Richard Harris
Richard Harris | |
---|---|
Born | Richard St John Francis Harris 1 October 1930 Limerick, Ireland |
Died | 25 October 2002 Bloomsbury, London, England | (aged 72)
Resting place | Cremated; ashes scattered in The Bahamas |
Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
Occupation(s) | Actor, singer |
Years active | 1956–2002 |
Spouses |
|
Children | |
Relatives | Annabelle Wallis (great-niece) |
Signature | |
Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002)
Harris received two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his performances in This Sporting Life (1963), and The Field (1990). Other notable roles include in The Guns of Navarone (1961), Red Desert (1964), A Man Called Horse (1970), Cromwell (1970), Unforgiven (1992), Gladiator (2000), and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). He gained cross generational acclaim for his role as Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), the latter of which was his final film role.
He portrayed
Harris received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for his role in The Snow Goose (1971). Harris had a number-one singing hit in Australia, Jamaica and Canada, and a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park". He received a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance nomination for the song.
Early life
Harris was born on 1 October 1930, at Overdale, 8 Landsdown Villas, Ennis Road, Limerick,[3][4][5] and was the fifth in a family of eight children, (six boys & two girls), to flour merchant Ivan Harris and Mildred (née Harty).[1] Overdale was "a tall, elegant, early 19th-century redbrick" house with nine bedrooms, in a wealthy part of Limerick, the houses "built at the turn of the 20th century for Limerick's burgeoning middle class... people who could afford properly grand drawing rooms, a bedroom each for the children and one for the pot, plus space for a few servants".[6][7] He was educated by the Jesuits at Crescent College. A talented rugby player, he appeared on several Munster Junior and Senior Cup teams for Crescent, and played for Garryowen.[8] Harris's athletic career was cut short when he caught tuberculosis in his teens. He remained an ardent fan of the Munster Rugby and Young Munster teams until his death, attending many of their matches, and there are numerous stories of japes at rugby matches with actors and fellow rugby fans Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
After recovering from
After completing his studies at the academy, he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. He began getting roles in West End theatre productions, starting with The Quare Fellow in 1956, a transfer from the Theatre Workshop. He spent nearly a decade in obscurity, learning his profession on stages throughout the UK.[10]
Career
1959–1963: Early roles and breakthrough
Harris made his film debut in 1959 in the film
Harris played another IRA Volunteer in A Terrible Beauty (1960), alongside Robert Mitchum. He had a memorable bit part in the film The Guns of Navarone (1961) as a Royal Australian Air Force pilot who reports that blowing up the "bloody guns" of the island of Navarone is impossible by an air raid. He had a larger part in The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), playing a British soldier; Harris clashed with Laurence Harvey and Richard Todd during filming. For his role in the film Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), despite being virtually unknown to film audiences, Harris reportedly insisted on third billing, behind Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando, an actor he greatly admired. However, Harris fell out with Brando over the latter's behaviour during the film's production.
Harris's first starring role was in the film
Harris received an offer to support Kirk Douglas in a British war film, The Heroes of Telemark (1965), directed by Anthony Mann, playing a Norwegian resistance leader. He then went to Hollywood to support Charlton Heston in Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee (1965), as an Irish immigrant who became a Confederate cavalryman during the American Civil War. He played Cain in John Huston's film The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). More successful at the box office was Hawaii (1966), in which Harris starred alongside Julie Andrews and Max von Sydow.
1967–1971: Rise to prominence
As a change of pace, he was the romantic lead in a
In The Molly Maguires (1970), he played James McParland, the detective who infiltrates the title organisation, headed by Sean Connery. It was a box office flop. However A Man Called Horse (1970), with Harris in the title role, an 1825 English aristocrat who is captured by Native Americans, was a major success. He played the title role in the film Cromwell in 1970 opposite Alec Guinness as King Charles I of England. That year British exhibitors voted him the 9th-most popular star at the UK box office.[13]
In 1971 Harris starred in a
1973–1981: Established actor
Harris starred in a Western for Samuel Fuller, Riata, which stopped production several weeks into filming. The project was re-assembled with a new director and cast, except for Harris, who returned: The Deadly Trackers (1973). In 1973, Harris published a book of poetry, I, In the Membership of My Days, which was later reissued in part in an audio LP format, augmented by self-penned songs such as "I Don't Know".
