{"id":947326,"date":"2026-10-26T20:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T20:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/947326\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T20:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T20:36:17","slug":"i-laughed-so-hard-my-tampax-fell-out-michael-gambons-pranks-revealed-by-the-stars-he-cracked-up-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/947326\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I laughed so hard my Tampax fell out\u2019: Michael Gambon\u2019s pranks revealed by the stars he cracked up | Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jasper Rees\u2019s authorised biography of Michael Gambon<\/a>, published three years after the great actor\u2019s death<\/a>, has nuanced accounts of his performances in Shakespeare, Beckett and Pinter as well as The Singing Detective and the Harry Potter films. There are even chapters devoted to his hands (\u201cthe biggest you\u2019ve ever seen on anybody\u201d \u2013 Brian Cox) and similarly enormous feet. But, Gambon being Gambon, there are also dozens of accounts of tomfoolery on and off stage \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the funniest people I\u2019ve ever met\u2019<\/p>\n

David Hare\u2019s 1995 play Skylight is set in a draughty flat where a dish of spaghetti is cooked up on stage. Those kitchen cupboards proved useful for Lia Williams to hide when Gambon\u2019s goofing got to her at the National Theatre<\/a>. Gambon would adopt a different accent or speak in tongues during a scene and \u201cwhen he made me laugh it was hell on Earth because there was nothing I could do about it\u201d said Williams, who called him \u201cone of the funniest people I\u2019ve ever met\u201d. She continued: \u201cOne time I laughed so hard that my Tampax fell out and I had to deal with that for an entire act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It was hell on Earth!\u2019 \u2026 Michael Gambon and Lia Williams in Skylight at the National Theatre in 1995. Photograph: Tristram Kenton\/The GuardianDinner with Judi, Ken and Natasha<\/p>\n

Ibsen\u2019s Ghosts was a hot potato when it was first staged in 1882 thanks to its scandalous plot involving syphilis and incest. Gambon had some fun with the spuds when playing the self-righteous Pastor Manders in an 80s BBC TV version. Director Elijah Moshinsky envisioned a tense, sombre dinner scene and Gambon sat alongside Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh. The potatoes were duly passed around by Natasha Richardson<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ll just have the usual eight,\u201d requested Gambon. His co-stars\u2019 corpsing led them to leave the set. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t control ourselves at all,\u201d confessed Dench.<\/p>\n

Dumbledore unleashes Fartis Temporus<\/p>\n

Not every actor\u2019s biography includes \u201cfart machines\u201d in the index but toots fake and real are let off in several chapters. When Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he and Alan Rickman pranked Daniel Radcliffe<\/a> by triggering a fart machine during a closeup of the young star when he was in a sleeping bag alongside fellow Hogwarts students. \u201cI was initially really annoyed,\u201d said Radcliffe, before concluding that if Rickman and Gambon had engineered it then \u201cthat is pretty funny\u201d.<\/p>\n

A storm and a Fool<\/p>\n

When Gambon played King Lear for the RSC in 1982, Antony Sher sported a red nose as the clownish Fool. The poster presented them as a sort of double act<\/a> and Sher was widely seen as stealing the limelight. Rees likens it to Gambon taking on what is often referred to as an \u201cactor\u2019s Everest\u201d only to find another climber \u201cclambering frantically up the same rope\u201d. Adrian Noble, who directed the tragedy, said Gambon \u201cjoshed [Sher] mercilessly\u201d. During the storm scene he reportedly bellowed: \u201cCome on out, you little red-nosed fucker!\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Gambon and Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd in 2006. Photograph: Ronald GrantThe fake De Niro<\/p>\n

When he was appearing on stage in Arthur Miller\u2019s A View from the Bridge, Gambon kept a signed photo of Robert De Niro<\/a> \u2013 with words of admiration for Gambon\u2019s work \u2013 on his dressing room table. The pair would appear together in the film The Good Shepherd in 2006 but had never even met by the time he was doing A View from the Bridge. The fake autograph and note \u2013 \u201cI loved working with you Mike, you\u2019re great \u2013 love Bobby\u201d \u2013 were apparently written by Gambon himself.<\/p>\n

Wink wink<\/p>\n

One festive season in the late 60s, Gambon found himself starring in the Christmas show Hans, the Witch and the Gobbin at Birmingham Rep \u2013 much to his annoyance, remembered co-star Anthony Higgins. A prodigious swearer, Gambon decided to add to his stage makeup for a performance. \u201cOne night he\u2019d written on one eyelid \u2018fuck\u2019 and on the other \u2018off\u2019,\u201d said Higgins. Gambon blinked each eye to deliver the message to Higgins. Artistic director Peter Dews had to give him a word of warning.<\/p>\n

Surprise chocolate cake \u2026 Michael Gambon and Rupert Graves in The Caretaker at the Comedy theatre, London, in 2000. Photograph: Tristram Kenton\/The Guardian\u2018Rupert wet himself regularly\u2019<\/p>\n

When Gambon played the tramp Davies in a 2000 revival of Harold Pinter\u2019s play<\/a> The Caretaker, he revelled in repelling theatregoers \u2013 as well as the brothers played by Douglas Hodge and Rupert Graves. One night, according to Rees\u2019s book, Gambon had his back to the audience and buried his hand in his trousers, where he had stowed away a serving of chocolate cake. He withdrew his smeared fingers and sniffed them, causing his co-stars to crack up. \u201cRupert was in terrible trouble,\u201d remembered Hodge. \u201cRupert wet himself regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fry-up with Cleopatra<\/p>\n

Gambon loved to supply journalists with tall tales and see who believed him. He treated one interviewer to an \u201cinsight\u201d into how he and Helen Mirren<\/a> prepared while in the wings for their roles as Antony and Cleopatra for the RSC. Mirren, he assured the journalist, got into character by performing a mime in which she prepared a dish of ham and eggs for Antony. \u201cAbsolute rubbish,\u201d Mirren told Rees, though added: \u201cIt\u2019s a lovely story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Gambon: The Authorised Biography by Jasper Rees is published by Century (\u00a330). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com<\/a>. Delivery charges may apply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jasper Rees\u2019s authorised biography of Michael Gambon, published three years after the great actor\u2019s death, has nuanced accounts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":["post-947326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}