WHEN Harry Robinson’s photographs were used for props in the first Harry Potter film, little did he know it would be the beginning of a 10-year link with the boy wizard.

Mr Robinson, 81, from London Road, Oxford, joined cast and crew for a premiere of the final instalment of the wizarding saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, last week.

After he took early retirement 28 years ago, Mr Robinson decided to try his hand at acting and acquired an agent.

His resemblance to Richard Harris, the actor who originally played Dumbledore, was noticed, and photographs of Mr Robinson were used for a portrait in the first film.

Then with Mr Harris’s failing health, Mr Robinson was asked to appear in the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as the actor’s double and stand-in.

Mr Robinson, a former paramedic and postal master at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, said: “When you watch the film, if you can’t see his face, it’s me.

“I used to give all the lines to Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. It was amazing.”

After Mr Harris died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002, there was no need for a double as Michael Gambon stepped into the role – although Mr Robinson was actually shortlisted for the role due to his physical resemblances to the actor.

He said: “I thought I was in with a good shout as Dumbledore, but it was not to be. It was an experience I will never forget.”

But his involvement with the films continued and he has appeared on screen in each film since the second.

Mr Robinson said: “They promised me they would put me in a little part in every one so I was always at the top table of wizards.

“If you look at the Harry Potter films, you will always find me there.”

He was full of praise for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, who he first met when the boy actor took the lead role in David Copperfield at the age of nine.

Mr Robinson had a small part in the dramatisation in a funeral procession.

He said: “I was quite impressed with him even at nine. When I worked with him he was very sensible and he never got big-headed.”

He introduced some of his six grandchildren to Mr Radcliffe while filming at Christ Church.

Although Mr Robinson’s involvement with the films has lessened, he was presented with a card on his 80th birthday last year signed by all the stars.

He said: “It’s like one big family, the Potter films.

“They have worked together so long, everyone from the lighting people, to the stagehands, make-up and hairdressers. It’s wonderful.”

As for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, he described it as “really exciting”.

He said: “The special effects were out of this world, and I enjoyed finding myself on screen.”