Harris starred in two thrillers:
He appeared in another action film, Golden Rendezvous (1977), based on a novel by Alistair Maclean, shot in South Africa. Harris was sued by the film's producer for his drinking; Harris counter-sued for defamation and the matter was settled out of court.[15] Golden Rendezvous was a flop but The Wild Geese (1978), where Harris played one of several mercenaries, was a big success outside America.[16] Ravagers (1979) was more action, set in a post-apocalyptic world. Game for Vultures (1979) was set in Rhodesia and shot in South Africa.
In Hollywood he appeared in The Last Word (1979), then supported Bo Derek in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981). He made a film in Canada, Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1981), a drama about impotence. He followed it with another Canadian film, Highpoint, a movie so bad it was not released for several years.
1980–1988: Continued success
For a while in the 1980s, Harris went into semi-retirement on
He was the subject of
1989–2002: Stardom and final roles
In June 1989, director Jim Sheridan cast Harris in the lead role in The Field, written by the esteemed Irish playwright John B. Keane. The lead role of "Bull" McCabe was to be played by former Abbey Theatre actor Ray McAnally. When McAnally died suddenly on 15 June 1989, Harris was offered the McCabe role. The Field was released in 1990 and earned Harris his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He lost to Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune. In 1992, Harris had a supporting role in the film Patriot Games. He had good roles in Unforgiven (1992), Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993) and Silent Tongue (1994). He played the title role in Abraham (1994) and had the lead in Cry, the Beloved Country (1995).
A lifelong supporter of Jesuit education principles,[18] Harris established a friendship with University of Scranton President Rev. J. A. Panuska[19][20] and raised funds for a scholarship for Irish students established in honour of his brother and manager, Dermot, who had died the previous year of a heart attack.[19][20] He chaired acting workshops and cast the university's production of Julius Caesar in November 1987.
Harris appeared in two films which won the
Harris hesitated to take the role of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) owing to the multi-film commitment and his declining health, but he ultimately accepted because, according to his account of the story, his 11-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again if he did not take it.[23] In an interview with the Toronto Star in 2001, Harris expressed his concern that his association with the Harry Potter films would outshine the rest of his career. He explained, "Because, you see, I don't just want to be remembered for being in those bloody films, and I'm afraid that's what's going to happen to me."[24]
Harris also made part of the Bible TV movie project filmed as a cinema production for the TV, a project produced by Lux Vide Italy with the collaboration of RAI and Channel 5 of France,[25] and premiered in the United States in the channel TNT in the 1990s. He portrayed the main and title character in the production Abraham (1993) as well as Saint John of Patmos in the 2000 TV film production Apocalypse.
Singing career
Harris recorded several albums of music, one of which,
Personal life
In 1957, Harris married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, daughter of David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore. They had three children: actor Jared Harris, actor Jamie Harris, and director Damian Harris. Harris and Rees-Williams divorced in 1969, after which Elizabeth married Rex Harrison. Harris's second marriage was to the American actress Ann Turkel in 1974, they divorced in 1982.[29]
Harris was a member of the Knights of Malta.[30]
Harris paid £75,000 for William Burges' Tower House in Holland Park in 1968, after discovering that the American entertainer Liberace had arranged to buy the house but had not yet put down a deposit.[31][32] Harris employed the original decorators, Campbell Smith & Company Ltd., to carry out extensive restoration work on the interior.[32]
Harris was a vocal supporter of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) from 1973 until 1984.[33] In January 1984, remarks he made on the previous month's Harrods bombing caused great controversy, after which he discontinued his support for the PIRA.[34][35][33]
At the height of his stardom in the 1960s and early 1970s, Harris was almost as well known for his hellraiser lifestyle and heavy drinking as he was for his acting career. He was a longtime alcoholic until he became a teetotaller in 1981. Nevertheless, he did resume drinking Guinness a decade later.[36] He gave up drugs after almost dying from a cocaine overdose in 1978.
