Albus Dumbledore - ©Theda Bara

Let’s talk about “Harry Potter”, more specifically about the actors who brought to life the character “Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore”, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the story, there are three actors who played “Dumbledore”.

“Harry Potter” fans are already wands at the ready, as the two actors who played “Albus Dumbledore” in the “Harry Potter” film series have passed away. There is a third “Dumbledore” in the spin-off film series “Fantastic Beasts”, a younger version of the headmaster of the iconic magic school.

“Harry Potter” Filmography: 2001 “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”; 2002 “Harry Potter and the  Chamber of Secrets”; 2004 “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”; 2005 “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”; 2007 “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”; 2009 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; 2010 and 2011 “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 and 2”.

Richard Harris played “Albus Dumbledore” in the first two films. He passed away in 2002 due to pneumonia. The production of the third film then cast another Irish actor, Michael Gambon. The veteran debuted in 2004 and quickly won over audiences. It’s almost impossible for a “Harry Potter” fan not to imagine Gambon in the role of the headmaster of the iconic school of magic, but this almost happened, as Warner Bros., initial idea to replace Harris was Ian Murray McKellen (1939-), an excellent actor who became immortalized in the role of “Magneto” in the “X-Men” film franchise. However, he refused the role due to criticism leveled at Richard Harris years earlier, as McKellen recounted in an interview with the BBC.

Harris was an Irish actor, theatre director, singer, composer, and writer, acclaimed for winning the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for “This Sporting Life” in 1963 and the Golden Globe Award for “Camelot” in 1967, playing “King Arthur”. He received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, for “This Sporting Life” (1964), in the role of “Frank Machin”, and for “The Field” (1991), in the role of “Bull McCabe”, but never won the statuette.

Richard Harris does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Richard St. John Harris was born on October 1, 1930, in Limerick, Ireland, and died on October 25, 2002, at University College Hospital in London, United Kingdom, at the age of 72.

Harris was married twice. His wives were Welsh socialite Elizabeth Rees-Williams Harris Aitken (1936-2022), from 1957 to 1969, and later American actress Ann Kathryn Turkel (1946-), to whom he was married from 1974 to 1982. From his first marriage, he had three British children: filmmaker and screenwriter Damian David Harris (1958-), actor and director Jared Harris (1961-) and actor Tudor St. John ‘Jamie’ Harris (1963-).

The second “Albus Dumbledore” in the “Harry Potter” franchise was Michael Gambon, who immortalized himself in the role from the third film until the end of the saga.

Michael John Gambon was an Irish actor who won four BAFTA Awards (the British equivalent of the Academy Awards) for Best Actor for his portrayals of “Philip Marlow” in “The Singing Detective” (1987), “Squire Hamley” in “Wives and Daughters” (2000), “John Harrison” in “Longitude” (2001), and “Raymond Symon” in “Perfect Strangers” (2002). However, he was never nominated for an Academy Award. In 1998, Gambon was knighted by the British government by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). The appointment took place on July 17th. Despite being Irish, Michael Gambon retained British citizenship, making the knighthood effective, not honorary. Previously, in 1990, he had already been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Michael Gambon also does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sir Michael John Gambon was born on October 19, 1940, in Cabra, Ireland, and died on September 28, 2023, in Witham, United Kingdom, at the age of 82.

Gambon was married to the mathematical scientist Anne Miller (1950-) from 1962 to 2002. * [Not to be confused with the American actress and dancer Anne Miller (1923–2004)]. The couple had one son, the architect and consultant to the British Glass and Ceramics Department, Fergus Gambon (1967-).

More recently, “Albus Dumbledore” was portrayed by Jude Law in “Fantastic Beasts” (2016/2018 and 2022). However, Law only participated in the last two films: “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018), when he debuted as the still-young headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets” (2022), when he reprised the role.

Jude Law is a British actor who, in 2000, received the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999), which also earned him an Oscar nomination, an award he did not win.

David Jude Heyworth Law was born on December 29, 1972, in Lewisham, London, United Kingdom, and is currently 53 years old.

Jude Law received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard, in a ceremony held on December 12, 2024.

Jude Law has been officially married twice. His first marriage was to British actress, producer, and fashion designer Sadie Liza Frost (1965-), from 1997 to 2003. The couple has two sons: British actor Rafferty ‘Raff’ Jellicoe Frost Law (1996-) and Rudy Law (2002-). His second marriage, since 2019, is to British behavioral psychologist Phillipa Coan (1987-). The couple also has two sons, one born in (2020-) and the other in (2023-). The names of the sons with Phillipa remain private and out of the spotlight.

Jude Law has a total of seven children from different relationships. His other three children are: Ada Law (2015-), from his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Irish singer-songwriter Catherine Harding (1991-), also known as Cat Cavelli; another daughter is British model Iris Tallulah Elizabeth Law (2000-); and high school student and teenager Sophia Law (2009-), from his relationship with American model and actress Samantha Burke (1985-).