Sir Michael Gambon retires from the stage due to memory problems
BritFlicks1
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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.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, Gambon - who trained at the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier - 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.'
Gambon 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."'
He will star in Sky Atlantic thriller Fortitude later this month, and the BBC's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.
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.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, Gambon - who trained at the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier - 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.'
Gambon 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."'
He will star in Sky Atlantic thriller Fortitude later this month, and the BBC's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.
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Comments
IT appears that TV & film is easier for him to cope with so he is able to continue to work which is great for him and us.
I hope that he is not too distressed by it as he has done some fantastic work & I'm sure he will continue to.