Michael Gambon: the authorised biography review – a brilliant actor, and a master deceiver

From the National Theatre to Harry Potter, Gambon’s shapeshifting life leaves many questions still unanswered Michael Gambon began his acting career with a preposterous bluff. Applying for a job at Dublin’s Gate theatre, the young toolmaker from the south-east London suburbs embe

From the National Theatre to Harry Potter, Gambon’s shapeshifting life leaves many questions still unanswered Michael Gambon began his acting career with a preposterous bluff. Applying for a job at Dublin’s Gate theatre, the young toolmaker from the south-east London suburbs embellished his CV with entirely fabricated theatrical experience. It was a gamble, but it worked.

In 1962 he made his professional debut as the Second Gentleman in Othello. The following year he was hired by Laurence Olivier for the brand new National Theatre. Gambon carried on telling tall tales long after there was any need.

Some were self-aggrandising: he had been a dancer with the Royal Ballet, worked as a nuclear physicist and auditioned for James Bond. To be fair, this last one was half-true – producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli had once called him in for a chat. Others were absurdities for the sake of it: he was thinking of buying a house in Hanoi, his mother had operated cranes in Dublin.

Occasionally, the lies were intended to save his skin. Terrified of being sacked for turning up late yet again to rehearsal at the National, he claimed that his mother had died in the night. She went on to live for another 49 years.

More often, he lied to make other people laugh, claiming that he had worked with the Russian director Dmitri Shagyerarsoff. Continue reading...