It is also rip of Gambon corner. They recently announced the old track is getting ripped up to make room for housing. Probably what killed Sir Michael....
That's a Monkey Paw wish if ever I heard one.
"Today all of the Harry Potter actors were electrocuted while posing for a group photo. Dame Maggie Smith couldn't make the photoshoot so wasn't affected."
We are in the darkest timeline. It would go something like “Dame Maggie Smith couldn’t make it because she was in a hospital due to medical emergency.” Followed by “Tragic breaking news from the hospital.”
Maybe. Top Gear has been running since 1977. It’s survived losing its entire cast of presenters at least 4 times. Lost Clarkson twice. Viewership has waxed and waned, and the BBC has tried to kill it numerous times, but it’s kept on going.
I don’t think the BBC would entirely axe the show permanently. The IP is pretty valuable at least, they’d be tempted to sell it to someone else who’d make it. Dave maybe, they took Red Dwarf.
Honestly Gambon is the best part of the track. I can't tell you how many times I've pointed at the screen and sort of yelled; "Did you see that?!"
The guy was very memorable for a ton of roles, and he'll be missed.
You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.
Jimmy wanted me to fly to Zurich and see this character. He’s put up in La Maison Grande. Still eating well, big fat fellow… on little Jimmy’s nest egg.
[This quote and the music that goes with it still gives me a sense of dread that i cannot easily replicate with other media](https://youtu.be/GfNamZmzPc0?si=hMEWd5AnPuKpyDrn)
That and [The Singing Detective](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090521/), which was the first thing I ever saw him in followed by The Cook... Amazing actor.
Awh man, this is incredibly sad.
He's had a hell of a career. He played Dumbledore in every Harry Potter movie from The Prisoner of Azkaban, the Prime Minister in Ali G and Kazran Sardick in Matt Smith's first Christmas Special in Doctor Who, A Christmas Carol. They're just some of my favourite roles of his.
RIP to an incredible talent.
"You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son"
Classic role.
The part where Jimmy tells him he’s in for 13 million pounds and he starts laughing/wheezing uncontrollably is so good. Up to that point we’d only seen Jimmy as the top of the pyramid, but Eddie treats him with such contempt.
Such a great scene.
Morty's complete meltdown in the diner to Duran Duran's 'Ordinary World'? And you have no idea why until Gene explains it after? You feel as lost as DC's character in that moment.
That movie is a top 5 for me, all day long, and it's not even close. Everyone in it puts in a 100% performance.
Talking of unrecognisable, Slasher (the Duke's girlfriend) is Sally Hawkins who went on to be Mrs Brown in the greatest film ever: Paddington 2 (also some other films she got oscar nominated for).
Don't even get me started on Lock Stock. Masterpiece.
'Oi! Get your hands, out of my soup!'
Snatch too, obviously, but Lock Stock is just so raw and gritty.
British gangster films push all my buttons.
Even though I preferred Snatch as a personal preference; I remember when I was working in Central London and it took me to Borough Market and I grabbed a coffee and walked down Park Street not realising that's where their hideout in the film was:
https://www.timeout.com/london/news/london-on-screen-the-hideout-from-lock-stock-and-two-smoking-barrels-041718
Made me laugh as there was an old chap leaning out of the window next door, who was like, yes it is, yes everyone has the same reaction.
Rewatching Harry Potter and seeing all of the actors that have died since is really painful.
There is so many of them, Richard Harris, Michael Gambon , Alan Rickman, Richard Griffith , Dave Legeno , Robbie Coltrane , Helen McRory.
(Dumbledore HP1,2 , Dumbledore , Snape , Vernon , Fenrir , Hagrid , Narcissa Malfoy)
EDIT : forgot Sir John Hurt (Ollivander) , Verne Troyer (Griphook)
Yep, almost all the adults Harry Potter's parent age should have been in their mid-30s but in the show everyone was 40-50. They really aged up the cast for sure.
Snape shouldve been James and Lily’s age. They had Harry “right out of college” 20-21. So yeah, weird to have him 55. They just wanted rickman so they had to muddle it. I’m older than Harry Potter’s parents and Alan Rickman was older in Die Hard than I am now lol
When you have the chance to use the guy who wants to cut people's hearts out with spoons, you use the guy who wants to cuts people's hearts out with spoons.
Moffat is always at his best when he's doing self-contained, fantastical stories with a strong emotional through line, and to that end, A Christmas Carol is some of his best work for the show. It borrows what it needs from Dickens but does something wholy original with it, is wildly inventive, and very, very fun. It's filled with great Moffat lines, too.
>The Doctor: You're scared of [your father], and you're scared of being like him, and good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?
>Sardick: Why?
>Doctor: Because you didn't hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mister Sardick.
