Multiple actors have portrayed the character of Prof. Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, including Richard Harris in the blockbuster franchise’s first two first installments, and Jude Law in the Fantastic Beasts prequels. However, for many fans of the fantasy series, the first face they picture when they think of the character is Sir Michael Gambon.
Unfortunately, on September 28, 2023, fans were saddened by the news that they had lost their Dumbledore when the 82-year-old Irish-English actor passed away following a bout with pneumonia. While the headmaster of Hogwarts will likely be remembered as the veteran actor’s most iconic role, there are many other great Michael Gambon movies we wanted to highlight in celebration of his career. However, the Wizarding World is where we shall start.
The Harry Potter Movies (2004-2011)
After a lonely, orphaned boy (Daniel Radcliffe) discovers that he is a wizard, he goes off to attends a special school for people like him, where he and his friends (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) embark on many dangerous adventures — many of which are like to notorious criminal linked to his past.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: In 2004, following the passing of Richard Harris, Michael Gambon joined the Harry Potter movies cast as Albus Dumbledore, delivering a performance that would come to define the character from then on, starting with Prisoner of Azkaban.
Stream the Harry Potter movies on Max.
Stream the Harry Potter movies on Peacock.
Buy the Harry Potter movies on Amazon.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
A New York City constable (Johnny Depp) who has put all of his faith in science suddenly finds his beliefs challenged when he is sent to investigate a series of bizarre murders in a small town that the locals believe is the work of supernatural legend.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Years before becoming Dumbledore, Gambon worked with director Tim Burton on a darker literary fantasy adaptation, Sleepy Hollow, in the role Baltus Van Tassel, who becomes the leader of the titular town.
Stream Sleepy Hollow on Max.
Rent or buy Sleepy Hollow on Amazon.
Gosford Park (2001)
A group of self-absorbed aristocrats question which one of them is guilty of murdering a wealthy industrialist (Gambon) while spending the weekend at his lavish estate in 1930s England.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Among its stunning star-studded ensemble — which also includes the likes of Bob Balaban, Maggie Smith, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe and more — Gambon had the honor of being the victim at the center of the case in director Robert Altman’s funny, Oscar-winning take on the whodunnit genre, Gosford Park.
Rent or buy Gosford Park on Amazon.
Open Range (2003)
A veteran cattle herder (Robert Duvall) and his trusted ranch hand (director Kevin Costner) take on a pair of corrupt and powerful men threatening their land and their town’s freedom.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: In one of modern cinema’s most acclaimed western movies, Open Range, Gambon had the honor of playing one of the main villains — a violent, tyrannical rancher named Denton Baxter.
Stream Open Range on MGM+.
Rent or buy Open Range on Amazon.
Layer Cake (2004)
Just as he is about to enter a well-deserved early retirement, a successful drug dealer (Daniel Craig) is forced by his boss (Kennith Cranham) to search for the missing, drug-addicted daughter of a powerful crime lord (Gambon).
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Also in 2004, Gambon gave another chilling, villainous performance opposite future James Bond actor Craig in the stylish British crime thriller Layer Cake — the directorial debut of Matthew Vaughn, whom Gambon would briefly work with again in 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Rent or buy Layer Cake on Amazon.
Being Julia (2004)
A seasoned stage actor (Academy Award nominee Annette Bening) whose married to her fellow theatre troupe leader (Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons) begins to find the satisfaction she needs while having an affair with a younger American man (Shaun Evans) in 1930s London.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, Being Julia is charming, sexy and often hilarious period piece featuring Gambon in the admittedly smaller, but pivotal role of Jimmie Langton — the late mentor of Bening and Irons’ characters.
Rent or buy Being Julia on Amazon.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)
For his latest marine life documentary, an eccentric oceanographer (Bill Murray) brings his wife, (Anjelica Houston), a pregnant reporter (Cate Blanchett) and a man who might his son (Owen Wilson) along for the search of a mythical creature that he claims killed his partner.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Also one of the best movies from writer and director Wes Anderson, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou sees Gambon adopt a new, quirkier shade of his comedic sensibilities to play the disgruntled producer of the title character’s documentaries.
Rent or buy The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou on Amazon.
The Good Shepherd (2006)
This fictionalized depiction of the early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is seen primarily through the eyes of one of its co-creators and top covert operatives (Matt Damon).
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Gambon stars as a disgraced Yale poetry professor with a few other interesting secrets of his own in the loosely fact-based spy movie The Good Shepherd, which is also the second film directed by star Robert De Niro.
Stream The Good Shepherd on Starz.
Rent or buy The Good Shepherd on Amazon.
Brideshead Revisited (2008)
A British military officer (Matthew Goode) falls for the sister (Hayley Atwell) of his close friend (Ben Whishsaw) during a stay at the friend’’s wealthy family’s lavish estate in World War II-era London.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Another prominent literary character in Gambon’s repertoire is Alexander Flyte (also referred to as “Lord Marchmain”) in this feature-length, theatrically released adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s landmark novel Brideshead Revisited from director Julian Jarrold.
Stream Brideshead Revisited on Pluto TV.
Rent or buy Brideshead Revisited on Amazon.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
When his thieving habits begin to catch up to him, an anthropomorphic fox (George Clooney) must band together with his family and his other animal friend to fight back when the farmers he has been stealing from attack their underground home.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Gambon would reunite with co-writer and director Wes Anderson for this stop-motion animated adaptation of author Roald Dahl’s 1970 book Fantastic Mr. Fox, for which he lent his voice to the role of Franklin Bean — one of the three human farmers threatening the livelihood of the title character’s family.
Stream Fantastic Mr. Fox on Max.
Rent or buy Fantastic Mr. Fox on Amazon.
The King's Speech (2010)
After inheriting the English throne from his recently deceased father, King George VI (Colin Firth) enlists the help of a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) to help him overcome a stammer.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Gambon gives a brief, but devastatingly moving performance as King George V near the end of his life in director Tom Hooper’s inspiring biographical Best Picture Oscar winner, The King’s Speech.
Stream The King's Speech on Amazon Prime.
The Paddington Movies (2014, 2017)
These movies depict the adventures of a spectacled bear from Peru (Ben Whishaw) with the ability to speak and a deep love for marmalade after he is found at the London train station that inspired his name by a kindly family who take him in.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Gambon would reunite with his Brideshead Revisited co-star, Whishaw, to lend his voice to the role of Pastuzo — the adoptive uncle of the tile character from beloved kids movies, Paddington and its even more acclaimed sequel, Paddington 2.
Stream Paddington on Netflix.
Rent or buy Paddington on Amazon.
Rent or buy Paddington 2 on Amazon.
Judy (2019)
The legendary, but troubled show business veteran Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger in an Academy Award-winning performance) strikes a romance with a young musician (Finn Whitrock) and struggles to be away from her children while performing a series of concerts in the late 1960s London.
Why it is one of Michael Gambon’s best movies: Gambon stars as the well-known, Russian-born theatre impresario Bernard Delfront in Judy — director Rupert Goold’s revealing and rousing biopic set near the end of the Wizard of Oz star’s life.
The theatre-trained, Shakesperean actor’s many illustrious small screen credits should also not go unnoticed — such as his Emmy-nominated performances as Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO’s 2002 movie Path to War, and from BBC’s 2010 miniseries adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Emma. He also had a role on the harrowing Amazon Prime original series Fortitude from 2015 to 2018, and starred in PBS’s miniseries adaptation of Little Women from 2017. Fans of his — even outside of playing Dumbledore — will surely miss Sir Michael Gambon.
