With Michael Gambon, the world of acting has lost a great talent. He spent six decades in front of the camera and on stage. His most famous role is that of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. From the third part, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he played the headmaster of Hogwarts.
After we received the news of Gambon’s death yesterday, memories from former colleagues are now arriving. This also includes many members of the Harry Potter family, with whom Gambon made six films. Vulture and Deadline have summarized the statements, starting with Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe remembers Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon
In the Harry Potter films, Dumbledore appears as a mentor to Harry during his time at Hogwarts. Radcliffe played a lot of scenes together with Gambon. Looking back, he describes the actor as follows:
Michael Gambon was one of the most brilliant and effortless actors I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Despite his immense talent, what I will remember most is the fun he had doing his work. He was silly, sassy and hilarious. He loved his job, but wasn’t defined by it.
Warner Bros.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Gambon was even able to turn press conferences into unforgettable highlights:
He was an incredible storyteller and joke teller, and his habit of blurring the lines between fact and fiction when speaking to journalists also made him one most entertaining peoplewith whom one could wish for a press conference.
While filming the third part, Gambon and Snape actor Alan Rickman even played a prank on the young cast: He put a whoopee cushion in Daniel Radcliffe’s sleeping bag, as you can see in the video below.
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Especially in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Gambon and Radcliffe spent a lot of time together in front of the camera, as the story placed a lot of focus on the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore:
In the sixth film I spent most of the time with Michael and he recorded the hours we spent together in front of a green screen. more memorable and joyful, than they should be. I am so sad to hear that he has died, but I am also very grateful that I was one of the lucky people who was able to work with him.”He fascinated me as a child”: Emma Watson and Rupert Grind on Michael Gambons Death
Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who starred as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, have also commented on Gambon’s death.
Watson writes:
Kind, kind, kind Michael Gambon. You never took it too seriously, but somehow still managed to play the most serious moments with all their weight. Thank you for showing us what it looks like, Size easy to carry. We will miss you.
Grint adds:
It’s so sad, of [Michael Gambons Tod] listen. He brought on set every day so much warmth and mischief with. He fascinated me as a child and became a personal role model for me when it came to finding the fun and eccentricities in life. I send all my love to his family. See more reactions from the Harry Potter family to Michael Gambon’s death
Jason Isaacs, who played the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy from the second part onwards, talks about a special Gambon experience that greatly inspired him as an actor:
The great Michael Gambon has died. I learned what acting can be from Michael in The Singing Detective – complex, vulnerable and utterly human. The greatest appeal of the Potter films was that he knew my name and shared his fearless, dirty sense of fun with me.
Warner Bros.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
They are joined by director David Yates, who has directed the series from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Gambon four times as Dumbledore:
Michael was a mischievous, playful, but also deeply thoughtful actor. I got the impression that all the hustle and bustle surrounding Potter’s world irritated him, even amused him. Nevertheless, he put his heart and soul into creating one unforgettable, subversive and soulful Dumbledore stuck.
Yates adds:
He was also great fun on set, pragmatic, approachable, funny, down to earth and, despite his immense talent, effortlessly made everyone feel comfortable younger actors felt comfortable around him. He was one of the greats and we will all miss him.
Harry Potter creator JK Rowling also shares a few words about Gambon’s death. She didn’t just work with him on the fantasy series. Gambon was also seen in the crime series The Casual Vacancy aka A Sudden Death, which is based on a novel by Rowling:
The first time I saw him was in King Lear in 1982, and if you had told me then that this brilliant actor would appear in everything I wrote, I would have thought you were crazy. Michael was a wonderful person and not just an outstanding actor, and I really enjoyed working with him.