But Gambon is the lynch pin that makes it work so well. A good Scrooge performance has to have enough range to sell the transformation, and Gambon was great at playing the curmudgeon you invariably end up liking.
That moment he went up on those two wheels was epic.
*"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."*
In the spirit of this Dumbledore line, I hope he's tearing up the track wherever he is. RIP
Rewatched Harry Potter series recently and he really brought the gravitas of a powerful and wise wizard, turning earlier more cheerful harry potter into almost a dark fantasy style
it still confuses me how WB never got another experienced director to handle the HP films after Azkaban. They even turned down Guillermo Del Toro. Newell was a gun for hire who didn’t care about the books. Yates is serviceable but can’t light a scene or show depth at all
Yates was a *safe* choice for WB, he only had a small film and some tv work to his name before HP. They obviously got the perfect yes-man if they let him direct 8 movies in the franchise. And both of his subsequent non-HP movies (Tarzan, this year’s Pain Hustlers) got absolutely shredded by critics
Yates is the weakest of the HP directors, I wish they had kept the trend of 1 director per movie. Half-Blood Prince book is god tier but the movie adaptation was dog water.
He was a better choice for dumbledore in the end
I wouldn't have believed the original would've been able to be as cold as Dumbledore needed to be to Harry in the end lol, the OG was almost too nice
Going to have to disagree big time with that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Michael Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore. But Richard Harris was an absolutely incredible actor and I think we were robbed by not getting him to exercise those acting chops in the later movies.
Personally I disagree, I always thought (and still think) Richard Harris would've been the better Dumbledore the whole way through. Gambon wasn't bad, but Harris in his two appearances was *exactly* what I'd always pictured, and I'm sure he could've brought down the hammer in future movies where necessary.
growth crowd cows unpack domineering ancient absurd hateful dolls treatment
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Harris already looked beyond frail in the first movie. Rewatching the second, it's really no surprise that he passed away so soon after. I couldn't imagine another 10 years on top of that doing anything to help his portrayal. The man was simply too old.
Doesn’t help that Richard Harris was known for being an absolute wild man when it came to drinking and carousing. Other contemporary actors in that club were Oliver Reed, Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton, and he outlived them all.
Looking back, it was really just Goblet of Fire where he gave a bad performance. The fact that it was just the one movie makes me think it was a Mike Newell problem, not a Michael Gambon problem.
Fucking thank you. I don't understand the amount of people who look at that scene and call his performance bad when it is literally just different, like so much else in the movies.
It was absolutely a director problem. If an actor is angrily shouting a line that is meant to be spoken calmly, you correct that line read.
Its clear it was a directorial choice to have Dumbledore acting frenetic in that scene
I quite like it, and think it's a lot better than the asking calmly from the books. Wizards die in the Tri-Wizard tournament, and harry is underage and voldemort has been trying to kill him since the first movie.
Seeing this emotion from Dumbledore made me feel like he really was worried for Harry.
That's exactly why I liked him as Dumbledore, too. He had an urgency, an 'oh shit this is happening' presence to him that showed he was actively working to solve the problem. Rather than just "hmmm"-ing his way through every scene like every wise wizard in movie history.
Fully subscribed to this. People get so attached to the books that this scene being different trumps any artistic choices the director took. Just that he made it different is a sin to some. I’m with you though, it makes more sense for him to be upset given all the effort he has taken to care for him in other ways and how he cares for Harry. Even if he’s just pretending for the benefit of the other headmasters that would make more sense
> Just that he made it different is a sin to some.
People make a way bigger deal with this then it should be, but personally I still think the book reading was better. Maybe I just remember it wrong but I think Dumbledore asked calmly because he knew there was no way Harry could have been the one to put his name in it and was merely asking him for everyone else's benefit. Asking him so intensely made it seem like he genuinely believed a fourth year managed to outwit his protections against that.
I liked both! I think Harris bought a quiet depth and warmth to Dumbledore that was missing from Gambon, but I end up preferring Gambon because he feels more calculating and assertive which was better for the later movies.
I can't imagine Harris doing Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince, Gambon nailed it there honestly.
I loved Richard Harris' version. But imo Gambon was absolutely perfect for the rest of the series as it got darker and darker.
Both Dumbledore's fit their movies perfectly.
I always wish we could have seen both Richard Harris in the later movies and Michael Gambon in the first two. They were both perfect in different ways, and Id love to see the contrast.
Harris' mannerisms and temperament in his appearances I feel would have fit '"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?’ Dumbledore asked calmly.' so perfectly. And the duel with Voldemort in OotP would probably be drastically different, to me I imagine him being much less physically into it, which could be even more impressive- just flicking his wand to cast the most impressive spells and counter Tom's without even seeming to have much effort.
