In 1997, Gambon made his Broadway debut in David Hare's Skylight, earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination.

His other notable films include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), The Wings of the Dove (1997), The Insider (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Amazing Grace (2006), The King's Speech (2010), Quartet (2012) and Victoria & Abdul (2017).

[5][a] Brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, Gambon attended St Aloysius Boys' School in Somers Town and served at the altar.

A year later, auditioning with the opening soliloquy from Richard III, he caught the eye of Laurence Olivier who was recruiting promising actors for his new National Theatre Company.

Gambon played for four years in many NT productions, including named roles in The Recruiting Officer and The Royal Hunt of the Sun, working with directors William Gaskill and John Dexter.

In 1967, he left the National Theatre for the Birmingham Repertory Company, which was to give him his first crack at the title roles in Othello (his favourite), Macbeth and Coriolanus.

[15] A speedy transfer to the West End established him as a comic actor, squatting at a crowded dining table on a tiny chair and agonising over a choice between black or white coffee.

Back at the National, now on the South Bank, his next turning point was Peter Hall's premiere staging of Harold Pinter's Betrayal,[15] a performance marked by subtlety – a production photograph shows him embracing Penelope Wilton with sensitive hands and long slim fingers (the touch of a master clock-maker).

As Simon Callow once said: "Gambon's iron lungs and overwhelming charisma are able to command a sort of operatic full-throatedness which triumphs over hard walls and long distances".

After his film debut, Gambon was asked by James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli to audition for the role in 1970, to replace George Lazenby.

Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the performances writing, "Mirren and Gambon are among the most distinguished actors in Britain-they've played many of the principal roles in Shakespeare -- and here they find the resources to not only strip themselves of all their defenses, but to do so convincingly.

[23][24] But as Sheridan Morley perceptively remarked in 2000, when reviewing Nicholas Wright's Cressida: "Gambon's eccentricity on stage now begins to rival that of his great mentor Richardson".

[25] He won screen acclaim, while his ravaged King Lear at Stratford, while he was still in his early forties, formed a double act with a red-nosed Antony Sher as the Fool sitting on his master's knee like a ventriloquist's doll.

[30] The New York Times described Gambon's performance as 'Gruff on the outside, with a huge sentimental streak, the country squire is a familiar type, but he makes him seem endearing and fresh.

'[31] During the 2000s, Gambon appeared in several films including Robert Altman's murder mystery ensemble Gosford Park (2001) where he acted alongside Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kelly Macdonald, Emily Watson and Stephen Fry.

Gambon portrays Sir William McCordle, the imperious master of Gosford Park who has invited distinguished company for a weekend shooting party before a murder throws everything into chaos.

Empire declared the film, "Altman's best movie in years - an astute exploration of British culture that can stand proudly with his satires of American life.

And for the RSC he shared Reza's two-hander The Unexpected Man with Eileen Atkins, first at The Pit in the Barbican and then at the Duchess Theatre, a production also intended for New York, but finally delayed by other commitments.

In 2001, he played what he described as "'a physically repulsive" Davies in Patrick Marber's revival of Pinter's The Caretaker,[15] but he found the rehearsal period an unhappy experience, and felt that he had let down the author.

[41] In 2005, he finally achieved a lifelong ambition to play Falstaff, in Nicholas Hytner's National production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, co-starring with Matthew Macfadyen as Prince Hal.

[45] In 2007, Gambon portrayed Lord Charles Fox in Michael Apted's historical drama Amazing Grace alongside Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney and Rufus Sewell.

[46] The film is highly rated according to Rotten Tomatoes with critics' consensus describing it as "your quintessential historical biopic: stately, noble, and with plenty of electrifying performances".

[47] That same year, he played major roles in the acclaimed BBC five-part adaptation of Mrs Gaskell's Cranford novels alongside Judi Dench and Imelda Staunton, and in Stephen Poliakoff's Joe's Palace.

In 2008, Gambon appeared in the role of Hirst in No Man's Land by Harold Pinter in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, opposite David Bradley as Spooner, in a production directed by Rupert Goold, which transferred to the London West End's Duke of York's Theatre, for which both roles each received nominations for the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.

[49] In 2009, he appeared in a television adaptation of Jane Austen's famously irrepressible Emma, a four-hour miniseries that premiered on BBC One in October 2009, co-starring Romola Garai.

[50] He played Mr Woodhouse, for which he received a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie nomination for his performance.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 80% approval rating with the consensus reading, "It's sweet, gentle, and predictable to a fault, but Dustin Hoffman's affectionate direction and the talented cast's amiable charm make Quartet too difficult to resist.

In 2016, Gambon was the narrator for the Coen Brothers' Hollywood comedy Hail, Caesar!, which satirised the 1950s Hollywood film industry and featured an ensemble cast including Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum.

The film was well received by critics, earning an approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being, "Packed with period detail and perfectly cast, Hail, Caesar!

[66] That same year Gambon appeared in his final film role in Adrian Shergold's period thriller Cordelia, acting alongside Johnny Flynn and Catherine McCormack.