Richard Harris: Difference between revisions
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| birth_place = [[Limerick]], Ireland | | birth_place = [[Limerick]], Ireland | ||
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|10|25|1930|10|1}} | | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|10|25|1930|10|1}} | ||
| death_place = [[Bloomsbury, London | | death_place = [[Bloomsbury]], London, England | ||
| resting_place= Ashes scattered in the [[Bahamas]]<ref name="AP 2002-10-27">{{cite news |title=Private funeral planned for actor |website=Ocala StarBanner |date=2002-10-27 |url=https://www.ocala.com/story/news/2002/10/27/private-funeral-planned-for-actor/31260593007/ |agency=AP |access-date=2024-12-13}}</ref><ref name="Leeman 2002">{{cite web |last=Leeman |first=Sue |title=Actor Harris to Get Private Funeral |website=The Edwardsville Intelligencer |date=2002-10-26 |url=https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Actor-Harris-to-Get-Private-Funeral-10510612.php |access-date=2024-12-13}}</ref> | | resting_place= Ashes scattered in the [[Bahamas]]<ref name="AP 2002-10-27">{{cite news |title=Private funeral planned for actor |website=Ocala StarBanner |date=2002-10-27 |url=https://www.ocala.com/story/news/2002/10/27/private-funeral-planned-for-actor/31260593007/ |agency=AP |access-date=2024-12-13}}</ref><ref name="Leeman 2002">{{cite web |last=Leeman |first=Sue |title=Actor Harris to Get Private Funeral |website=The Edwardsville Intelligencer |date=2002-10-26 |url=https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Actor-Harris-to-Get-Private-Funeral-10510612.php |access-date=2024-12-13}}</ref> | ||
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|singer}} | | occupation = {{hlist|Actor|singer}} | ||
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| signature = Richard Harris Signature.png | | signature = Richard Harris Signature.png | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Richard St John Francis Harris''' (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002)<ref name="auto">{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-77336|title=Harris, Richard St John Francis (1930–2002), actor|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/77336|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref> was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]], he rose to prominence as an [[Cultural icon|icon]] of the [[British New Wave]]. He received numerous accolades including the [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor]], | '''Richard St John Francis Harris''' (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002)<ref name="auto">{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-77336|title=Harris, Richard St John Francis (1930–2002), actor|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/77336|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref> was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]], he rose to prominence as an [[Cultural icon|icon]] of the [[British New Wave]]. He received numerous accolades including the [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor]], a [[Grammy Award]], and a [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe]]. In 2020 he was listed at number 3 on ''[[The Irish Times]]''{{'}}s list of Ireland's greatest film actors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Donald |last2=Brady |first2=Tara |title=The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/the-50-greatest-irish-film-actors-of-all-time-in-order-1.4271988 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=13 June 2020 |access-date=25 July 2020}}</ref> | ||
Harris received two [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] nominations for his performances in ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' (1963), and ''[[The Field (1990 film)|The Field]]'' (1990). Other notable roles include in ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]'' (1961), ''[[Red Desert (film)|Red Desert]]'' (1964), ''[[A Man Called Horse (film)|A Man Called Horse]]'' (1970), ''[[Cromwell (film)|Cromwell]]'' (1970), ''[[Unforgiven]]'' (1992), ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'' (2000), and ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 film)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' (2002). He gained cross-generational acclaim for his role as [[Albus Dumbledore]] in the first two ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' films: ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' (2001) and ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' (2002), the latter of which was his final film role. | Harris received two [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] nominations for his performances in ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' (1963), and ''[[The Field (1990 film)|The Field]]'' (1990). Other notable roles include in ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]'' (1961), ''[[Red Desert (film)|Red Desert]]'' (1964), ''[[A Man Called Horse (film)|A Man Called Horse]]'' (1970), ''[[Cromwell (film)|Cromwell]]'' (1970), ''[[Unforgiven]]'' (1992), ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'' (2000), and ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 film)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' (2002). He gained cross-generational acclaim for his role as [[Albus Dumbledore]] in the first two ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' films: ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' (2001) and ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' (2002), the latter of which was his final film role. | ||