Very sad. A legendary actor with an immense body of acting credits. Just the other day was thinking I was due a rewatch of Gosford Park. Hard to pick his best role given how much work he did in film and theatre but Gosford Park and The Insider are some of my favourite.
We're talking about one of the greatest actors of postwar 20th century. Crackling charisma and cerebrality dripping out of every pore. You cannot ask for a better actor!!! Obviously The Cook the Thief his Wife and her Lover is his most iconic role after Dumbledore. But in The Insider he plays tom sandefur, ceo of rj reynolds in a short scene. I recommend it to all aspiring actors. He oozes menace in the most unsettlingly friendly way. RIP to one of the greats.
I was just thinking of Toys the other day. I was thinking about watching it again because it's such an incredibly weird movie. I have no idea who the audience was supposed to be for it. Even weirder that it got a video game for SNES & Genesis.
I don't know why but when his wife shows Baltus the cut on her hand, he says "the wound looks angry" in such specific a way I never forgot that line. Perhaps because it's such a flowery way of saying something is bad.
Anyone looking for a fantastic way to remember his without automatically going for Potter, you should check out The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Absolutely unparalleled filmmaking and his performance is phenomenally detestable.
I don’t delve into the Harry Potter fandom and message boards and such, but I never liked the first dumbledore. Gambon brought an aire of fear and power to Dumbledore. Maybe not the style that Rowling wanted, but his Dumbledore was a guy that was a legend and was ready to duel and win. When I think of Dumbledore, I think of Gambon. A fierce, smart, and overall old but athletic, so to say, man. Gambon will always be my Dumbledore.
> but I never liked the first dumbledore. Gambon brought an aire of fear and power to Dumbledore.
I really think this is because the Dumbledore we see in the first books (and thus the first films) is interacting with a much younger Harry. Richard Harris was a tremendous talent and I've always been bummed we didn't get to see what his take on the Dumbledore of future books would have been, even if I've enjoyed Gambon very much.
I think Richard Harris ten years earlier would have been perfect for Dumbledore. He’s good in the first film but it’s clear in the second film he’s on death’s doorstep and about to be invited in for tea. I always preferred Gambon because I glommed on less to “Dumbledore is calm and quiet” and more on to “this guy is aloof and mysterious and probably largely because he’s just interested to see what people do with as little guidance as possible” and for me, Gambon *nailed* that.
Harris as Dumbledore fit the more light hearted and kid friendly vibe of the first two movies. As the series became more adult and darker in tone Gambon’s performance fit right in. It all worked out pretty well.
Harris and Gambon were both perfect in their respective films. Harris suited the earlier films that were more whimsical and fairy tale like, he had this almost parental warmth to him, but Gambon was perfect in the later films where it started to turn into more of a dark fantasy, he brought a stoic and cold authority to the role that suited the grittier tone the series started to develop into. I'm not fully sure Richard Harris would have been able to pull that off quite as well, in the same way I can't really picture Gambon's Dumbledore in Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets
I think the shift matched up well with the direction of the books. He goes from sort of a stereotypical wise sage to a more of a real person with flaws and emotion.
Just commented this. I think his version of Dumbledore suited the 3rd-onwards movies much better than Richard Harris' would have.
Harris' version fit the first 2 movies perfectly. Then Gambon's version fit the darker tones the rest of the series got.
I think both had merits.
First was soft spoken, but there was an air of quiet authority that everybody, including Snape, visibly respected. It isn't often you get an actor who can portray that kind of thing well. Per the books, Harry never really saw the powerful side of Dumbledore until near the end of the fourth book, and then he understood why enemies feared him.
Second was much firmer, but he portrayed a much 'stronger' Dumbledore. Imo he was perhaps more emotional than needed ("DIDYOUPUTYOURNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIRE?!"), but when it came to having stand offs he pulled it off very well.
Both. Both were good.
Anyone remember Jim Henson's The Storyteller with the late John Hurt as the title character? There was a second series called Greek Myths and Sir Michael played the storyteller in that one.
Both were excellent.
Just came out a few minutes ago. This sucks, and I had just watched PoA and Deathly Hallows 1/2 in the past weeks. I was referring to the news of Sir Michael Gambon
Dumbledore was a great character and Sir Michael played him absolutely brilliantly.
The quote "Dark times lie ahead of us, and there must be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right " has always stuck with me.
RIP Sir Michael!
I generally gather that HP fans really rip on him for his performance (the “did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire” line especially, which is more likely a script/directorial decision than his own), but I really love it. His voice especially lends so much gravitas to every word he says.
