Actor: Michael Gambon

Michael Gambon was among the finest British stage actors of his generation, with a National Theatre career under Olivier, and The Singing Detective on television is his greatest performance, playing a writer with severe psoriasis hallucinating a noir.

He took over Dumbledore after Richard Harris’s death and played the character considerably more physically.

Gosford Park, The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover, and Layer Cake fill out the film work. He appeared as a Top Gear guest driver and was banned from a corner after nearly rolling the car.