LOS ANGELES - The actor Sir Michael Gambon has died aged 82, his family has said. He was best known for playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Pot­ter films. The Dublin-born star worked in TV, film, theatre and radio over his six-decade career. He won four Baftas. His widow Lady Gambon and son Fergus said their “beloved husband and father” died peacefully in hospital with his family by his side, following a bout of pneu­monia.Stage and TV star who became Hogwarts headmaster. Sir Michael’s family had moved to London when he was a child but he made his very first stage performance in Ireland, in a pro­duction of Othello in Dublin in 1962. His career took off when he became one the original members of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre acting com­pany in London. He went on to win three Olivier awards for performances in National The­atre productions. Fellow actor Dame Helen Mirren led tributes to her “naughty but very, very funny” friend. In an interview for this weekend’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Dame Helen recalled how he had kept her “constantly in laughter” as they appeared on stage in Antony and Cleopatra, and during film­ing of 1989’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.