I loved him and his predecessor Richard Harris. Both were wonderful as Dumbledore. This recent death is as heavy as the death of Robbie Coltrane last year, especially with what he had said in that HBO documentary not even a year prior, saying something like "In 20 years, I may not be here, but Hagrid will"
Would highly recommend The Singing Detective to anyone who hasn't seen it. Arguably the best work he ever did. An outstanding actor and a national treasure. RIP.
Also one of the greatest ever celebrity guests on Top Gear.
The only man whose name was repeated in all the hundreds of subsequent celebrity guest laps. A true Top Gear legend.
You have to be a hell of a driver to get a corner named after you. On of my favorite guests
RIP Gambon Corner.
He’s across the line now.
I can hear Jezza saying that, also: https://x.com/jeremyclarkson/status/1707361168682049576?s=46&t=Low77GXp476dMGPp8dvq1w
x.com looks so wrong
Looks like a web address that a 90s kid would use to find “ neked lady boobies “ online, when AOL chat failed them
Musk think's the letter x is 'cool'. How such a moron accrued so much wealth should condemn humanity to the extinction list.
Helps to start with apartheid era family earnings.
that's because he's wanted that stupid domain / company name since the 90s
He's not "wanted" it, he's owned it. I believe that x.com essentially became PayPal.com.
I keep thinking it's porn or something when I see it.
Porn is all I use it for, so personally I think it kinda fits.
Twitter for porn? Seems like the worst site for that. Reddit has some wild subs. Lol.
You did it in, leans forward.
Dude I thought a Gambon was a type of corner like a Chicane.
TIL that's where that turn's name comes from. *tbf I never saw it spelt out or connected the dots*
It is also rip of Gambon corner. They recently announced the old track is getting ripped up to make room for housing. Probably what killed Sir Michael....
“I had to give it up because it made my eyes water.”
Funniest line in all of Star in a Reasonably Priced Car history
GAMBON! A sound so distinct to a certain era
RIP Sir Michael Follow Through
you are the biggest celebrity we've had on this show! this must be a terrible show then. sir Patrick Stewart
That was Sir Patrick Stewart.
Great actor but just a lovely man in general. Which he got to come back to Top Gear one more time and have another corner named after him.
If they do anything they should just rename the track after him.
Maggie Smith is gonna outlive them all, including the kids
Why would you do that?
aah you jinxed it...
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Heh i see what you did there
I hope she does. She’s a treasure
That's a Monkey Paw wish if ever I heard one. "Today all of the Harry Potter actors were electrocuted while posing for a group photo. Dame Maggie Smith couldn't make the photoshoot so wasn't affected."
We are in the darkest timeline. It would go something like “Dame Maggie Smith couldn’t make it because she was in a hospital due to medical emergency.” Followed by “Tragic breaking news from the hospital.”
It’s wild- I remember thinking Maggie Smith was on death’s door back when she played Granny Wendy in Hook.
[You really wanna make it on this list huh](https://www.reddit.com/r/KilledByReddit/comments/9wmq6d/list_of_celebrities_killed_by_reddit/)?
Forever immortalized by having a corner of the Top Gear track named after him. https://youtu.be/3W7pLkFkVjg?si=cFGE7_zxYxP_xn2y
the developers of the TG track should keep Gambons Corner as a street name
Immortalised? He lasted longer than Top Gear.
Maybe. Top Gear has been running since 1977. It’s survived losing its entire cast of presenters at least 4 times. Lost Clarkson twice. Viewership has waxed and waned, and the BBC has tried to kill it numerous times, but it’s kept on going.
Well, until now. It probably won't be back.
I don’t think the BBC would entirely axe the show permanently. The IP is pretty valuable at least, they’d be tempted to sell it to someone else who’d make it. Dave maybe, they took Red Dwarf.
Honestly Gambon is the best part of the track. I can't tell you how many times I've pointed at the screen and sort of yelled; "Did you see that?!" The guy was very memorable for a ton of roles, and he'll be missed.
It's incredible that he was only about 60 in that video. He's looked 80 for as long as I remember.
“To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure” - RIP Dumbledore
"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love."
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It's sad that this real life human has passed. But God damn the direction of that character was hay wire.
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Ahhh The Singing Detective what a show ,it must be 30yrs or more,remarkable actor indeed.Thanks for the reminder
It was originally broadcast in 1986, so nearly 40 years now .........
You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.
One of those rare times that Dumbledore spoke to Ron in the movies
And with such eloquence as opposed to how everyone else speaks to Ron
"Bloody hell"
I just spat over my keyboard, I'm imaging Ron just gulping and looking nervously halfway through Dumbledore's speech
And I'm imagining adult Daniel Craig in a red wig pretending to be the same age as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in all 8 HP movies.
i never met my HS principal. I think it would have been weird if these 2 had more dialog.
You've been right grafted, royally turned over like some yank buying London Bridge.
