Harry Potter star Sir Michael Gambon takes 'heartbreaking decision' to quit the stage because he can't remember his lines

  • 74-year-old stage veteran has struggled with memory problems for years
  • He has now decided to quit the stage after a recent West End audition
  • He said: 'It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart' 

Veteran actor Sir Michael Gambon has taken the 'heartbreaking decision' to quit his stage career because he can't remember his lines. 

The 74-year-old, who is best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has struggled with memory problems for years and has previously revealed that he has been checked by two doctors for Alzheimer’s disease.

Happily, the tests returned negative for the illness. But the Irish-born actor was so concerned by his memory loss that he took to using an earpiece linking him with a stage prompt while acting in case he forgot his lines.

Veteran actor Sir Michael Gambon has taken the 'heartbreaking decision' to quit his stage career because he can't remember his lines

Veteran actor Sir Michael Gambon has taken the 'heartbreaking decision' to quit his stage career because he can't remember his lines

The 74-year-old, who is best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has struggled with memory problems for years and has previously revealed that he has been checked by two doctors for Alzheimer’s disease

The 74-year-old, who is best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has struggled with memory problems for years and has previously revealed that he has been checked by two doctors for Alzheimer’s disease

In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, Sir Michael - who trained at the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier and was knighted in 1999 - said he was now admitting defeat.

He said: 'It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart.'

He revealed that it was an audition for a new West End play which made him realise he had no future in theatre, when a girl in the wings was reading him his lines over an earpiece.

He said: 'And after about an hour I thought, "This can't work. You can't be in theatre, free on stage shouting and screaming and running around, with someone reading you your lines."'

The star - who began his stage career with minor Shakespearean roles alongside Lord Olivier – confessed that it was his ‘overwhelming fear’ of forgetting his words on stage that forced him to pull out of a 2009 National Theatre production of The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett.

Michael Gambon as Falstaff at the Olivier Theatre. He said: 'It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart'

Michael Gambon as Falstaff at the Olivier Theatre. He said: 'It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart'

He will star in Scandinavian thriller Fortitude later this month, and the BBC's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy

He will star in Scandinavian thriller Fortitude later this month, and the BBC's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy

At the time, it was simply announced he had pulled out because of ‘ill health’. Richard Griffiths, who had starred in Bennett’s 2004 play The History Boys, replaced him.

Last year Sir Michael - who has played Shakespeare's Falstaff, King Lear, Othello, and Mark Anthony - said he believed the only roles he can play on stage are those with few lines, such as butlers.

He added: ‘You know, the sort of part where he comes on and says a few words.

‘A role that’s played for laughs – like when the phone goes, he doesn’t know where it is.’

The Irish-born actor (pictured with Dame Judi Dench) was so concerned by his memory loss that he took to using an earpiece linking him with a stage prompt while acting in case he forgot his lines

The Irish-born actor (pictured with Dame Judi Dench) was so concerned by his memory loss that he took to using an earpiece linking him with a stage prompt while acting in case he forgot his lines

Sir Michael became well known in 1986 when he starred in BBC crime drama The Singing Detective.

He took over the part of Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore in the third Harry Potter film after Richard Harris died in 2002, aged 72.

He said: ‘Richard Harris had just died and they approached me and I decided to play it with a posh Irish accent, rather like Harris.

‘I’d never seen any of the previous films but working on the series was huge fun - and for lots of dosh.’

He also told how he trained as an engineer before becoming an actor, and once dreamed of being an airline pilot.

He will star in Scandinavian thriller Fortitude later this month, and the BBC's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy 

 

 

 

 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now