Sir Michael Gambon, the actor who is mostly remembered for his role as Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, took his last breath at the age of 82. He lost his life to pneumonia.
His publicist Clair Dobbs, on behalf of the actor's wife, Lady Gambon, and son, Fergus, issued a statement that read, "We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82. We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support and love."
Even though he reigns supreme in millennial minds as Dumbledore, Sir Michael Gambon was a towering figure in the British stage and screen. On stage, he has essayed layered roles in plays by legendary playwrights like Samuel Barclay Beckett and Sir Alan Ayckbourn. The latter even directed him in the 1987 production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, which won the actor an Olivier award for his performance as Eddie Carbone.
Some of his most notable works on screen include films like Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The Insider, Sleepy Hollow and Gosford Park. He took over the role of Harry Potter’s professor Albus Dumbledore from Richard Harris after the latter's death in 2002. The rest, as they say, is history.
The late actor is survived by his wife, retired mathematician Lady Anne whom he married in 1962, and son Fergus, who is a ceramics expert and also appears on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.
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