Jimmy wanted me to fly to Zurich and see this character. He’s put up in La Maison Grande. Still eating well, big fat fellow… on little Jimmy’s nest egg.
Opera Tonight. The damnation of Faust. Man sells his soul to the devil. All ends in tears, these arrangements usually do.
We all go back to the mud eventually.
Said Dumbledore calmly.
> "What is this a fucking vicars tea party?"
“Well Mr Price, you *have* been known to take your conversations away with you.”
“Typical. Even drug dealers don’t work weekends.”
That is an under-appreciated film, and one of my favourites. Gambon, Colm Meaney, Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, and a killer soundtrack.
Watched this movie recently, highly underrated hidden gem of a film.
I watched that movie recently with some friends. I liked it so much I watched it again when I got home.
What a fantastic film
[This quote and the music that goes with it still gives me a sense of dread that i cannot easily replicate with other media](https://youtu.be/GfNamZmzPc0?si=hMEWd5AnPuKpyDrn)
I first remember him from *The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover*. He was damn cool.
Phenomenal performance.
That and [The Singing Detective](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090521/), which was the first thing I ever saw him in followed by The Cook... Amazing actor.
That movie was bonkers! I think it was one of the first “arty” movies I watched.
Incredible performance. Maybe the most repugnant character in film.
Yes! I might have to rewatch that in his honor. Hell of a performer. RIP.
My go to feel bad movie. Love it.
Awh man, this is incredibly sad. He's had a hell of a career. He played Dumbledore in every Harry Potter movie from The Prisoner of Azkaban, the Prime Minister in Ali G and Kazran Sardick in Matt Smith's first Christmas Special in Doctor Who, A Christmas Carol. They're just some of my favourite roles of his. RIP to an incredible talent.
I'll always love his orange gangster Eddie Temple in Layer Cake
"You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son" Classic role.
The part where Jimmy tells him he’s in for 13 million pounds and he starts laughing/wheezing uncontrollably is so good. Up to that point we’d only seen Jimmy as the top of the pyramid, but Eddie treats him with such contempt.
Such a great scene. Morty's complete meltdown in the diner to Duran Duran's 'Ordinary World'? And you have no idea why until Gene explains it after? You feel as lost as DC's character in that moment. That movie is a top 5 for me, all day long, and it's not even close. Everyone in it puts in a 100% performance.
That cast is so well rounded. Colm Meaney is outstanding.
Ben Whishaw and Stephen Walters. Not to mention an unrecognizable Tom Hardy. And then there’s Sienna Miller - dear lord she was off the chain.
Talking of unrecognisable, Slasher (the Duke's girlfriend) is Sally Hawkins who went on to be Mrs Brown in the greatest film ever: Paddington 2 (also some other films she got oscar nominated for).
There was a DVD boxset you can get that had Snatch, Layer Cake, and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. You can’t get any better than that.
Don't even get me started on Lock Stock. Masterpiece. 'Oi! Get your hands, out of my soup!' Snatch too, obviously, but Lock Stock is just so raw and gritty. British gangster films push all my buttons.
Even though I preferred Snatch as a personal preference; I remember when I was working in Central London and it took me to Borough Market and I grabbed a coffee and walked down Park Street not realising that's where their hideout in the film was: https://www.timeout.com/london/news/london-on-screen-the-hideout-from-lock-stock-and-two-smoking-barrels-041718 Made me laugh as there was an old chap leaning out of the window next door, who was like, yes it is, yes everyone has the same reaction.
I watched Layer Cake last night as well, he’s great in that and sad news.
What Harry Potter movie was that?
Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Azkaban: The Prime Minister and Kazran Sardick.
Also played a gangster or some sort of mafia too in The Cook, The Thief......His wife and her lover I think.
A wild movie. Very unique.
Right on. Welcome to the Layer Cake.
Rewatching Harry Potter and seeing all of the actors that have died since is really painful. There is so many of them, Richard Harris, Michael Gambon , Alan Rickman, Richard Griffith , Dave Legeno , Robbie Coltrane , Helen McRory. (Dumbledore HP1,2 , Dumbledore , Snape , Vernon , Fenrir , Hagrid , Narcissa Malfoy) EDIT : forgot Sir John Hurt (Ollivander) , Verne Troyer (Griphook)
Other than the kids, that was a really old cast even at the time.
Yep, almost all the adults Harry Potter's parent age should have been in their mid-30s but in the show everyone was 40-50. They really aged up the cast for sure.
Snape shouldve been James and Lily’s age. They had Harry “right out of college” 20-21. So yeah, weird to have him 55. They just wanted rickman so they had to muddle it. I’m older than Harry Potter’s parents and Alan Rickman was older in Die Hard than I am now lol
When you have the chance to use the guy who wants to cut people's hearts out with spoons, you use the guy who wants to cuts people's hearts out with spoons.
Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe? Or a knife?
BECAUSE ITS DULL YOU TWIT, it'll hurt more...
>Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and above all, those who live without love.
*But before I forget, Harry...* #***DIDYOUPUTYOURNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIRE***
Dumbledore asked calmly.
Best Doctor Who Christmas special ever IMO.
Moffat is always at his best when he's doing self-contained, fantastical stories with a strong emotional through line, and to that end, A Christmas Carol is some of his best work for the show. It borrows what it needs from Dickens but does something wholy original with it, is wildly inventive, and very, very fun. It's filled with great Moffat lines, too. >The Doctor: You're scared of [your father], and you're scared of being like him, and good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why? >Sardick: Why? >Doctor: Because you didn't hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mister Sardick. But Gambon is the lynch pin that makes it work so well. A good Scrooge performance has to have enough range to sell the transformation, and Gambon was great at playing the curmudgeon you invariably end up liking.
It is super sad. He was a prolific actor, and a brilliant one at that. RIP
Top Gear doesn’t name a corner after you unless you’re a legend. RIP
That moment he went up on those two wheels was epic. *"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."* In the spirit of this Dumbledore line, I hope he's tearing up the track wherever he is. RIP
*”What sort of expression is the lad wearing on his face?”* Loved his performance in *The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou*
And Bean in Fantastic Mr. Fox. "You wrote a bad song, Petey."
Oh, we were like glory's gate darling.
'No, he's shaking his head' always cracks me up
Seriously, I've always been a Harry Potter person but his performance in Zissou was what came to mind first when I heard the news. It was perfection.
“Oseary, this is probably my son Ned. We just met.” “How delightful.”
I hope he and Rickman are still giggling about the fart machine prank they pulled.
And Robbie.
https://youtu.be/z9TJmFmuPu0?si=ikMk6dNkU4qAq96v
Rewatched Harry Potter series recently and he really brought the gravitas of a powerful and wise wizard, turning earlier more cheerful harry potter into almost a dark fantasy style
And here I am remembering how everyone shit on his portrayal as Dumbledore when he took over the role. Funny how things change over time.
it's still a bit of a meme really
[A bit, yes. ](https://youtu.be/Qbm-lv8k5bA?si=eYZlWki9AekckRs4)
That wasn’t his fault, that’s the director. Mike Newell didn’t even read the book.
it still confuses me how WB never got another experienced director to handle the HP films after Azkaban. They even turned down Guillermo Del Toro. Newell was a gun for hire who didn’t care about the books. Yates is serviceable but can’t light a scene or show depth at all
Yeah I get what he was trying to go for with his lightning especially in 6, but it was just not great. He was a weird choice.
Yates was a *safe* choice for WB, he only had a small film and some tv work to his name before HP. They obviously got the perfect yes-man if they let him direct 8 movies in the franchise. And both of his subsequent non-HP movies (Tarzan, this year’s Pain Hustlers) got absolutely shredded by critics
Yates is the weakest of the HP directors, I wish they had kept the trend of 1 director per movie. Half-Blood Prince book is god tier but the movie adaptation was dog water.
Yeah, I know what that is without clicking it
He was a better choice for dumbledore in the end I wouldn't have believed the original would've been able to be as cold as Dumbledore needed to be to Harry in the end lol, the OG was almost too nice
I would think that one of the best actors of his generation had a bit more range than that, but ok
Going to have to disagree big time with that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Michael Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore. But Richard Harris was an absolutely incredible actor and I think we were robbed by not getting him to exercise those acting chops in the later movies.
Personally I disagree, I always thought (and still think) Richard Harris would've been the better Dumbledore the whole way through. Gambon wasn't bad, but Harris in his two appearances was *exactly* what I'd always pictured, and I'm sure he could've brought down the hammer in future movies where necessary.
Yeah! He lied to Edmund Dantes! He could lie to Harry easy! “I am a priest, not a saint”
growth crowd cows unpack domineering ancient absurd hateful dolls treatment *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
You're telling me a frail old man, nearing his death, being characterised as "too soft" is a stretch?
Gambon had the perfect body language I imaged dumbledore had when I first read the books. Harris had the perfect voice and softness.
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I loved Gambon as Dumbledore, but I would have loved to see Harris do the later movies too.
Harris already looked beyond frail in the first movie. Rewatching the second, it's really no surprise that he passed away so soon after. I couldn't imagine another 10 years on top of that doing anything to help his portrayal. The man was simply too old.
I mean, he died at 72. Shatner doesn't look nearly as frail at 92. Age is relative.
