Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon CBE (/ˈɡæmbɒn/; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor.[1][2] 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). He also acted in the Wes Anderson films The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). He 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. 28 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[3]
Early life[edit]
Michael John Gambon was born in the Cabra suburb of Dublin[4] on 19 October 1940.[5] His mother, Mary (née Hoare), was a seamstress, while his father, Edward Gambon, was an engineering operative during World War II.[6] His father decided to seek work in the rebuilding of London, and moved the family to Mornington Crescent in London's Camden borough when Gambon was six. His father arranged for him to be registered as a British subject, a decision that would later allow him to receive a substantive (rather than honorary) knighthood.[7][a] Brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, Gambon attended St Aloysius Boys' School in Somers Town and served at the altar.[8] He went on from there to St Aloysius' College in Highgate, whose former pupils include the actor Peter Sellers.[8][9] The family later moved to North End, Kent, where he attended Crayford Secondary School but left with no qualifications at the age of 15.[10]
After leaving school, at the age of 16 Gambon then gained an apprenticeship as a toolmaker with Vickers-Armstrongs.[11] By the time he was 21, he was a qualified engineering technician and kept the job for a further year. He acquired a lifelong passion for collecting antique guns, clocks, watches and classic cars.[12]
Personal life and death[edit]
Gambon married mathematician Anne Miller in 1962.[65] Known for being protective of his privacy, he once responded to an interviewer's question about his wife by asking, "What wife?". The couple had homes in Gravesend, Kent, and Aldeburgh, Suffolk.[70][71] They had one son, Fergus, who later became a ceramics expert on the BBC series Antiques Roadshow.[72]
Gambon brought Philippa Hart, a woman 25 years his junior, to the set while filming the 2001 film Gosford Park and introduced her to his co-stars as his girlfriend. When their affair was publicly revealed in 2002, he moved out of the home he shared with his wife, though they later reconciled.[71][73] He was with Hart, a set designer, from 2000, when they worked together on Channel 4 series Longitude.[73][71] In February 2007, it was revealed that Hart was pregnant with Gambon's child and gave birth to a son.[71] The couple had a second son in 2009.[71][74] They owned a home in West London.[71]
In the New Year Honours 1998, Gambon was appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to drama.[75] On 17 July 1998, he was invested by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.[76]
Gambon was a qualified private pilot. His love of cars led to his appearance on the BBC series Top Gear. He raced the Suzuki Liana so aggressively that it went around the last corner of his lap on two wheels. The final corner of the Top Gear test track has been named "Gambon Corner" or simply "Gambon" in his honour.[77][78] He appeared on the programme again in 2006 and set a time in the Chevrolet Lacetti of 1:50.3, a significant improvement on his previous time of 1:55. He clipped his namesake corner the second time, and when asked why by Jeremy Clarkson, replied, "I don't know, I just don't like it."[79]
Gambon died in Witham on 27 September 2023, aged 82, with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.[73][70][80] Gambon made headlines in March 2024 when it was revealed that Philippa Hart, his long-term girlfriend and mother of two of his sons, had been left nothing in the actor’s will. Almost all of Gambon’s fortune was passed to Lady Gambon, his wife of 61 years.[81]