Daniel Radcliffe Remembers Late Dumbledore Actor Michael Gambon

Daniel Radcliffe recently paid tribute to Michael Gambon, the actor who played Dumbledore in the latter half of the Harry Potter franchise and who passed away last week.

Speaking during Variety’s annual Business of Broadway Breakfast, Radcliffe briefly spoke about Gambon and praised the actor. Radcliffe said that the pair never spoke about their love of theater, despite both having a long history in the world of Broadway. Instead, Radcliffe said, the pair would often talk about other hobbies.

“The wonderful thing about Michael is that he wasn’t an actor you talked about acting with,” Radcliffe said. “His true passion was restoring 19th-century Italian dueling pistols.”

Radcliffe went on to note that Gambon’s ability to switch between emotions was incredible, noting that “He knows he’s at his best when he’s at his most playful. His ability to switch on was second to none,” the actor continued.

Michael Gambon had a prolific acting career

Gambon passed away last week at the age of 82. For many younger audiences, he will be best remembered for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise. However, Gambon also had a prolific acting career in theaters and on stage. His first professional performance was a 1962 production of William Shakespeare’s Othello.

He was later hired by Laurence Olivier’s National Theater Company and then went on to star in a number of additional Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet and Macbeth. He won three Olivier Awards throughout his career and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1997.

Gambon’s feature film debut also happened to be Othello, released in 1965 and directed by Olivier. He continued acting throughout the 1970s and 1980s, eventually starring in films such as 1999’s The Insider, 1999’s Sleepy Hollow, 2003’s Open Range, and 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, among many others.

Gambon took over the role of Albus Dumbledore after Richard Harris, who played the character in the first two Harry Potter films, passed away in 2002. Following his first performance as Dumbledore in 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gambon continued to reprise the role for the remainder of the franchise, the final installment being 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part II.