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Harris received a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie|Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie]] nomination for his role in ''[[The Snow Goose (film)|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 (song)|MacArthur Park]]". He received a [[Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance]] nomination for the song. | Harris received a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie|Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie]] nomination for his role in ''[[The Snow Goose (film)|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 (song)|MacArthur Park]]". He received a [[Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance]] nomination for the song. | ||
== Early life == | == Early life and education == | ||
Harris was born on 1 October 1930 | Harris was born on 1 October 1930 at Overdale, 8 Landsdown Villas, Ennis Road, [[Limerick]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Overdale, 8 Landsdown Villas, Ennis Road, LIMERICK MUNICIPAL BOROUGH, Limerick, LIMERICK|url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/21512030/overdale-8-landsdown-villas-ennis-road-limerick-limerick-city|website=Buildings of Ireland}}</ref><ref name="irishind">{{Cite news |date=27 October 2002 |title=He was one of the most outstanding film stars of his time |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/harris-was-one-of-the-most--outstanding-film-stars-of-his-time-504644.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414205509/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/harris-was-one-of-the-most--outstanding-film-stars-of-his-time-504644.html |archive-date=April 14, 2008 |access-date=10 December 2007 |work=[[Irish Independent]]}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last=Severo |first=Richard |title=Richard Harris, Versatile And Volatile Star, 72, Dies |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E2D91E3CF935A15753C1A9649C8B63 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 October 2002 |access-date=10 December 2007}}</ref> and was the fifth in a family of eight children (six boys and two girls) born to Ivan Harris, a flour merchant, and his wife, Mildred (née Harty).<ref name="auto" /> 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 room]]s, a bedroom each for the children and one for the pot, plus space for a few servants".<ref>{{cite news |title=Richard Harris's Limerick childhood home for €785k |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/richard-harris-s-limerick-childhood-home-for-785k-1.3686875 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=8 November 2018 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Living on a grand scale just a short hop from Limerick city |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/living-on-a-grand-scale-just-a-short-hop-from-limerick-city-41112948.html |website=Irish Independent |date=3 December 2021 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref> He was educated by the [[Jesuits]] at [[Crescent College]]. A talented [[rugby union]] player, he appeared on several [[Munster Schools Junior Cup|Munster Junior]] and [[Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup|Senior Cup]] teams for Crescent, and played for [[Garryowen Football Club|Garryowen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Limerick rugby full of heroes |url=http://wesclark.com/rrr/harris_rugby_article.html |website=Wesclark.com |date=24 May 2002 |access-date=8 November 2011}}</ref> 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 the actors and fellow rugby fans [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Richard Burton]]. | ||
After recovering from [[tuberculosis]], Harris moved to England, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable training courses, and enrolled to learn acting at the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]].<ref name="lamda">{{cite web|url= https://www.lamda.ac.uk/students-alumni/acting-alumni |title= Meet our LAMDA Acting Alumni |website= lamda.ac.uk |access-date= June 13, 2025}}</ref> He had failed an audition at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] and had been rejected by the [[Royal Central School of Speech and Drama|Central School of Speech and Drama]], because they felt he was too old at 24.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/richard-harris-615104.html]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> While still a student, he rented the tiny "off-[[West End of London|West End]]" Irving Theatre, and there directed his production of [[Clifford Odets]]'s play ''Winter Journey (The Country Girl)''. | After recovering from [[tuberculosis]], Harris moved to England, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable training courses, and enrolled to learn acting at the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]] (LAMDA).<ref name="lamda">{{cite web|url= https://www.lamda.ac.uk/students-alumni/acting-alumni |title= Meet our LAMDA Acting Alumni |website= lamda.ac.uk |access-date= June 13, 2025}}</ref> He had failed an audition at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] and had been rejected by the [[Royal Central School of Speech and Drama|Central School of Speech and Drama]], because they felt he was too old at 24.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/richard-harris-615104.html]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> While still a student, he rented the tiny "off-[[West End of London|West End]]" Irving Theatre, and there directed his production of [[Clifford Odets]]'s play ''Winter Journey (The Country Girl)''. | ||