Illness and death
Harris was diagnosed with
Harris was a lifelong friend of actor Peter O'Toole, and his family reportedly hoped that O'Toole would replace Harris as Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). There were, however, concerns about insuring O'Toole for the six remaining films in the series.[42] Harris was ultimately succeeded as Dumbledore by Michael Gambon.[43] Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter films, had visited Harris during his last days and had promised not to recast Dumbledore, confident of his eventual recovery. In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Columbus revealed that Harris was writing an autobiography during his stay at the hospital, but it has not been published since.[44]
Memorials and legacy
On 30 September 2006, Manuel Di Lucia, of
Another life-size statue of Richard Harris, as King Arthur from his film Camelot, has been erected in Bedford Row, in the centre of his home town of Limerick. The sculptor of this statue was the Irish sculptor Jim Connolly, a graduate of the Limerick School of Art and Design.
At the 2009 BAFTAs, Mickey Rourke dedicated his Best Actor award to Harris, calling him a "good friend and great actor".
In 2013, Rob Gill and Zeb Moore founded the annual Richard Harris International Film Festival.[47] The Richard Harris Film Festival is one of Ireland's fastest-growing film festivals, growing from just ten films in 2013 to over 115 films in 2017. Each year, one of Harris's sons attends the festival in Limerick.
In 2015, the Limerick Writers' Centre unveiled a commemorative plaque outside Charlie St George's pub on Parnell Street. The pub was a favourite drinking place of Harris on his visits to Limerick. The plaque, celebrating Harris's literary output as part of a Literary Walking Tour of Limerick, was unveiled by his son Jared Harris.[48]
In 1996, Harris was honoured with a commemorative Irish postage stamp for the "Centenary of Irish Cinema", a four-stamp set featuring twelve Irish actors in four Irish films.[49][50] He was again honoured in ‘Irish Abroad’ stamps in 2020.[51]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | Alive and Kicking | Lover | |
1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Terence O'Brien | |
1959 | The Wreck of the Mary Deare | Higgens | |
1960 | A Terrible Beauty | Sean Reilly | |
1961 | The Guns of Navarone | Squadron Leader Barnsby RAAF |
|
1961 | The Long and the Short and the Tall | Corporal Edward "Johnno" Johnstone | |
1962 | Mutiny on the Bounty | Seaman John Mills | |
1963 | This Sporting Life | Frank Machin | |
1964 | Red Desert | Corrado Zeller | |
1965 | The Heroes of Telemark | Knut Straud | |
1965 | Major Dundee | Capt. Benjamin Tyreen | |
1966 | The Bible: In The Beginning | Cain | |
1966 | Hawaii | Rafer Hoxworth | |
1967 | Caprice | Christopher White | |
1967 | Camelot | King Arthur | |
1970 | The Molly Maguires | Detective James McParlan |
|
1970 | A Man Called Horse | John Morgan | |
1970 | Cromwell | Oliver Cromwell | [52] |
1971 | Bloomfield | Eitan | Also director and additional writer |
1971 | Man in the Wilderness | Zachary Bass | |
1973 | The Deadly Trackers | Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick | |
1974 | 99 and 44/100% Dead | Harry Crown | |
1974 | Juggernaut | Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon | |
1976 | Echoes of a Summer | Eugene Striden | Also executive producer |
1976 | Robin and Marian | Richard the Lionheart | |
1976 | The Return of a Man Called Horse | Lord John Morgan | Also executive producer |
1976 | The Cassandra Crossing | Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain | |
1977 | Gulliver's Travels | Gulliver | |
1977 | Orca: The Killer Whale | Captain Nolan | |
1977 | Golden Rendezvous | John Carter | |
1978 | The Wild Geese | Capt. Rafer Janders | |
1979 | Ravagers | Falk | |
1979 | Game for Vultures | David Swansey | |
1980 | The Last Word | Danny Travis | |
1981 | Tarzan, the Ape Man | James Parker | |
1981 | Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid | Jason | |
1982 | Triumphs of a Man Called Horse | John Morgan | |
1984 | Highpoint | Lewis Kinney | |
1985 | Martin's Day | Martin Steckert | |
1988 | Strike Commando 2 | Vic Jenkins | |
1990 | King of the Wind | King George II | |
