Michael Gambon is an Irish-British film and stage actor considered as one of Britain’s most respected stage performers. He is also particularly known for his role as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the film's other sequels.
The son of Mary Hoare, a seamstress and Edward Gambon, an engineer, Michael Gambon was born on October 19, 1940 in Dublin, Ireland. His family moved to London after World War II. He was raised as Catholic and attended the St Aloysius Boys' School in Somers Town, where he also served as an altar boy. At the age of 19, Gambon joined the Unity Theater in Kings Cross. He made his professional stage debut in the 1962 production of Othello in the Gaiety Theater.
Gambon had his big screen debut in Lawrence Olivier’s Othello released in 1965. He then followed this by playing romantic lead roles in the 1970s, particularly in BBC's television series The Borderers. In 1980, Gambon claimed critical praises for his outstanding stage performance as Galileo in John Dexter's production of The Life of Galileo at the National Theater.
In 1986, Gambon further earned artistic recognition when he played Philip E. Marlow in BBC’s miniseries The Singing Detective. The role earned him a British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA). This was then followed by his performance in the film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, in which he co-starred with Richard Bohringer, Helen Mirren, and Alan Howard.
Gambon’s other film and television projects include his performance in Toys, in which he played a psychotic general and in The Gambler, in which he portrayed the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
In 2004, Gambon further cemented his reputation as one of Britain’s highly noted actors when he portrayed Hogwarts’ headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the fantasy film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He later reprised this role for the films sequels Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008).
Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1988 (1987 season) for Best Actor in a New Play for A View from the Bridge.
Knighted in 1992 by Queen Elizabeth II, despite having been born in the Republic of Ireland.
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture for: Gosford Park (2001).
1987, RTS Television Award for Best Performance - Male for: The Singing Detective (1986).
2002, FFCC Award for Best Ensemble Cast for: Gosford Park (2001).
1989, Best Actor for: The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover (1989) at the Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain.
2002, BFCA Award for Best Acting Ensemble for: Gosford Park (2001).
1987, BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for: The Singing Detective (1986).
2001, BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for: zLongitude (2000).
1990, London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor for his performance in Man of the Moment.
1987, London Evening Standard Theate Award for Best Actor for his performance in A View from the Bridge.
-I just play him as myself, I don't ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me.
-Richard was in heavy, heavy costume, he could hardly sit, you know, and I turned up and they put me in two layers of silk, so I played him much lighter - you know, floating around in a pair of slippers, a bit of a hippy.
-There were no spells at my school, just a smack in the mouth.