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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2361801.stm |title=Entertainment | Obituary: Richard Harris |work=BBC News |date=25 October 2002 |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> | 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2361801.stm |title=Entertainment | Obituary: Richard Harris |work=BBC News |date=25 October 2002 |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> | ||
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== Career == | == Career == | ||
=== 1959–1963: Early roles and breakthrough === | === 1959–1963: Early roles and breakthrough === | ||
Harris made his film debut in 1959 in the film ''[[Alive and Kicking (1959 film)|Alive and Kicking]]'', and played the lead role in ''[[The Ginger Man (play)|The Ginger Man]]'' in the West End in 1959. In his second film, he had a small role as an IRA Volunteer in ''[[Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film)|Shake Hands with the Devil]]'' (1959), supporting [[James Cagney]]. The film was shot in Ireland and directed by [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]] who offered Harris a role in his next | Harris made his film debut in 1959 in the film ''[[Alive and Kicking (1959 film)|Alive and Kicking]]'', and played the lead role in ''[[The Ginger Man (play)|The Ginger Man]]'' in the West End in 1959. In his second film, he had a small role as an IRA Volunteer in ''[[Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film)|Shake Hands with the Devil]]'' (1959), supporting [[James Cagney]]. The film was shot in Ireland and directed by [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]] who offered Harris a role in his next film, ''[[The Wreck of the Mary Deare (film)|The Wreck of the Mary Deare]]'' (1959), shot in Hollywood. | ||
Harris played another IRA Volunteer in ''[[A Terrible Beauty (1960 film)|A Terrible Beauty]]'' (1960), alongside [[Robert Mitchum]]. He had a memorable [[bit part]] in the film ''[[The Guns of Navarone (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 [[strategic bombing|air raid]]. He had a larger part in ''[[The Long and the Short and the Tall (film)|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 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 played another IRA Volunteer in ''[[A Terrible Beauty (1960 film)|A Terrible Beauty]]'' (1960), alongside [[Robert Mitchum]]. He had a memorable [[bit part]] in the film ''[[The Guns of Navarone (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 [[strategic bombing|air raid]]. He had a larger part in ''[[The Long and the Short and the Tall (film)|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 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 ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' (1963), as a bitter young coal miner, Frank Machin, who becomes an acclaimed [[rugby league]] football player. It was based on the novel by [[David Storey]] and directed by [[Lindsay Anderson]]. For his role, Harris won [[Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)|Best Actor]] in 1963 at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and an [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Academy Award nomination]]. Harris followed this with a leading role in the Italian film, [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Red Desert (film)|Il Deserto Rosso]]'' (''Red Desert'', 1964). This won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. | Harris's first starring role was in the film ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' (1963), as a bitter young coal miner, Frank Machin, who becomes an acclaimed [[rugby league]] football player.<ref name="ink">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-1963-and-1964/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=30 July 2025|access-date=30 July 2025|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1963 and 1964}}</ref> It was based on the novel by [[David Storey]] and directed by [[Lindsay Anderson]]. For his role, Harris won [[Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)|Best Actor]] in 1963 at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and an [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Academy Award nomination]]. Harris followed this with a leading role in the Italian film, [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Red Desert (film)|Il Deserto Rosso]]'' (''Red Desert'', 1964). This won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. | ||
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 States of America|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 film)|Hawaii]]'' (1966), in which Harris starred alongside [[Julie Andrews]] and [[Max von Sydow]]. | 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 States of America|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 film)|Hawaii]]'' (1966), in which Harris starred alongside [[Julie Andrews]] and [[Max von Sydow]]. | ||
=== 1967–1971: Rise to prominence === | === 1967–1971: Rise to prominence === | ||
