Richard was in heavy, heavy costume, he could hardly sit, you know, and I turned up and they put me in two layers of silk, so I played him much lighter - you know, floating around in a pair of slippers, a bit of a hippy.

There were also appearances in Pinter's Old Times at the Haymarket Theatre and Jonson's Volpone and the brutal sergeant in Pinter's Mountain Language. Whilst at RADA Gambon acted in plays by William Shakespeare Anton Chekhov and many others. But together with Simon Russell Beale and Alan Bates he gave a deliciously droll radio account of the role of Marc.

A highly respected theatre actor Gambon is also recognised for his roles as Philip Marlow in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret and as Professor Albus Dumbledore in the final six Harry Potter films. Sir Michael John Gambon CBE (born 19 October 1940) is an English actor who has worked in theatre television and film.