Albus Dumbledore performer Richard Harris
Prof. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore  is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his backstory, it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort, the main antagonist of the series.
Dumbledore was portrayed by Richard Harris in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). Following Harris' death in October 2002, Michael Gambon portrayed Dumbledore in the six remaining Harry Potter films from 2004 to 2011. Jude Law portrayed Dumbledore as a middle-aged man in the prequel films Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).Rowling stated she chose the name Dumbledore, which is a dialectal word for "bumblebee", because of Dumbledore's love of music: she imagined him walking around "humming to himself a lot".Portrayals within films
In the film adaptations of Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Chamber of Secrets (2002), Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris, who was expected to play the character throughout the series. Harris was not the producer's first choice, the studio initially approached Sean Connery and Patrick McGoohan for the role. Connery, who disliked the film's subject matter, turned down the role while McGoohan, who showed interest, stepped away due to his declining health. Harris mentioned that he was originally not going to take the role, since he knew his own health was in decline. He accepted because his then-11-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again if he did not take it. Harris was determined to portray Dumbledore again in Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), despite having been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and asked David Heyman not to recast the role. However, his death on 25 October 2002 necessitated recasting.Christopher Lee was the producer's immediate choice for replacing Harris, but scheduling conflicts due to Lee's commitments as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels forced him to decline. Ian McKellen was also offered the role, but he turned it down, having played the similar character Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as feeling it would have been inappropriate to take Harris' role, as Harris had called McKellen a "dreadful" actor. Harris' family had expressed an interest in seeing Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement. Harry Robinson, who doubled for Harris in the first two films, and who also lent his voice in the first Harry Potter video game, was also considered for the role of Dumbledore.Michael Gambon was cast as Harris' replacement four months after Harris' death. Gambon was not concerned about bettering Harris, and he portrayed the character in his own way, putting on a slight Irish  accent for the role, as well as completing his scenes in three weeks. Gambon reprised his role in all the remaining films.
Toby Regbo was chosen to portray Dumbledore in his youth in Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, for flashbacks scenes which provide essential information on the character's backstory.Jude Law played the role of a younger Dumbledore in the prequel films, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).