As a change of pace, he was the romantic lead in a [[Doris Day]] spy spoof comedy, ''[[Caprice (1967 film)|Caprice]]'' (1967), directed by [[Frank Tashlin]]. Harris next performed the role of [[King Arthur]] in the film adaptation of the musical play ''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'' (1967). Critic [[Roger Ebert]] described the casting of Harris and [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as "about the best King Arthur and Queen Guenevere I can imagine".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/camelot-1967|title= Camelot movie review|website= rogerebert.com|access-date= 25 May 2020}}</ref> Harris revived the role on [[Broadway (theater)|Broadway]] at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] from 15 November 1981 to 2 January 1982, and broadcast on [[HBO]] a year later. Starring [[Meg Bussert]] as Guenevere, [[Richard Muenz]] as Lancelot and [[Thor Fields]] as Tom of Warwick. Harris, who had starred in the film, and Muenz also took the show on tour nationwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/richard-harris-king-arthur-of-camelot-on-stage-and-screen-dead-at-72-com-109167|title= Richard Harris, King Arthur of Camelot on Stage and Screen, Dead at 72|website= [[Playbill]].com|date= 25 October 2002|access-date= 25 May 2020}}</ref> | As a change of pace, he was the romantic lead in a [[Doris Day]] spy spoof comedy, ''[[Caprice (1967 film)|Caprice]]'' (1967), directed by [[Frank Tashlin]]. Harris next performed the role of [[King Arthur]] in the film adaptation of the musical play ''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'' (1967). Critic [[Roger Ebert]] described the casting of Harris and [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as "about the best [[King Arthur]] and [[Guinevere|Queen Guenevere]] I can imagine".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/camelot-1967|title= Camelot movie review|website= rogerebert.com|access-date= 25 May 2020}}</ref> Harris revived the role on [[Broadway (theater)|Broadway]] at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] from 15 November 1981 to 2 January 1982, and broadcast on [[HBO]] a year later. Starring [[Meg Bussert]] as Guenevere, [[Richard Muenz]] as Lancelot and [[Thor Fields]] as Tom of Warwick. Harris, who had starred in the film, and Muenz also took the show on tour nationwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/richard-harris-king-arthur-of-camelot-on-stage-and-screen-dead-at-72-com-109167|title= Richard Harris, King Arthur of Camelot on Stage and Screen, Dead at 72|website= [[Playbill]].com|date= 25 October 2002|access-date= 25 May 2020}}</ref> | ||
In ''[[The Molly Maguires (film)|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 (film)|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 | In ''[[The Molly Maguires (film)|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 (film)|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 portrayed [[Oliver Cromwell]] in the film ''[[Cromwell (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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Paul Newman Britain's favourite star|work=The Times|location=London, England|date=31 December 1970|page=9|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref> | ||
In 1971 Harris starred in a [[BBC]] TV film adaptation ''[[The Snow Goose (film)|The Snow Goose]]'', from a screenplay by [[Paul Gallico]]. It won a [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] for Best Movie made for TV and was nominated for both a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] and an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]].<ref>{{cite book|title=[[The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present]]|year=2003|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=0-345-45542-8|page=1422}}</ref> and was shown in the | In 1971 Harris starred in a [[BBC]] TV film adaptation ''[[The Snow Goose (film)|The Snow Goose]]'', from a screenplay by [[Paul Gallico]]. It won a [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] for Best Movie made for TV and was nominated for both a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] and an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]].<ref>{{cite book|title=[[The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present]]|year=2003|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=0-345-45542-8|page=1422}}</ref> and was shown in the United States as part of the ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]''. He made his directorial debut with ''[[Bloomfield (film)|Bloomfield]]'' (1971) and starred in ''[[Man in the Wilderness]]'' (1971), a [[revisionist Western]] based on the [[Hugh Glass]] story. | ||
=== 1973–1981: Established actor === | === 1973–1981: Established actor === | ||
[[File:Orca (1977) trailer - Richard Harris 3.png|thumb|left|Harris in ''[[Orca (1977 film)|Orca]]'']] | [[File:Orca (1977) trailer - Richard Harris 3.png|thumb|left|Harris in ''[[Orca (1977 film)|Orca]]'']] | ||
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 starred in a [[Western (genre)|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 record|LP]] format, augmented by self-penned songs such as "I Don't Know". | ||
Harris starred in two thrillers: ''[[99 and 44/100% Dead]]'' (1974), for [[John Frankenheimer]], and ''[[Juggernaut (1974 film)|Juggernaut]]'' (1974), for Richard Lester. In ''[[Echoes of a Summer]]'' (1976) he played the father of a young girl with a terminal illness. He had a cameo as [[Richard the Lionheart]] in ''[[Robin and Marian]]'' (1976), for Lester, then was in ''[[The Return of a Man Called Horse]]'' (1976). Harris led the all-star cast in the train disaster film ''[[The Cassandra Crossing]]'' (1976). He played Gulliver in the part-animated ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1977) and was reunited with Michael Anderson in ''[[Orca (1977 film)|Orca]]'' (1977), battling a killer whale. | Harris starred in two thrillers: ''[[99 and 44/100% Dead]]'' (1974), for [[John Frankenheimer]], and ''[[Juggernaut (1974 film)|Juggernaut]]'' (1974), for Richard Lester. In ''[[Echoes of a Summer]]'' (1976) he played the father of a young girl with a terminal illness. He had a cameo as [[Richard the Lionheart]] in ''[[Robin and Marian]]'' (1976), for Lester, then was in ''[[The Return of a Man Called Horse]]'' (1976). Harris led the all-star cast in the train disaster film ''[[The Cassandra Crossing]]'' (1976). He played Gulliver in the part-animated ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1977) and was reunited with Michael Anderson in ''[[Orca (1977 film)|Orca]]'' (1977), battling a killer whale. | ||
