British-Irish actor Michael Gambon, best known for playing the role of wise professor Albus Dumbledore in the ‘Harry Potter’ movie franchise died at the age of 82 on Thursday.

According to reports, he breathed his last peacefully at a hospital.

A statement issued on behalf of his wife Lady Gambon and son Fergus stated, “We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82. We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support and love.”

Born in the year 1940 in Dublin, Gambon began his acting career on the stage in the early 1960s and later moved into TV and film.

Some of his notable roles in movies include a psychotic mob leader in Peter Greenaway’s ‘The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover’ in 1989 and the elderly King George V in Tom Hooper’s ‘The King’s Speech’ in 2010.

However, he is famously known for the role he played in the Harry Potter franchise as Dumbledore