Of all the classic generation of British and Irish actors who found they had a new lease of world-fame due to recurring roles in the Harry Potter movie franchise, perhaps the most iconic was Michael Gambon, who took over the role of the mysterious, snowy-haired Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore when Richard Harris died in 2002. It put him in charge of the school and at the head of the Hogwarts high table in Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Goblet of Fire (2005), Order of the Phoenix (2007), Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 (2010-11).
It was an undemanding role perhaps, and Gambon’s delicate health and dislike of learning lines made it a very congenial one, but he brought to Dumbledore his own capacity for unworldliness and gentleness. Harry Potter made him a monarch-like figure whose rule extended to the imaginations of children the world over, and he had a genuinely unforgettable scene with Daniel Radcliffe in the second half of Deathly Hallows, when Voldemort casts the killing curse on Harry, who awakens in an eerie white limbo where he meets and talks with Dumbledore about matters of life and death. There was something awe-inspiring for both children and grownups about this vision of death and its nearness, and Gambon was an ideal guide.
