Fans will know him as Dumbledore from the wildly popular Harry Potter series, but many of the fans of actor Michael Gambon know him from his five-decade long history as a stage actor.

Gambon, 74, in an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, stated that he is retiring from stage acting. He admitted that memorizing scripts has become a challenge and takes a very long time for him to commit to memory.

He said, "It's a horrible thing to admit, but I can't do it. It breaks my heart. It's when the script's in front of me, and it takes forever to learn. It's frightening."

He came to the realization that he could no longer meet the demands of a live audience when he was auditioning for a West End play six months ago.

He became reliant on an earpiece to have his lines given to him from side stage, and subsequently he made the decision to end his career in theater.

He recounted the moment he realized it was time. "There was a girl in the wings, and I had a plug in my ear so she could read me the lines," he said, "And 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."

Worried that his forgetfulness was more than aging, the lauded actor inquired with doctors regarding an Alzheimer's diagnosis.

He was assured that he was not suffering from the illness. The actor was in hospitalized twice back in 2009 due to panic attacks suffered from the stress of memorizing lines during a run at the National Theatre in London.

Fans of the actor will still be able to see him in film and television as he is scheduled to appear in The Casual Vacancy and Dad's Army.