Who Was Michael Gambon’s Wife, Who Was His Mistress, and How Many Kids Did He Have?
Michael Gambon is the beloved actor who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. Sadly, Gambon died in September 2023, and he’s survived by his wife, Lady Anne Gambon, and his lover, Philippa Hart. So, what is Gambon’s unique marriage situation with his wife and mistress, and how many kids does he have? Here’s what to know.
Who was Michael Gambon’s wife, Lady Anne Gambon? He also had a mistress, Philippa Hart
Michael Gambon married his wife, Lady Anne Gambon, in 1962. The actor was 22 years old at the time, and he kept his relationship quiet. Anne worked as a mathematician, and it’s unclear how the two initially met. Gambon and his wife were so silent about their relationship that when interviewers asked about Anne, he occasionally pretended he didn’t have a wife.
Gambon and Lady Anne were married until he died in 2023. Anne and Fergus Gambon, the son she had with the late actor, provided a statement. “We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” the statement reads, according to The Sun. “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.”
While Gambon and his wife stayed together through the years, they had a complicated marital setup. Gambon also had a relationship with Philippa Hart, a set designer 25 years his junior. The actor called Hart his girlfriend while filming Gosford Park in 2001, and they reportedly started dating in 2000 after working together on the series Longitude.
When Lady Anne first heard of her husband and his new girlfriend, she was allegedly devastated by the news and moved out of their home in Gravesend. Later, she accepted the situation and moved back in. Gambon shared a separate house with Hart in West London.
How many kids did Michael Gambon have?
Michael Gambon had three children with two women — one with his wife, Lady Anne Gambon, and two with his mistress, Philippa Hart.
His firstborn son, Fergus Gambon, became a ceramics expert, regularly appearing in Antiques Roadshow. He first joined the Antiques Roadshow crew in 2004. He’s now the Director of British Ceramics and Glass and never followed in his father’s footsteps as an actor. Instead, Gambon’s firstborn son took after his mother, who liked creating her own pottery and bind books.
His second and third sons with Hart were born in 2007 and 2009. According to actor Hetty Baynes, Gambon’s co-star in the 2015 TV adaption of JK Rowling’s novel, The Casual Vacancy, the sons, Will and Tom, frequently appeared with their father on set.
“They were so sweet, and you can see he absolutely adores them,” Baynes told the Daily Mail in 2016. “But I’m sure they run him ragged. Having a child in later life can be an exhausting thing, but it brings so much joy. When I was married to Ken [Russell], he was 65 when our son Rex was born, so it was a similar elderly parent scenario, which Michael has. But Philippa is amazing. She does an awful lot of the work and she’s absolutely delightful.”
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