Daniel Radcliffe has recalled how Sir Michael Gambon pranked him on the set of Harry Potter following the actor’s death aged 82.
Sir Michael’s family confirmed on Thursday that the legendary actor had died peacefully in hospital following a bout of pneumonia.
Daniel, 34, recalled working with the legendary actor who played Dumbledore in the franchise during an interview with GQ last year.
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He said: ‘Michael Gambon could do that (mess with him) to a frustrating degree. He learned that he could, when I was a teenager, he could make me laugh very, very easily.
‘Making me laugh right up until the word ‘action,’ at which point I was pretty much unable to recover and he could just snap into a performance with inherent gravitas and charm. Yeah. He’s awesome.’
The actor recalled one particular incident when Michael and Alan Rickman, who played Snape, pranked him during filming of the third movie, Prisoner of Askabhan.
He said: ‘God… I should probably (remember) about the one that was pulled on ME, rather than any I pulled. Because it came from a very unexpected place.
‘There’s – in the third film – there’s a shot in the great hall of all the kids sleeping in the great hall, and the camera starts very very wide, and comes in so that it’s an inch from my face, a very long developing set, yeah, and Alan Rickman decided he would plant one of those fart machines in my, uh, sleeping bag, and they waited until like -the camera had come in for this huge DRAMATIC developing shot, and then unleashed this tremendous noise in the great hall.’
Daniel didn’t suspect Michael or Alan could be responsible for the prank at first.
He said: ‘I immediately thought: ‘this is one of the other kids f***ing around, and we were going to get in trouble.’
‘But as it turns out, it was one of the members of Britain’s acting royalty. I think I laughed a lot, was probably a bit embarrassed, but it was really really funny.’
Sir Michael took over the role of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore from Richard Harris, who sadly died after the second movie – The Chamber Of Secrets.
He began his 60-year career treading the boards with Sir Laurence Olivier and was much-loved with younger audiences as Dumbledore.
His rise to one of the world’s most celebrated actors was all the more extraordinary given his humble background, born in Dublin to a working class couple who encouraged him to be an engineer after he left school at 15.
He was nominated for 13 Olivier Awards after he appeared in countless productions of works by William Shakespeare, excelling as Othello.
He also starred in a string of hit TV shows and in 1968 won an audition to be the next James Bond in On her Majesty’s Secret Service after Sean Connery quit. But he told producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli ‘I haven’t got nice hair and I’m a bit fat’ and the part went to George Lazenby.
Knighted in 1999, he was loved for playing French detective Jules Maigret. As Dumbledore he became world famous after taking the part following the death of fellow Irishman Richard Harris.
Sir Michael said when he played the headmaster of Hogwarts, he would ‘stick on a beard and play me’, calling it ‘no feat’, although his millions of fans disagreed.
A statement on behalf of his wife Lady Gambon and son Fergus Gambon, issued by publicist Clair Dobbs, said: ‘We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon.
‘Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82.
‘We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support and love.’
He married retired mathematician Lady Anne in 1962. Their son Fergus is an expert on ceramics and works for auctioneer’s Bonhams. He also regularly appears on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
Sir Michael was a working-class boy made good. He was born in Dublin, his mother was a seamstress and his father an engineer for whom the notion of a career on the stage was totally alien.
He left school at 15 with no qualifications, then took up an apprenticeship as a toolmaker. By the age of 21 he was a qualified engineer, but only worked as such for a year before deciding to become an actor.
Sir Michael, who has won four TV Baftas, is known for his extensive back catalogue of work across TV, film, radio and theatre over a career spanning decades.
Speaking about it recently he said of playing the wizard that he does not ‘have to play anyone really.’
He said: ‘I just stick on a beard and play me, so it’s no great feat. I never ease into a role—every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. I’m not really a character actor at all…’
Away from acting, it was reported in 2015 that he split his time between the £5million country pile he shared with Lady Gambon near Gravesend in Kent, and a home in West London to his young sons, Tom and Will with set designer Philippa Hart in West London. The boys are believed to be in their early teens.
By: SEAN O’GRADY
Originally published at: Daily Mail
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