Sir Michael John Gambon October 19 1940 September 27 2023 was an IrishEnglish actor Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre Over his sixdecadelong career he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards In 1998 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama Gambon appeared in many productions of works by William Shakespeare such as Othello Hamlet Macbeth and Coriolanus Gambon was nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards winning three times for A Chorus of Disapproval 1985 A View from the Bridge 1987 and Man of the Moment 1990 In 1997 Gambon made his Broadway debut in David Hares Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination Gambon made his film debut in Othello 1965 His other notable films include The Cook the Thief His Wife Her Lover 1989 The Wings of the Dove 1997 The Insider 1999 Gosford Park 2001 Amazing Grace 2006 The Kings Speech 2010 Quartet 2012 and Victoria Abdul 2017 Gambon also appeared in the Wes Anderson films The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 2004 and Fantastic Mr Fox 2009 Gambon gained wider recognition through his role of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series from 2004 to 2011 replacing Richard Harris following his death in 2002 For his work on television he received four BAFTA Awards for The Singing Detective 1986 Wives and Daughters 1999 Longitude 2000 and Perfect Strangers 2001 He also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Path to War 2002 and Emma 2009 Gambons other notable projects include Cranford 2007 and The Casual Vacancy 2015 In 2017 he received the Irish Film Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award In 2020 he was listed at No 27 on The Irish Timess list of Irelands greatest film actors