The Harry Potter franchise is among those franchises we have grown up with. Decades later from its final release, the world of wizards and witches continues to live up to their fans, and it’s not just because of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson), but the whole new world that made us believe in magic.
Besides Ron, Harry, and Hermione, another character that was loved by Harry Potter fans was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore. In the first two movies, the character was played by Richard Harris, however, due to his untimely demise in 2002, his role was taken over by Michael Gambon.
In Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets, Harris starred as the lovable Professor Dumbledore, but due to Hodgkin’s disease, he passed away in August 2002. Before his passing, Harry Potter director Chris Columbus opened up about the later actor not wanting to leave the character behind. The director once shared with The Hollywood Reporter describing the actor as “the single funniest actor person I’ve ever met”.
Columbus recalled during the interview that the late actor gave him a warning for hiring someone else for Dumbledore’s role. Columbus added, “He said, ‘If you ever replace me, I’ll fucking kill you.’ I said, ‘I don’t even know why you’re thinking that way. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.’”
The director continued, “About 10 days later, I got home from editing Chamber of Secrets, and I saw on the news that he had passed away. It was stunning and heartbreaking, and a total shock.”
After Harris’ passing, the shoes were too big to fill to replace the personality of Harris for Hogwarts’ Dumbledore role. However, before Gambon was finalized, a few other actors were offered the role, including Christopher Lee, Sean Connery, Ian McKellen, and others. Finally, Gambon joined the franchise and played the role of Dumbledore till the final chapter of the Harry Potter franchise.
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