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=== 1980–1988: Continued success === | === 1980–1988: Continued success === | ||
For a while in the 1980s, Harris went into semi-retirement on [[Paradise Island]], in the [[Bahamas]], where he kicked his drinking habit and embraced a healthier lifestyle. It had a beneficial effect. Harris's career was revived by his success on stage in ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'', and powerful performance in the [[West End theatre|West End]] run of [[Luigi Pirandello | For a while in the 1980s, Harris went into semi-retirement on [[Paradise Island]], in the [[Bahamas]], where he kicked his drinking habit and embraced a healthier lifestyle. It had a beneficial effect. Harris's career was revived by his success on stage in ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'', and powerful performance in the [[West End theatre|West End]] run of [[Luigi Pirandello]]'s ''[[Henry IV (Pirandello)|Henry IV]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/28/guardianobituaries.arts|agency=Associated Press |work=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 October 2002 |access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref> | ||
He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1990, when he was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] during the curtain call of the [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello's]] play ''Henry IV'' at the [[Wyndham's Theatre]] in London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Over several years in the late 1980s, Harris worked with Irish author [[Michael Feeney Callan]] on his biography, which was published by [[Sidgwick & Jackson]] in 1990. His film work during this period included: ''[[Triumphs of a Man Called Horse]]'' (1983), ''[[Martin's Day]]'' (1985), ''Strike Commando 2'' (1988), ''[[King of the Wind (film)|King of the Wind]]'' (1990) and ''[[Mack the Knife (1989 film)|Mack the Knife]]'' (1990) (a film version of ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' in which he played J.J. Peachum ) plus the [[Maigret (1988 film)|TV film version]] of [[Maigret]], opposite [[Barbara Shelley]]. This indicated declining popularity which Harris told his biographer, [[Michael Feeney Callan]], he was "utterly reconciled to". | He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1990, when he was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] during the curtain call of the [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello's]] play ''Henry IV'' at the [[Wyndham's Theatre]] in London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Over several years in the late 1980s, Harris worked with Irish author [[Michael Feeney Callan]] on his biography, which was published by [[Sidgwick & Jackson]] in 1990. His film work during this period included: ''[[Triumphs of a Man Called Horse]]'' (1983), ''[[Martin's Day]]'' (1985), ''Strike Commando 2'' (1988), ''[[King of the Wind (film)|King of the Wind]]'' (1990) and ''[[Mack the Knife (1989 film)|Mack the Knife]]'' (1990) (a film version of ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' in which he played J.J. Peachum ) plus the [[Maigret (1988 film)|TV film version]] of [[Maigret]], opposite [[Barbara Shelley]]. This indicated declining popularity which Harris told his biographer, [[Michael Feeney Callan]], he was "utterly reconciled to". | ||
=== 1989–2002: Stardom and final roles === | === 1989–2002: Stardom and final roles === | ||
In June 1989 | In June 1989 the director [[Jim Sheridan]] cast Harris in the lead role in ''[[The Field (1990 film)|The Field]]'', written by the esteemed Irish playwright [[John B. Keane]]. The lead role of "Bull" McCabe was to be played by the 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 for Best Actor|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 (film)|Patriot Games]]''. He also had roles in ''[[Unforgiven]]'' (1992), ''[[Wrestling Ernest Hemingway]]'' (1993) and ''[[Silent Tongue]]'' (1994). He played the title role in ''[[Abraham (1993 film)|Abraham]]'' (1994) and had the lead in ''[[Cry, the Beloved Country (1995 film)|Cry, the Beloved Country]]'' (1995). | ||
