![]() ![]() Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill in Churchill's Secret (Image: Daily Post)įollowing the success of the Harry Potter franchise, Michael appeared in Tom Hooper's acclaimed historical drama The King's Speech as King George V, alongside Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, and Guy Pearce, which won four Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. He has continued to take on a long list of theatre roles before he retired from the stage in 2015, due to the increasing length of time it was taking him to memorise his lines. The star's powerful voice gained him a role in The Life of Galileo by Brecht back at the National Theatre in 1980, which was highly commended by The Sunday Times. He was quickly transferred to the West End, where he became an established comic actor. Michael first gained notoriety in 1974 when he was cast as the melancholy vet in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests at Greenwich. Michael was hired to play any number of small roles in the company and spent four years working in many National Theatre productions.Īfter three years at the Old Vic, Michael left the National Theatre for the Birmingham Repertory Company, where he took on lead roles in big productions. Michael made his professional stage debut in the Gate Theatre's 1962 production of Othello, playing "Second Gentleman", which was followed by a European tour.Ī year later, whilst auditioning with the opening soliloquy from Richard III, he caught the eye of Laurence Olivier who was recruiting promising actors for his new National Theatre Company. Michael Gambon as Harrison in the TV series Longitude in the early 2000s (Image: Channel 4) He sent his letter along with a CV describing a wholly imaginary theatre career and by some small miracle was taken on. Michael Gambon started his illustrious acting career in theatre after writing a letter to the Irish theatre impresario, Micheál Mac Liammóir, who ran Dublin's Gate Theatre, at the age of 24. ![]() He kept the job for a further year, acquiring a lifelong passion for collecting antique guns, clocks, watches and classic cars during his stint with the company. However he gained an apprenticeship as a toolmaker with Vickers Armstrong and by the time he was 21, he was a qualified engineering technician. Michael struggled academically during his school days - leaving his secondary school with no qualifications at the age of 15. He then moved onto St Aloysius' College in Highgate, before the family moved to North End in Kent, where he attended Crayford Secondary School. Michael was brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, attending St Aloysius' Boys' School in Somers Town, where he served at the altar. Michael Gambon didn't start acting until he was 24-years-old (Image: PA) His father arranged for him to be made a British citizen, a decision that would later allow him to receive a substantive, rather than honorary, knighthood. His mother, Mary, was a seamstress, while his father, Edward Gambon, was an engineering operative during World War II.įollowing the war, Michael's father decided to seek work in the rebuilding of London, and moved the family to Mornington Crescent in Camden when he was six-years-old. Michael John Gambon was born in the Cabra suburb of Dublin in 1940.
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