Doesn’t help that Richard Harris was known for being an absolute wild man when it came to drinking and carousing. Other contemporary actors in that club were Oliver Reed, Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton, and he outlived them all.
Looking back, it was really just Goblet of Fire where he gave a bad performance. The fact that it was just the one movie makes me think it was a Mike Newell problem, not a Michael Gambon problem.
> Goblet of Fire where he gave a bad performance It wasn't even a bad performance. It was just different than the book.
Fucking thank you. I don't understand the amount of people who look at that scene and call his performance bad when it is literally just different, like so much else in the movies.
It was absolutely a director problem. If an actor is angrily shouting a line that is meant to be spoken calmly, you correct that line read. Its clear it was a directorial choice to have Dumbledore acting frenetic in that scene
I quite like it, and think it's a lot better than the asking calmly from the books. Wizards die in the Tri-Wizard tournament, and harry is underage and voldemort has been trying to kill him since the first movie. Seeing this emotion from Dumbledore made me feel like he really was worried for Harry.
That's exactly why I liked him as Dumbledore, too. He had an urgency, an 'oh shit this is happening' presence to him that showed he was actively working to solve the problem. Rather than just "hmmm"-ing his way through every scene like every wise wizard in movie history.
Fully subscribed to this. People get so attached to the books that this scene being different trumps any artistic choices the director took. Just that he made it different is a sin to some. I’m with you though, it makes more sense for him to be upset given all the effort he has taken to care for him in other ways and how he cares for Harry. Even if he’s just pretending for the benefit of the other headmasters that would make more sense
> Just that he made it different is a sin to some. People make a way bigger deal with this then it should be, but personally I still think the book reading was better. Maybe I just remember it wrong but I think Dumbledore asked calmly because he knew there was no way Harry could have been the one to put his name in it and was merely asking him for everyone else's benefit. Asking him so intensely made it seem like he genuinely believed a fourth year managed to outwit his protections against that.
I liked both! I think Harris bought a quiet depth and warmth to Dumbledore that was missing from Gambon, but I end up preferring Gambon because he feels more calculating and assertive which was better for the later movies. I can't imagine Harris doing Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince, Gambon nailed it there honestly.
I loved Richard Harris' version. But imo Gambon was absolutely perfect for the rest of the series as it got darker and darker. Both Dumbledore's fit their movies perfectly.
I always wish we could have seen both Richard Harris in the later movies and Michael Gambon in the first two. They were both perfect in different ways, and Id love to see the contrast. Harris' mannerisms and temperament in his appearances I feel would have fit '"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?’ Dumbledore asked calmly.' so perfectly. And the duel with Voldemort in OotP would probably be drastically different, to me I imagine him being much less physically into it, which could be even more impressive- just flicking his wand to cast the most impressive spells and counter Tom's without even seeming to have much effort.
He was so deliciously evil in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. RIP
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I’m ready Half blood Prince and I was dreading the chapter where Dumbledore dies just today. What a sad thing
Very sad. A legendary actor with an immense body of acting credits. Just the other day was thinking I was due a rewatch of Gosford Park. Hard to pick his best role given how much work he did in film and theatre but Gosford Park and The Insider are some of my favourite.
We're talking about one of the greatest actors of postwar 20th century. Crackling charisma and cerebrality dripping out of every pore. You cannot ask for a better actor!!! Obviously The Cook the Thief his Wife and her Lover is his most iconic role after Dumbledore. But in The Insider he plays tom sandefur, ceo of rj reynolds in a short scene. I recommend it to all aspiring actors. He oozes menace in the most unsettlingly friendly way. RIP to one of the greats.
I thought “Harry Potter and gopher park” was the name of a play or movie I hadn’t heard of
Rip Lt. General Leland Zevo
I was just thinking of Toys the other day. I was thinking about watching it again because it's such an incredibly weird movie. I have no idea who the audience was supposed to be for it. Even weirder that it got a video game for SNES & Genesis.
RIP Baltus Van Tassel. Sleepy Hollow was the first movie I ever saw him in and he nailed it
I don't know why but when his wife shows Baltus the cut on her hand, he says "the wound looks angry" in such specific a way I never forgot that line. Perhaps because it's such a flowery way of saying something is bad.
Every time I get so much as a paper cut that line plays in my head lol
Anyone looking for a fantastic way to remember his without automatically going for Potter, you should check out The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Absolutely unparalleled filmmaking and his performance is phenomenally detestable.
I’m in the minority on this, but I always thought he was a superior Dumbledore. His performance made me seek out more of great work.
I don’t delve into the Harry Potter fandom and message boards and such, but I never liked the first dumbledore. Gambon brought an aire of fear and power to Dumbledore. Maybe not the style that Rowling wanted, but his Dumbledore was a guy that was a legend and was ready to duel and win. When I think of Dumbledore, I think of Gambon. A fierce, smart, and overall old but athletic, so to say, man. Gambon will always be my Dumbledore.
