Sir Michael Gambon dead: Dumbledore and Layer Cake actor dies, aged 82

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Back home in England, I don’t hear it much because we’re such a cynical bunch of b******s.” open image in gallery Gambon on stage with Peter Bowles in 1990 While he’d taken on film roles in The Beast Must Die and Nothing But the Night in the Seventies, his main work away from the stage in these decades were on the small screen. open image in gallery Gambon with Emily Watson and Richard E Grant in ‘Gosford Park’ Gambon continued to work largely on independent films, but in 2004 he appeared in five different films, including gangster film Layer Cake and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The actor would insist it was an easy job, saying: “I just stick on a beard and play me, so it’s no great feat.” open image in gallery Gary Oldman and Michael Gambon with the young cast of Harry Potter in 2004 A notorious prankster, Gambon was known for fibbing in interviews, which he loathed, to keep himself amused. open image in gallery Michael Gambon with his Harry Potter co-stars Throughout his career, Gambon kept his private life private, one responding to an interview question about his wife with: “What wife?” He was self-deprecating, too, saying of his appearance in 2010: “ I can’t look in a mirror or look in a window because I hate it… It’s like a f***ing old wet bag.