Michael Gambon Retires From Theater Acting Due To Memory Loss - Dumbledore Actor Ends 50-Year Career Of On-Stage Performances

Michael Gambon is best known for his role as Professor Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movie series, but the actor has been an acclaimed theater performer for about 50 years. Unfortunately, this week he announced his retirement from the stage, due to what he calls a "frightening" case of memory loss. Read more about this news below.

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"It's a horrible thing to admit, but I can't do it. It breaks my heart. It's when the script's in front of me and it takes forever to learn. It's frightening," the acclaimed actor explained this week in a new interview with Sunday Times Magazine, according to Film Drunk.

Gambon went on to tell a story about how he tried to get through a performance by using an earpiece.

"There was a girl in the wings, and I had a plug in my ear so she could read me the lines," he explained. "And after about an hour, I thought, 'This can't work.' You can't be in theater, free on stage shouting and screaming and running around, with someone reading you your lines."

Considering the fluidity and naturalness of live performances, we'd imagine that this earpiece idea could've gotten very old real quick, right?

We would definitely like to point out that Gambon is adamant in saying that this memory loss is not related to Alzheimer's disease, which is good. For now, the actor is retired from the stage but has no plans of leaving film or TV.

In fact, you can next see Gambon in the TV miniseries adaptation of J.K. Rowling's novel, The Casual Vacancy in 2015. Watch a trailer right here:

Let us know what you think of this retirement news in the comments section below