
Christmas Carol: The Movie
as Ghost of Christmas Present (voice)
(2001)
(2000)
(2000)
Longitude
as John Harrison
(2000)
Endgame
as Hamm
(2000)
The Last September
as Sir Richard Naylor
(1999)
Sleepy Hollow
as Baltus Van Tassel
(1999)
The Insider
as Thomas Sandefur
(1999)
Plunkett & MacLeane
as Lord Gibson
(1999)
Dead on Time
as Maurice Silverman
(1998)
Dancing at Lughnasa
as Father Jack Mundy
(1998)
A Roll of the Dice: The Capeman on Broadway
as Narrator (voice)
(1997)
The Wings of the Dove
as Lionel Croy
(1997)
The Gambler
as Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(1996)
Mary Reilly
as Mary’s Father
(1996)
Samson and Delilah
as King Hamun
(1996)
Midnight in Saint Petersburg
as Alex
(1996)
Two Deaths
as Daniel Pavenic
(1996)
The Willows in Winter
as Badger
(1996)
Nothing Personal
as Leonard
(1996)
The Innocent Sleep
as Det. Insp. Matheson
(1995)
Bullet to Beijing
as Alexei
(1995)
The Wind in the Willows
as Badger
(1994)
Clean Slate
as Cornell
(1994)
Squanto: A Warrior's Tale
as Sir George
(1994)
The Browning Version
as Dr. Frobisher
(1994)
A Man of No Importance
as Ivor J. Carney
(1993)
The Entertainer
as Archie Rice
(1992)
Toys
as Lt. General Leland Zevo
(1991)
Mobsters
as Don Salvatore Faranzano
(1989)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
as Albert Spica
(1989)
A Dry White Season
as Magistrate
(1989)
The Rachel Papers
as Doctor Knowd
(1989)
Monster Maker
as Ultragorgon
(1989)
Monster Maker
as Ultragorgon(voice)
(1989)
Paris by Night
as Gerald Paige
(1989)
The Heat of the Day
as Harrison
(1988)
Missing Link
as Narrator (voice)
(1988)
Mountain Language
as Sergeant
(1987)
Ghosts
as Pastor Manders
(1985)
Turtle Diary
as George Fairbairn
(1985)
Absurd Person Singular
as Geoffrey
(1985)
(1982)
The Breadwinner
as Charles Battle
(1978)
The Seagull
as Trigorin
(1978)
(1976)
The Other Woman
as Robin
(1976)
French Without Tears
as Lt Cmdr Rogers
(1976)
In the Labyrinth
as Duncan Harrison
(1976)
Tiptoe Through the Tulips
as Piers
(1974)
The Beast Must Die
as Jan Jarmokowski
(1974)
Bold Face: Condensed
as John
(1973)
The Catholics
as Brother Kevin
(1973)
Nothing But the Night
as Insp. Grant
(1972)
Cows
as Max
(1971)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
as Theseus
(1967)
Romeo and Juliet
as Gregory
(1967)
Much Ado About Nothing
as Other Watchman
(1965)
(1965)
Othello
as Senators-Soldiers-Cypriots