Michael Gambon

One of Britain's greatest actors and film stars, Michael Gambon was born in Dublin during WWII, on the 29th of October, 1940. Originally, he decided to follow his father into Engineering and took up an apprentice as a tool maker. Passing the Shaftesbury Theatre one day, he caught a glimpse of a rehearsal in progress and was drawn in immediately.

He joined the Unity Theatre in Kings Cross, and later on the Dublin's Gate Theatre, where he made his debut playing "2nd Gentleman" in their 1962 version of Othello. One year later, he was hand-picked by Sir Laurence Olivier to form part of the original Royal National theatre Company. Over the next four years he appeared in many NT Productions including Hamlet, St. Joan, The Recruiting Officer, Othello, The Crucible, Much Ado about Nothing and Mother Courage (with Lynne Redgrave.)

Gambon's first real screen break came in 1968 with a BBC2 series called The Borderers, which revolved around the lives of an extended family of Scots living along the borders with England in the 1500's. This show turned him into something of an action hero, playing Gavin Ker, the swashbuckling head of a branch of the family. As a result, Gambon was asked by James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli to audition for the role in 1970, to replace George Lazenby. He didn't get the part though, as the producers were concerned about casting another ‘unknown' in the role. Throughout the seventies he was seen in a number of films including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Eyeless in Gaza, The Seagull and Nothing but the Night, and several TV series such as the short-lived The Challengers alongside Colin Blakely and The Other One, written for and starring Richard Briers. But it was not until Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective in 1986 that he became a household name. After this success, for which he won a BAFTA, his work includes films such as The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover which also starred Helen Mirren.

In recent years, films such as Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) and Plunkett & Macleane (1998), as well as television appearances in series such as Wives and Daughters (1999) (for which he won another BAFTA), a made-for-TV adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Endgame (2001) and Perfect Strangers (2001) have revealed a talent for comedy. In 2004, he appeared in five films, including Wes Anderson's quirky comedy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; the British gangster flick Layer Cake; theatrical drama Being Julia; and CGI action fantasy Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Perhaps his most significant role in 2004, however, was Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster in the third installment of J. K. Rowling's stories, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, taking over from fellow Irish actor Richard Harris. Gambon reprised the role of Albus Dumbledore in the 2005 release, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which was released in 2007. He will once again return to portray Dumbledore in the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In 2007 he played major roles in Stephen Poliakoff's Joe's Palace, and the five-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford novels, both for BBC TV.