Noel Harrison

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Noel Harrison
Harrison in 1972
Born
Noel John Christopher Harrison

(1934-01-29)29 January 1934
Kensington, London, England
Died19 October 2013(2013-10-19) (aged 79)
Exeter, Devon, England
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1960–1999
Spouses
Sara Lee Eberts Tufnell
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1969)​
Margaret Benson
​
​
(m. 1972; div. 1989)​
Lori Chapman
​
​
(m. 1991)​
Children5, including Cathryn Harrison
Parents
Relatives

Noel John Christopher Harrison (29 January 1934 – 19 October 2013) was an English actor and singer. In the 1950s, he was a member of the British

UK Singles Chart with "The Windmills of Your Mind". He was the son of actor Rex Harrison
.

Early life

Harrison was born on 29 January 1934 in Kensington, London.[1] His mother, Ethel Margery Noel Collette-Thomas, was the first of Rex Harrison's six wives; they divorced in 1942. Ethel and her cousin Richard Michael Collette Thomas (later a Lieutenant-Colonel killed in action in 1944, in France) were brought up together by their grandparents, Major John Cyril Collette-Thomas and Jessie Maud Scott-Brown, in Bude, North Cornwall. As a child, he attended Sunningdale School, where his father had also been a pupil.[2] When he was 15, Ethel took young Noel out of school at Radley to live in the Swiss Alps.

Harrison never returned to school and began ski-racing.

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.[4]

Harrison undertook

Tonight, as part of a team who sang the day's news in a calypso
style.

When Harrison was 20, he started playing professionally, around the tables in a Greek restaurant in London. He also made a living playing in bars and nightclubs all over Europe, including appearances at the Blue Angel nightclub in

live album.[citation needed
]

Move to the United States

After appearing in small roles in British films such as

record reach the charts. The track was "A Young Girl", written by Charles Aznavour. In the 1966-67 television season he appeared as Mark Slate in 29 episodes of the NBC series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. as the costar of Stefanie Powers (April Dancer).[1] A year earlier, Norman Fell originated his Mark Slate character on the original U.N.C.L.E. series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in a 2nd-season episode titled "The Galatea Affair". In 1968, Harrison appeared on an episode of To Tell the Truth
in which the panel had to figure out which of 3 women was Harrison's then-wife Sara.

"Young Girl" was included as one of the tracks on Harrison's debut album, Noel Harrison, in 1966. Two years later, he recorded "

Jose Feliciano. The change was made because he was working on the film, Take A Girl Like You in England, with Oliver Reed and Hayley Mills. Coincidentally, his father had sung the Oscar-winning song ("Talk to the Animals") only the previous year (1967).[5]

The television series, plus the

Sonny and Cher, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, featured on a music program, Hullabaloo and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
.

In 1968, Harrison played the male lead in The Fantasticks, in touring theatres in the round, including The Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts.[citation needed] In 1970, he played the male lead role in "Blithe Spirit" at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA and returned in 1983 for the lead male role in "The Housekeeper".

Move to Canada

In 1972, Harrison left the United States for

Take Time for CBC Television.[1] In winter 1974, the wood stove caught fire and his house burned down, inspiring him to write the humorous song, "The Middleton Fire Brigade", which appeared on his 1979 album Mount Hanley Song.[7] He subsequently built a new house from scratch with no electricity, inspired by the fashionable pioneers Helen and Scott Nearing and their self-help bible, Living the Good Life
.

Touring shows

During the 1970s, Harrison toured the United States in productions of Camelot and The Sound of Music. He also played Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, the part first performed by his father in the musical's original stage production and film version. Other touring roles included King Arthur in Camelot, Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Brian Runicles in No Sex Please, We're British and Lloyd Dallas in Noises Off.[1]

He later began acting again, appearing in the cinema films Power, and Déjà Vu. An admirer of Jacques Brel, Harrison created a one-man musical, Adieu, Jacques, and in 2002 released an album of songs from the show.

Return to the United Kingdom

In 2004, Harrison returned to the United Kingdom, relocating his home to the county of Devon. He continued to sing, appearing in occasional concerts to finance the recording and release of his self-produced albums, such as Hold Back Time. A compilation album of his work titled Life Is a Dream was released by the American 'Reprise' record label in 2003, and his debut album, Noel Harrison, was re-released in 2008. In 2010, he recorded a new album, From the Sublime to the Ridiculous!. The record was made as part of the Internet event, The RPM Challenge, which challenged musicians to record a new album from scratch during the month of February.

In June 2011, Harrison played

British Broadcasting Corporation, including a backstage acoustic version of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind".[citation needed
]

Personal life

Harrison was married three times. In 1959, he married Sara Lee Eberts Tufnell, with whom he had three children: Cathryn, Simon, and Harriet. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1969. His second marriage was in 1972 to Margaret Benson. The couple had two children, Chloe and Will, and later divorced in 1989. Harrison's final marriage was in 1991 to Lori Chapman, to whom he remained married until his death in 2013.[8][9]

Harrison died in hospital after suffering a heart attack at his Devon home, several hours after performing a concert locally on the evening of 19 October 2013.[8][9][10]

Discography

Albums

  • Noel Harrison at the Blue Angel (1960)
  • Noel Harrison at UnMusic (1960)
  • Noel Harrison (1966)
  • Collage (1967)
  • Santa Monica Pier (1968)
  • The Great Electric Experiment Is Over (1969) Produced by Peter Pilalfian and arranged by Luiz Henrique Rosa
  • The World of Noel Harrison (1969 — compilation)
  • Mount Hanley Song (1979)
  • Live From Boulevard Music (2002 —
    live album
    recorded in the United States)
  • Adieu, Jacques (2002 — music from the show, sung in French)
  • Hold Back Time (2003)
  • Life Is a Dream (2003 compilation)
  • From the Sublime to the Ridiculous (2010)[11]

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions 		Album
UK
[12]
 CAN
[13] 		US
[14]
1965 "A Young Girl (Of Sixteen)" — 5 51 Noel Harrison
1967 "Suzanne" — — 56 Collage
1969 "The Windmills of Your Mind" 8 — - The Thomas Crown Affair (soundtrack)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1961 The Best of Enemies Lt. Hilary
1964 Hot Enough for June Johnnie
1965 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders Second Mohock
1966 Where the Spies Are Jackson
1968 To Tell the Truth Himself
1970 Take a Girl Like You Julian Ormerod
1986 Power Leonard Thompson
1997 Déjà Vu John Stoner
1999 The Murder in China Basin George Guest (final film role)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography by Linda Seida". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  2. ^ "Old Boys". School Notes. Sunningdale School: 4. 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Noel Harrison". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Noel Harrison". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-9049-9400-8
    .
  6. ^ Seida, Linda. "Noel Harrison | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Mount Hanley Song (about the album)". The Windmills of Your Mind (Noel Harrison fan site). Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  8. ^ a b ""Windmills of Your Mind" singer Noel Harrison dies". Entertainment Weekly. Associated Press. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b Sweeting, Adam. "Noel Harrison obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  10. ^ Slotnik, Daniel E. (23 October 2013). "Noel Harrison, Actor and Singer of 'Windmills of Your Mind,' Dies at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Noel Harrison | Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Noel Harrison". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  13. Library and Archives of Canada
    .
  14. ^ "Noel Harrison Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

External links

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