Sir Michael Gambon: 'I've quit my stage career because I can no longer remember my lines'
Sir Michael Gambon has told of his disappointment after being forced to quit his stage career because he can no longer remember his lines.
The veteran actor, 74, best known for playing wizard Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, said a recent audition for a new West End play had prompted his retirement from theatre.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, he described how during the audition, a theatre assistant had to read 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 added: "It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart."
Sir Michael, who studied drama at RADA in London and later trained at the National Theatre, has previously been tested for Alzheimer's disease after struggling with memory loss - but the results came back negative.
He began his theatre career in the 1970s, with performances in plays by Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and William Shakespeare winning him critical acclaim.
He is due to star in a BBC adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy later this year.
