Film & TV6 min(s) read
Full list of Harry Potter actors who have sadly died since the movies as first trailer for HBO series drops
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Here is the full list of actors from the Harry Potter film series who have sadly passed on since their release.
The trailer for season one of the highly anticipated HBO Max series has finally been released, and fans are more excited than ever to relive their childhoods.
Iconic characters have been recast from the top down, with some well-known actors such as John Lithgow and Nick Frost part of the ensemble, while the vast majority of characters are now played by little-known names in the industry.
This includes the Golden Trio of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
It gives fans new faces to fall in love with and follow through the Wizarding World, more than 25 years from the release of the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
The first full trailer for season one of the Harry Potter HBO Max series aired today, with Wizard World fans getting a glimpse of the new take on an iconic franchise.
If you haven't seen it yet, view the trailer below:
Despite the new start, fans have realized that it's been a quarter of a century since the first film was released in cinemas.
Since then, several actors from the original film franchise have passed away, so below is a full list of the stars who have died after featuring in the Harry Potter film series.
Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall)
Best known for playing Professor Minerva McGonagall in all eight Harry Potter films, Smith is also known to be the only actor who JK Rowling specifically asked to star in the franchise.
She went down as a sometimes scary, yet loved icon in the films, before passing away peacefully at the age of 89 on 27 September 2024.
Richard Harris (Albus Dumbledore)
The 20th century British acting legend played Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two instalments of the Harry Potter film franchise.
Sadly, after The Chamber of Secrets (2002), he was replaced in the role by Michael Gambon from The Prisoner of Azkaban until the final film, The Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Harris died on October 25, 2002, aged 72.
Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore)
Gambon starred as Dumbledore following Harris' death, and became known as the face of Dumbledore by hardcore fans as the years rolled on.
He perfectly embodied the key character in the films, featuring in the film series up to the very end, despite the character being killed in The Half-Blood Prince.
Gambon passed away on September 37, 2023, aged 82.
Robert Knox (Marcus Belby)
Robert Knox only appeared in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and was set to appear in the Deathly Hallows - Part One, but he sadly died before filming began.
The British actor was brutally murdered in a stabbing outside a London bar on May 24, 2008, after intervening in a fight involving his brother, at the age of 18.
Karl Norman Bishop, the man who took Knox's life, was sentenced to life in prison following the crime.
Alan Rickman (Severus Snape)
Rickman might be one of the most iconic actors in the Wizarding World universe, starring as Slytherin professor Severus Snape.
He was the teacher of the Dark Arts at Hogwarts before becoming headmaster following the death of Dumbledore.
The actor passed away in January 2016 after a terminal cancer diagnosis that he had chosen to keep private.
Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid)
Coltrane played the friendly giant Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper.
The character was also best friends with headmaster Albus Dumbledore, as well as a close mentor to Harry Potter.
The Scottish actor sadly died on October 14, 2022.
Michael Byrne (Gellert Grindelwald)
British actor Byrne only portrayed dark wizard Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
His character is best known for ratting out his old friend, Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore.
Byrne died on June 20, 2026, at the age of 82.
Other Harry Potter actors who have passed away
- Elizabeth Spriggs (The Fat Lady)
- Timothy Bateson (Kreacher)
- Jimmy Gardner (Ernie Prang)
- Robert Knox (Marcus Belby)
- Alfred Burke (Armando Dippet)
- Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley)
- Eric Sykes (Frank Bryce)
- Roger Lloyd Pack (Barty Crouch Senior)
- Peter Cartwright (Elphias Doge)
- David Ryall (Elphias Doge in Deathly Hallows: Part 1)
- Derek Deadman (Tom from The Leaky Cauldron)
- Dave Legeno (Fenrir Greyback)
- Terence Bayler (The Bloody Baron)
- Hazel Douglas (Bathilda Bagshot)
- Sam Beazley (Professor Everard)
- Robert Hardy (Cornelius Fudge)
- John Hurt (Garrick Ollivander)
- Verne Troyer (Griphook)
- Paul Ritter (Eldred Worple)
- Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy)
- Leslie Phillips (The Sorting Hat)