When he fell into ill health after filming The Chamber Of Secrets, Richard Harris told the producers to not recast Dumbledore, confident he'd pull through. Sadly he didn't, with the producers having no choice but to find a replacement headmaster. The first actor considered was Peter O'Toole, the iconic British thespian best known for Lawrence Of Arabia. Harris' family were keen for O'Toole to take over Albus; not only was he obviously a great actor, but he had been a good friend of Richard. And we must say he'd have been a good shout for the role. However, Warner Bros. were a little worried; O'Toole was in his seventies, with health issues a very real issues. They didn't want to have to go through the whole recasting process again, so went with Michael Gambon, who was eight years younger.