1990 | Mack the Knife | Mr. Peachum | |
1990 | The Field | 'Bull' McCabe | |
1992 | Patriot Games | Paddy O'Neil | |
1992 | Unforgiven | English Bob | |
1993 | Wrestling Ernest Hemingway | Frank | |
1994 | Silent Tongue | Prescott Roe | |
1995 | Cry, the Beloved Country | James Jarvis | |
1996 | Trojan Eddie | John Power | |
1997 | Savage Hearts | Sir Roger Foxley | |
1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow | Dr. Andreas Tork | |
1997 | This Is the Sea | Old Man Jacobs | |
1998 | The Barber of Siberia | Douglas McCraken | |
1999 | To Walk with Lions | George Adamson | |
1999 | Grizzly Falls | Old Harry | |
2000 | Gladiator | Marcus Aurelius | |
2001 | The Pearl | Dr. Karl | |
2001 | My Kingdom | Sandeman | |
2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Professor Albus Dumbledore | |
2002 | The Count of Monte Cristo | Abbé Faria | |
2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Professor Albus Dumbledore | Final live-action film role; posthumous release |
2004 | Kaena: The Prophecy | Opaz | Voice; Posthumous release |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | ITV Play of the Week |
Michael O'Riordan | Episode: "The Iron Harp" |
1958 | ITV Television Playhouse | Dan Galvin | Episode: "Rest in Violence" |
1958 | The DuPont Show of the Month |
Performer | Episode: "The Hasty Heart" |
1960 | Armchair Theatre | Major Gaylord | Episode: "Come in Razor Red" |
1960 | The Art Carney Special | Performer | Episode: "Victory" |
1971 | The Snow Goose | Philip Rhayader | Television movie |
1982 | Camelot | King Arthur | Television movie |
1985 | Maigret | Jules Maigret | Television movie |
1993 | Abraham | Abraham | Television movie |
1995 | The Great Kandinsky | Ernest Kandinsky | Television movie |
1997 | The Hunchback | Dom Frollo | Television movie |
2000 | The Apocalypse | John | Television movie |
2003 | Julius Caesar | Lucius Cornelius Sulla | 2 episodes Posthumous release |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
early 1970s | Becket | Unsure | Haymarket Theatre , London
|
1981–1985 | Camelot | King Arthur | Old Vic Theatre, London , Broadway Winter Garden Theatre National Tour |
1990 | Henry IV | Henry IV | Wyndham's Theatre, London |
Awards and nominations
Discography
Albums
- Camelot (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1967)
- A Tramp Shining (1968)
- The Yard Went On Forever (1968)
- The Richard Harris Love Album (1970)
- My Boy (1971)
- Slides (1972)
- Tommy (1972)
- His Greatest Performances (1973)
- The Prophet (1974) (music by Arif Mardin, based on The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran)
- I, in the Membership of My Days (1974)
- Gulliver Travels (1977)
- Camelot (Original 1982 London Cast recording) (1982)
- Mack The Knife (Original Soundtrack) (1989)
- Little Tramp (Musical) (1992)
- The Apocalypse (The Story of John the Apostle on an Island named Patmos) (2004)
Singles
- "Here in My Heart" (Theme from This Sporting Life)" (1963)
- "How to Handle a Woman (from Camelot)" (1968)
- "MacArthur Park" (1968)
- "Didn't We?" (1968)
- "The Yard Went On Forever" (1968)
- "The Hive" (1969)
- "One of the Nicer Things" (1969)
- "Fill the World With Love" (1969)
- "Ballad of A Man Called Horse" (1970)
- "Morning of the Mourning for Another Kennedy" (1970)
- "My Boy" (1971)
- "Turning Back the Pages" (1972)
- "Half of Every Dream" (1972)
- "Go to the Mirror" (1973)
- "Trilogy (Love, Marriage, Children)" (1974)
- "The Last Castle (Theme from Echoes of a Summer)" (1976)
- "Lilliput (Theme from Gulliver's Travels)" (1977)
Soundtracks
- Camelot (Original 1982 London Cast Recording) (1988)
- Mack the Knife (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1989)
- Tommy (studio recording) (1990)
- Camelot (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1993)
Compilations
- A Tramp Shining (1993)
- The Prophet (1995)
- The Webb Sessions 1968–1969 (1996)
- MacArthur Park (1997)
- Slides/My Boy (2-CD Set) (2005)
- My Boy (2006)
- Man of Words Man of Music The Anthology 1968–1974 (2008)
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara (13 June 2020). "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ "Overdale, 8 Landsdown Villas, Ennis Road, LIMERICK MUNICIPAL BOROUGH, Limerick, LIMERICK". Buildings of Ireland.
