Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon CBEis an Irish-born English actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. Gambon has played Philip Marlow in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and Professor Albus Dumbledore in the last six Harry Potter films after the death of actor Richard Harris...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth19 October 1940
CityDublin, Ireland
bit bored bother cause causing inferior rather room slightly teddy wanting
I like causing trouble. It's the teddy boy in me. I used to be a teddy boy. Feeling slightly inferior and wanting to cause a bit of bother and get some action going on in the room rather than get bored stiff. Does that make sense?
funny kids maybe rather sod white
Maybe that is why kids like Dumbledore: because he is funny rather than a miserable old sod with a long white beard.
star theater
Theater actors are just tolerated. You have to be a movie star to be a celebrity.
along brando films god lovely meant niro presents roles thank worked
I see film roles as lovely presents that come along now and again. I feel really lucky and say thank you very much. And if they fly me to L.A., I think, 'God, I must really be doing well.' I've worked with De Niro and Brando and Pacino, and that's made me feel very lucky. But the films have never meant a lot to me.
flown license round
I've had a private pilot's license for years and flown all round the U.K. and over to France.
good la time
I want to be good all the time, so I feel anxious. But if you weren't like that, you'd be dead, wouldn't you? If you went out happy down the road, la la la. I've never been like that. I don't want to be.
spells
There were certainly no spells at my school. More like a smack in the mouth.
believe demanding front hear idiot people requires row theatre
I sometimes think the theatre is more demanding because it requires things you don't have in films, like it requires you to make the people in the front row believe you and not look an idiot to them while the people right at the back can hear you.
maybe people
People should be shrouded in mystery. Especially actors. No, hang on, maybe actors should be blown up.
car grown half lines love night parking past remember rhythm stage starts telling theatre
The theatre starts every night at half past seven, and I like the rhythm of going to the theatre, parking the car, going to the stage door; I've grown up with all of that. I'd love to do more theatre - I mean, I shouldn't be telling the world that I can't remember lines any more, but I find it more and more difficult, so I don't know.
best bits books british-actor cut miserable people
People who have read the books get miserable because of all the bits that have been cut out. So I just read the script. That's the best way.
complete crooks nice played quite
I've played quite a lot of crooks and killers, and that's quite interesting. Then Dumbledore is the complete opposite, isn't he? He's a nice old man.
seem wrong
Certainly, I seem to need to do a play a year. I feel wrong if I haven't got one planned.
concerned state work
All actors say they're concerned about the state of the theatre, but what they're really concerned about is that there'll be less work around.