EXCLUSIVE: Huge A-List Star Warned He May Be KILLED By 'Curse of Harry Potter' — After Two Heavyweight Actors Died Playing His Role in Wizard Franchise
John Lithgow is being warned of the curse of playing Dumbledore!
March 7 2025, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
John Lithgow has been warned about the curse of Harry Potter after landing the role of Albus Dumbledore.
He will play the part in HBO’s Harry Potter television series but previous film wizards Richard Harris and Michael Gambon didn’t have magic endings, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Hogwarts headmaster was previously portrayed by Harris in the first film adaptations, The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. His death in 2002 saw Gambon take over the role for the remaining films – who then died in 2023.
Lithgow is 79 and joked he’ll be 87 at the wrap party when he gets through playing Dumbledore – but sources say he may never make it!
Lithgow is set to paid a fortune for stepping into the wizard role.
An insider told us: "It is a dangerous role to take on given the scope and breadth of it.
"He'll be waving that wand around well into his 80s and Harris and Gambon are no longer with us, so fingers crossed John fares a little better and makes it to the end of filming, otherwise they will be casting around for another Dumbledore."
Lithgow said about the job offer: "Well, it came as a total surprise to me.
"I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival, and it was not an easy decision because it’s going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I’m afraid. But I’m very excited.
"Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said 'yes'."
Richard Harris was the 'first victim' of the 'Dumbledore curse,' superstitious showbiz insiders say.
The plan for the Harry Potter HBO series is to make each book in J.K. Rowling’s series its own season of television, which means the show plans to run for seven seasons.
That’s at least seven years of Lithgow’s life, if not more, as Dumbledore appears in every instalment.
Daniel Radcliffe found Potter a blessing – amassing a massive fortune playing the boy wizard.
Lithgow's salary for the epic role has yet to be revealed.
But RadarOnline.com told last month how Daniel Radcliffe had amassed an astonishing $125million fortune since playing the boy wizard.
We reported the actor, 35, earned $94million by the time he finished the last of eight Potter films in 2011.
Accounts show Radcliffe's firm Gilmore Jacobs Ltd, which is co-run by his parents Marcia and Alan, has investments and cash totaling $120million – with the sum growing by over half a million a month.
Michael Gambon's life also came to an end after he agreed to play the veteran wizard.
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After Harry Potter, Radcliffe starred in films such as The Woman in Black and Escape from Pretoria.
He also delved into the indie genre, making waves in 2016 for his quirky role in Swiss Army Man and starring opposite Toni Collette, in critically acclaimed independent film Imperium.
The actor recently appeared with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in 2022's The Lost City, and will reprise his role from Now You See Me 2 in the upcoming third film in the trilogy this year.
He has also began receiving greater critical acclaim, bagging his first Emmy nomination for playing the titular role in 2022 biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
