While appearing on the BBC programme "Top Gear", Gambon took part in the series' regular "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment. He rounded the track's final corner on two wheels, and in honour of that feat the show's presenters named the corner "Gambon" from then on.
He disliked doing interviews and once said he lied in them to make them more interesting. When someone asked Gambon whether he had trouble playing a gay man, he said it was easy because he used to be gay but had to give it up because it made his eyes water.
On 8 February 2015, at the age of 74, he announced that he was retiring from stage acting because long-standing problems with his memory were making it increasingly difficult to remember his lines. For several years before that, he had relied on an earpiece through which he could be prompted if he forgot his lines.
He was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1990 Queen's New Year Honours and received a knighthood in the 1998 Queen's New Year Honours for services to drama.
After George Lazenby left the series, he auditioned for the role of James Bond but was rejected because they did not want to hire another unknown.
He is an antique firearms enthusiast.
He twice played two roles previously played by Richard Harris. The first was the character Jules Maigret, whom Richard Harris portrayed in a 1988 television film, and the second was Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.
In 2002 he was chosen as the late Richard Harris's successor in the role of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series.
In 2002 Gambon moved out of the marital home in Kent, England, to live with Philippa Hart, who is now his partner. The couple had two sons: Michael in May 2007 and William in June 2009.
He holds a private pilot's licence and regularly flies his own plane when he is not filming.
After he rounded the final corner of the test track on two wheels in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment of "Top Gear" (BBC TV, season 1, episode 8; 2002), the corner was named after him.
For years he claimed he carried a signed photograph of Robert De Niro and that he had met him, but the two had in fact never met. He is directed by De Niro in The Good Shepherd (2006).
He was voted Best Supporting Actor by readers of Doctor Who Magazine for his work in A Christmas Carol (2010).
He was a great admirer of Peter O'Toole.
He played two Kings of England: King Edward VII in The Lost Prince (2003) and his son King George V in The King's Speech (2010). He also played United States President Lyndon Johnson in Path to War (2002).
His first child, Fergus, was born to him and his wife in 1964.
He appeared in three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Insider (1999), Gosford Park (2001) and The King's Speech (2010). The last of these won in the category.
He admitted that in his younger days he was quite grumpy and changeable.
He was nominated for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor of the 1997 season for his performance in "Tom and Clem" at the Aldwych Theatre.
He is friends with Maggie Smith.
In 1986 (the 1985 season) he won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Comedy Performance for "A Chorus of Disapproval".
He was nominated for the 2001 (2000 season) Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in "The Caretaker" at the Comedy Theatre.
He was nominated for the 1997 Tony Award for Best Actor (Play) for Broadway's "Skylight".
He won the 1990 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor for his performance in Man of the Moment.
In 2007 he was nominated for Best Actor at the ESB/Irish Times Theatre Awards for his role in the stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Eh Joe.
He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England.
Although he was born in Dublin, his family moved to Kent when he was 6 years old.
He was nominated for the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor of 2002 for his performance in "A Number" at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs.
He won the 1988 (1987 season) Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a New Play for his performance in "A View from the Bridge".
He won the 1995 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in Volpone.
He appeared in many films with David Thewlis, including The Omen (2006) and the Harry Potter films (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)).
He won the 1987 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in A View from the Bridge.
He is an Associate Member of RADA.
He won the 2000 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama) for Best Actor for his performances in The Caretaker at the Comedy Theatre and Cressida at the Albery Theatre.
After leaving school he became an engineering apprentice at Vickers Armstrong.
He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in 1999 (the 1998 season) for his performance in "The Unexpected Man".
He performs in the Royal National Theatre in London in a production of William Shakespeare's 'Henry IV' (parts 1 and 2).
For Lifeforce (1985), Caine was considered for Dr. Armstrong, Bukovsky, Roger Derebridge, Lamson and Kelly.
At the Duke of York's Theatre in London, he appears on stage with David Walliams and David Bradley in Harold Pinter's play "No Man's Land".
Despite playing Dumbledore after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Gambon never read any of the 7 Harry Potter books or watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).