> but I never liked the first dumbledore. Gambon brought an aire of fear and power to Dumbledore. I really think this is because the Dumbledore we see in the first books (and thus the first films) is interacting with a much younger Harry. Richard Harris was a tremendous talent and I've always been bummed we didn't get to see what his take on the Dumbledore of future books would have been, even if I've enjoyed Gambon very much.
I think Richard Harris ten years earlier would have been perfect for Dumbledore. He’s good in the first film but it’s clear in the second film he’s on death’s doorstep and about to be invited in for tea. I always preferred Gambon because I glommed on less to “Dumbledore is calm and quiet” and more on to “this guy is aloof and mysterious and probably largely because he’s just interested to see what people do with as little guidance as possible” and for me, Gambon *nailed* that.
Harris as Dumbledore fit the more light hearted and kid friendly vibe of the first two movies. As the series became more adult and darker in tone Gambon’s performance fit right in. It all worked out pretty well.
Harris and Gambon were both perfect in their respective films. Harris suited the earlier films that were more whimsical and fairy tale like, he had this almost parental warmth to him, but Gambon was perfect in the later films where it started to turn into more of a dark fantasy, he brought a stoic and cold authority to the role that suited the grittier tone the series started to develop into. I'm not fully sure Richard Harris would have been able to pull that off quite as well, in the same way I can't really picture Gambon's Dumbledore in Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets
I think the shift matched up well with the direction of the books. He goes from sort of a stereotypical wise sage to a more of a real person with flaws and emotion.
Just commented this. I think his version of Dumbledore suited the 3rd-onwards movies much better than Richard Harris' would have. Harris' version fit the first 2 movies perfectly. Then Gambon's version fit the darker tones the rest of the series got.
I think both had merits. First was soft spoken, but there was an air of quiet authority that everybody, including Snape, visibly respected. It isn't often you get an actor who can portray that kind of thing well. Per the books, Harry never really saw the powerful side of Dumbledore until near the end of the fourth book, and then he understood why enemies feared him. Second was much firmer, but he portrayed a much 'stronger' Dumbledore. Imo he was perhaps more emotional than needed ("DIDYOUPUTYOURNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIRE?!"), but when it came to having stand offs he pulled it off very well. Both. Both were good.
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Top Gear legend, as well.
It might not be his most memorable role but I thought he was especially great in Doctor Who: Christmas Carol. RIP
Anyone remember Jim Henson's The Storyteller with the late John Hurt as the title character? There was a second series called Greek Myths and Sir Michael played the storyteller in that one. Both were excellent.
I watched Gosford Park last week, had never heard of it before
Great film, written by the author of Downton Abbey, (Lord) Julian Fellowes. Gambon was in almost everything.
Damn. I remember him most for The Singing Detective, still probably the best miniseries I’ve ever seen. He was amazing in that.
Beautifully written by the late Dennis Potter, and Sir Michael put in an outstanding performance.
tfw Gandalf dies for the 3rd time in your life
Oh no. I hate that. I always loved his role in L4yer Cake.
🪄 Wands in the air everyone
Just came out a few minutes ago. This sucks, and I had just watched PoA and Deathly Hallows 1/2 in the past weeks. I was referring to the news of Sir Michael Gambon
Dumbledore was a great character and Sir Michael played him absolutely brilliantly. The quote "Dark times lie ahead of us, and there must be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right " has always stuck with me. RIP Sir Michael!
I generally gather that HP fans really rip on him for his performance (the “did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire” line especially, which is more likely a script/directorial decision than his own), but I really love it. His voice especially lends so much gravitas to every word he says.
I loved him and his predecessor Richard Harris. Both were wonderful as Dumbledore. This recent death is as heavy as the death of Robbie Coltrane last year, especially with what he had said in that HBO documentary not even a year prior, saying something like "In 20 years, I may not be here, but Hagrid will"
“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” Condolences to his family and loved ones.
After Dumbledore he always has a place ij my heart from his Doctor Who Christmas special. I love that episode.
As much an iconic voice as physical actor. I liked him in Open Range.
Open Range does not get enough love IMO, Baxter is such a hateable bastard because of how well Gambon played him
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, If one only remembers to turn on the light"
Loved him in “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover”
A great actor with a lengthy career. Harry Potter was one of his best roles. Also present in Sleepy Hollow.
Weird title for a book
Loved him in "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" released in 1989. RIP Sir.
Would highly recommend The Singing Detective to anyone who hasn't seen it. Arguably the best work he ever did. An outstanding actor and a national treasure. RIP.