Sir Michael Gambon has handed over his £1.5million estate to his wife – leaving nothing to the long-term girlfriend with whom he had two teenage sons.
The Dumbledore actor famously shared his time between Lady Anne Gambon and set designer Phillipa Hart 25 years his junior.
After his death last September aged 82, his will has been published today, showing almost the entire fortune has passed to Lady Anne.
She is listed as an executor along with her son, Fergus, 60, by the star who appeared in six Harry Potter movies as Hogwarts headteacher Prof Albus Dumbledore.
Provision was made for the £1,465,882 fortune to pass to Fergus if his mother had died before her husband.
Meanwhile Ms Hart, who lived openly with Sir Michael in a West London townhouse, does not receive her penny in the will which was drawn up and signed in 2016.
She had two children with the actor – Tom, 17, and 15-year-old William, who each received just £10,000 and a trophy, according to the three-page document.
They are both given a silver heart Variety Club of Great Britain stage actor award – the eldest getting the one awarded to his dad in 1987, while the youngest gets the trophy presented in 2000.
Ms Hart declined to tell the Daily Mail if she was aware she had been left out of the will.
Speaking from her £1.5million Victorian terraced four-bed, she said: ‘It’s none of my business. I really don’t want to talk about this.’
Fergus also declined to comment when approached at their £5million Grade II listed family mansion in Meopham, Kent.
He said of his mother: ‘She won’t want to speak to you.’
Sir Michael died in September last year aged 82 following a bout of pneumonia, with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside.
Ms Hart first met the actor while filming the Channel 4 series Longitude in 2000.
For two decades he split his time between her and Lady Anne.
Within a year of Sir Michael meeting Ms Hart he was introducing his girlfriend to the likes of Charles Dance and Maggie Smith, both of whom starred with him in 2001 film Gosford Park.
Lady Gambon was said to initially have been devastated by the news of her husband’s other relationship and moved out of the home they shared.
But she then came to terms with the arrangement and moved back in to their Gravesend home.
Sir Michael would whizz between that country pile and London in his selection of sports cars.
The actor also kept his own separate home in London to give him breathing space when he was working.
Fergus is a ceramics expert who has featured on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and works for Bonhams auction house.
Lady Anne is a retired mathematician, who also creates her own pottery and has a passion for bookbinding. She married Sir Michael in 1962.
The legendary actor also had a love of flying and driving fast cars.
He owned an incredible selection of sports cars that included a Ferrari, a Mercedes and a 178mph Audi R8.
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson said the actor was such a ‘tremendous guest’ when he appeared on the BBC show that he had a corner named after him on the racetrack because he went round it on two wheels.
It is believed that Sir Michael and Ms Hart had not been together for some time before his death.
When he died a statement was released on behalf of Lady Anne and Fergus which read: ‘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.’
Sir Michael’s rise to one of the world’s most celebrated actors was all the more extraordinary given his humble background, born in Dublin to a working-class couple who encouraged him to be an engineer after he left school at 15.
He was born to a seamstress mother and engineer father and left school with no qualifications.
He then took up an apprenticeship as a toolmaker. By the age of 21 he was a qualified engineer, but only worked as such for a year before deciding to become an actor.
He was nominated for 13 Olivier awards after he appeared in countless William Shakespeare productions, excelling in Othello. He also starred in a string of hit TV shows and in 1968 won an audition to be the next James Bond in On her Majesty’s Secret Service after Sean Connery quit.
But he told producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli ‘I haven’t got nice hair and I’m a bit fat’ and the part went to George Lazenby.
Knighted in 1999, he was loved for playing French detective Jules Maigret.
Sir Michael, who has won four TV Baftas, is known for his extensive back catalogue of work across TV, film, radio and theatre over a career spanning decades.
He played Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.
Speaking about it recently he said of playing the wizard that he does not ‘have to play anyone really’.
He said: ‘I just stick on a beard and play me, so it’s no great feat. I never ease into a role — every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. I’m not really a character actor at all…’
The actor was always protective when it came to his private life, once replying ‘what wife’ when asked about his marriage.
He is also known for playing French detective Jules Maigret in ITV series Maigret, and for starring in the BBC series, The Singing Detective.
Sir Michael made his first appearance on stage in a production of Othello at the Gates Theatre, Dublin, in 1962.
He put in a memorable performance in the BBC’s 2015 adaptation of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy and his illustrious theatre career includes appearances in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, The Life Of Galileo and Nicholas Hytner’s National Theatre production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2.
In 2016 he appeared as Private Godfrey in the big screen adaptation of Dad’s Army, and his other film roles included period dramas such as 2010’s The King’s Speech, 2001’s Gosford Park and 2017’s Victoria & Abdul.
Sir Michael was also recognised by American awards with Emmy nominations for Mr Woodhouse in 2010 for an adaption of Jane Austen’s Emma and as former US president Lyndon B Johnson in Path To War in 2002.
His turn in David Hare play Skylight, about the fallout of an affair, also led to a Tony nod in 1997 and earlier in 1990 he secured an Olivier Award for comedy performance of the year for diplomatic comedy Man Of The Moment at the Globe, now the Gielgud Theatre.
Sir Michael retired from the stage in 2015 after struggling to remember his lines in front of an audience due to his advancing age. He once told the Sunday Times Magazine: ‘It’s a horrible thing to admit, but I can’t do it. It breaks my heart.’
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Andy Jehring
