Michael Gambon, actor who played Dumbledore, dies at 82

LONDON: British-Irish actor Michael Gambon, best known for playing the wise professor Albus Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" movie franchise and whose career was launched by his mentor Laurence Olivier, died peacefully in hospital aged 82 on Thursday.

Gambon began his acting on the stage in the early 1960s and later moved into TV and film. Notable film roles include a psychotic mob leader in Peter Greenaway's "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" in 1989 and the elderly King George V in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" in 2010.

But his best-known role was as Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" franchise, a role he took over from the third instalment in the eight-movie series after he replaced the late Richard Harris. Gambon played down the praise for his performance and said he simply played himself "with a stuck-on beard and a long robe".

Gambon built his reputation on the stage, making his name in particular with his 1980 portrayal of Galileo in John Dexter's "Life of Galileo". The 1980s brought wider attention with the lead role in 1986 TV show "The Singing Detective", which won him one of his four BAFTAs. He won three Olivier Awards and two ensemble cast Screen Actors Guild Awards - for "Gosford Park" and "The King's Speech".

Gambon was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1992 and knighted for services to drama in 1998, which he called "a nice little present", but he did not use the title.

A mischievous personality, he often made up stories. He once revealed that he convinced his mother he was friends with the pope. Gambon retired from the stage in 2015 after suffering long-term memory problems but continued to act onscreen until 2019. He said in 2002 that his work made him feel "the luckiest man in the world". Gambon married Anne Miller in 1962, and they had a son. While they never divorced, he later had another partner, set designer Philippa Hart, 25 years his junior, with whom he had two kids.