“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and above all, those who live without love,” Dumbledore once said.
Harry Potter actor Michael Gambon, who played the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, has died. The actor was 82. Fellow co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Jason Isaacs, James Phelps and author J.K. Rowling paid tribute to the actor on their social media platforms.
Radcliffe plays the titular Harry Potter and starred alongside Gambon in six movies from Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 all the way till Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2011.
“With the loss of Michael Gambon the world just became considerably less fun,” Radcliffe wrote in a statement (viaVariety.)
“Michael Gambon was one of the most brilliant, effortless actors I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, but despite his immense talent, the thing I will remember most about him is how much fun he had doing his job. He was silly, irreverent and hilarious. He loved his job, but never seemed defined by it. He was an incredible story and joke teller and his habit of blurring the lines of fact and fiction when talking to journalists meant that he was also one of the most entertaining people with whom you could ever wish to do a press junket.”
Radcliffe continued, “The sixth film was where I got to spend the most time working with Michael and he made the hours spent in front of a green screen together more memorable and joyous than they had any right to be,” Radcliffe added. “I’m so sad to hear he has passed, but I am so grateful for the fact that I am one of the lucky people who got to work with him.”
Author J.K. Rowling called Gambon “a wonderful man in additional to being an outstanding actor” while Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy said “The greatest thrill of being in the Potter films was that [Michael Gambon] knew my name and shared his fearless, filthy sense of fun with me.”
Rupert Grint, who played Ronald Weasley, called Gambon a “personal role model”. Fred Weasley actor James Phelps took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a memory he has of Gambon.
Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore from late actor Richard Harris. While the Harry Potter films raised Gambon’s international profile and introduced him to a new generation of fans, he had plenty of other notable roles including a psychotic mob leader in 1989’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and as the elderly King George V in 2010’s The King’s Speech. He also had parts in Wes Anderson’s comedy films The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
Throughout his six-decade-long career as an actor, Gambon has earned three Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and four BAFTA Awards.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
