Michael Gambon Biography
Born: October 19, 1940
One of Britain's most revered stage performers, Michael Gambon was described by the late Sir_Ralph_Richardson as "The Great Gambon." The fierce-looking Irish actor joined Britain's National Theatre in 1963 after being personally selected by Sir_Laurence_Olivier. He quickly worked his way up to leading parts and became particularly well known for his work in a number of Alan_Ayckbourn plays. Gambon's career received a major boost in 1980, when he took the title role in John_Dexter's production of +The Life of Galileo; he subsequently became a regular player with both the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The actor received particular acclaim for his work in +A View from the Bridge, for which he won all of the major drama awards in 1987, and +Volpone, for which he won the 1995 Evening Standard Award. Gambon made his Broadway debut in 1997 in New York's Royal Theatre production of David_Hare's +Skylight.
While he was busy racking up an impressive number of plays, Gambon also found time to nurture a film career. Although he made his screen debut in a 1965 adaptation of +Othello, the actor appeared only sporadically in films until the late '80s, when he began earning recognition for his work in such films as Peter_Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), which cast him as the sadistic titular thief. He went on to do starring work in a number of diverse films, including A Man of No Importance (1994), The_Browning_Version (1994), Dancing at Lughnasa (1998), and Tim_Burton's Sleepy_Hollow (1999).
Extremely busy during the millennial turnover, Gambon once again caught the attention of audiences in Robert_Altman's much-praised comedy Gosford_Park before taking over the late Richard_Harris's role as Albus Dumbledore in 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, subsequently portraying the character for the remainder of the films. Gambon, who became a familiar face to PBS devotees via his title role in Dennis_Potter's quirky TV serial The_Singing_Detective (1986-1987), was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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