- ^ "He was one of the most outstanding film stars of his time". Irish Independent. 27 October 2002. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
- ^ Severo, Richard (26 October 2002). "Richard Harris, Versatile And Volatile Star, 72, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
- ^ "Richard Harris's Limerick childhood home for €785k". The Irish Times. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Living on a grand scale just a short hop from Limerick city". Irish Independent. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Limerick rugby full of heroes". Wesclark.com. 24 May 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Entertainment | Obituary: Richard Harris". BBC News. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Camelot movie review". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ "Richard Harris, King Arthur of Camelot on Stage and Screen, Dead at 72". Playbill.com. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ "Paul Newman Britain's favourite star". The Times. London, England. 31 December 1970. p. 9 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ "Actor Harris linked to scandal in South Africa". Chicago Tribune. 22 November 1978. p. a6.
- ^ Mann, Roderick (14 March 1978). "Richard Harris: Ain't Misbehavin'". Los Angeles Times. p. e8.
- ^ "Richard Harris obituary". The Guardian. Associated Press. 28 October 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-86105-766-2.
- ^ a b "Harris Welcomed at U.S. University". Lewistown Journal. Associated Press. 18 November 1987. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 9 May 1987. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ LaSane, Andrew. "THEN AND NOW: The cast of the 'Harry Potter' films 20 years later". Insider.
- ISBN 978-1-932112-06-1– via Google Books.
- The Late Show With David Lettermaninterview, 2001
- ^ Kristin (9 July 2003). "On Richard Harris The Leaky Cauldron". The-leaky-cauldron.org. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- ^ "Bible Project for TV". Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ Fresh Air interview with Jimmy Webb by Terry Gross on NPR, 2004
- ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- ^ Album liner notes for "Richard Harris – the Webb Sessions 1968–1969"
- ^ "Ann Turkel. Hello! magazine article". annturkel.com. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Hanauer, Joan (10 June 1981). "Harris Knighted - UPI Archives". UPI. United Press International. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-7535-4651-2. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-08164-0. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86105-766-2.
- Star-Banner. 24 January 1984. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ "Richard Harris ducking IRA "bombs"". The Gettysburg Times. 25 November 1988. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ Cripps, Ed (1 September 2016). "The Glory Days of the Hellraiser". The Rake. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ "Entertainment | Harris's Potter role unaffected by illness". BBC News. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Richard Harris dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 October 2002. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ deBurca Butler, Jonathan (23 October 2017). "Remembering Richard Harris – Bull, bard and boozing silverscreen superstar". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Lionhearted – Death, Richard Harris". People. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ "Obituary: Richard Harris". BBC News. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ "12 Actors Who Almost Starred In The Harry Potter Series". Fame 10. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- Telegraph. 9 December 2012. Archivedfrom the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Perez, Lexy (11 November 2021). "'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct 'Cursed Child'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ^ "Crowe pays tribute to Harris at Irish ceremony". BreakingNews.ie. 2 October 2006.
- ^ "Tivoli Cup in Kilkee". kilkee.ie. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Richard Harris International Film Festival". 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Limerickwriters". Limerickwriters.
- ^ "Stamp Irish Cinema - The Field, Ireland 1996". stampes.net. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ "The Field". Connemara Irish. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ Staff Reporter (27 February 2020). "An Post release St. Patrick's Day stamp of Richard Harris". Limerick Post Newspaper. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ a b "7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Richard Harris Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1-86105-766-2.