Sir Michael Gambon, best known to international audiences as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, has retired from the stage.

We are sad to report that 74-year-old Irish actor Sir Michael Gambon has decided to retire from stage acting, due to a “frightening” level of memory loss.

Gambon, who Harry Potter fans know best as Harry’s mentor and protector Albus Dumbledore, has always loved the theater, and has persevered on the stage even after his memory began to fail him.

“It’s a horrible thing to admit, but I can’t do it,” the actor said in a statement. “It breaks my heart. It’s when the script’s in front of me, and it takes forever to learn. It’s frightening.”

Gambon has made this decision after trying out different strategies in order to continue doing what he loves. He even tried acting with an earpiece, having an assistant feed him the lines from off-stage.

However, “after about an hour, I thought, ‘This can’t work.’ You can’t be in theater, free on stage shouting and screaming and running around, with someone reading you your lines,” he reflects.

Gambon’s doctors assure him there are no signs of Alzheimer’s; it seems his memory loss issues are of the natural kind, which unfortunately come to everyone lucky enough to make it to old age.

This isn’t the last we’ve seen of Gambon, however; the seasoned actor will continue to do movies and television for as long as he’s able.

We can next enjoy his talents in the adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, which is set to premiere Sunday, Feb. 15 in Britain.