A lifelong supporter of Jesuit education principles,<ref name="Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies">{{cite book| last = Callan| first = Michael Feeney| title = Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies| year = 2004| publisher = Robson Books| location = London| isbn = 978-1-86105-766-2| page = 212}}</ref> Harris established a friendship with [[University of Scranton]] President Rev. J. A. Panuska<ref name=lewiston>{{cite news|title=Harris Welcomed at U.S. University |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DBMgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3997,2116635&dq=richard+harris+university+of+scranton&hl=en |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Lewistown Journal |date=18 November 1987 |access-date=3 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=ocala /> 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.<ref name=lewiston /><ref name=ocala>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris Establishes Scholarship Fund in Scranton |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r65PAAAAIBAJ&pg=4159,4546554&dq=richard+harris+university+of+scranton&hl=en |work=[[Ocala Star-Banner]] |date=9 May 1987 |access-date=3 December 2011}}</ref> He chaired acting workshops and cast the university's production of ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' in November 1987. | A lifelong supporter of Jesuit education principles,<ref name="Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies">{{cite book| last = Callan| first = Michael Feeney| title = Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies| year = 2004| publisher = Robson Books| location = London| isbn = 978-1-86105-766-2| page = 212}}</ref> Harris established a friendship with [[University of Scranton]] President Rev. J. A. Panuska<ref name=lewiston>{{cite news|title=Harris Welcomed at U.S. University |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DBMgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3997,2116635&dq=richard+harris+university+of+scranton&hl=en |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Lewistown Journal |date=18 November 1987 |access-date=3 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=ocala /> 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.<ref name=lewiston /><ref name=ocala>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris Establishes Scholarship Fund in Scranton |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r65PAAAAIBAJ&pg=4159,4546554&dq=richard+harris+university+of+scranton&hl=en |work=[[Ocala Star-Banner]] |date=9 May 1987 |access-date=3 December 2011}}</ref> He chaired acting workshops and cast the university's production of ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' in November 1987. | ||
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== Singing career == | == Singing career == | ||
Harris recorded several albums of music, one of which, ''[[A Tramp Shining]]'', included the seven-minute hit song "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" (Harris insisted on singing the lyric as "MacArthur's Park").<ref>Fresh Air interview with Jimmy Webb by Terry Gross on NPR, 2004</ref> This song was written by [[Jimmy Webb]], and it reached number 2 on the American ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]] chart. It also topped several music sales charts in Europe during the summer of 1968. "MacArthur Park" sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book| last = Murrells| first = Joseph| title = The Book of Golden Discs| url = https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr| url-access = registration| edition = 2nd| year = 1978| publisher = Barrie and Jenkins Ltd| location = London| isbn = 978-0-214-20512-5| page = 241| access-date = 8 November 2011 }}</ref> In 2024, "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" was featured in the wedding sequence of the [[Tim Burton]] film ''[[Beetlejuice Beetlejuice]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-07 |title=What Is The Wedding Song In | Harris recorded several albums of music, one of which, ''[[A Tramp Shining]]'', included the seven-minute hit song "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" (Harris insisted on singing the lyric as "MacArthur's Park").<ref>Fresh Air interview with Jimmy Webb by Terry Gross on NPR, 2004</ref> This song was written by [[Jimmy Webb]], and it reached number 2 on the American ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]] chart. It also topped several music sales charts in Europe during the summer of 1968. "MacArthur Park" sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book| last = Murrells| first = Joseph| title = The Book of Golden Discs| url = https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr| url-access = registration| edition = 2nd| year = 1978| publisher = Barrie and Jenkins Ltd| location = London| isbn = 978-0-214-20512-5| page = 241| access-date = 8 November 2011 }}</ref> In 2024, "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" was featured in the wedding sequence of the [[Tim Burton]] film ''[[Beetlejuice Beetlejuice]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-07 |title=What Is The Wedding Song In 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'? |url=https://uproxx.com/indie/what-is-the-wedding-song-in-beetlejuice-beetlejuice/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=UPROXX |language=en-US}}</ref> A second album, also consisting entirely of music composed by Webb, ''[[The Yard Went on Forever]]'', was released in 1969.<ref>Album liner notes for "Richard Harris – the Webb Sessions 1968–1969"</ref> In the 1973 TV special "[[Burt Bacharach]] in Shangri-La", after singing Webb's "Didn't We", Harris tells Bacharach that since he was not a trained singer he approached songs as an actor concerned with words and emotions, acting the song with the sort of honesty the song is trying to convey. Then he proceeds to sing "If I Could Go Back", from the ''[[Lost Horizon (1973 film)|Lost Horizon]]'' soundtrack. | ||
== Personal life == | == Personal life == | ||
[[File:Richard Harris, actor, and wife Ann Turkel.jpg|thumb|Richard Harris and [[Ann Turkel]] in 1977]] | [[File:Richard Harris, actor, and wife Ann Turkel.jpg|thumb|Richard Harris and [[Ann Turkel]] in 1977]] | ||
In 1957 | In 1957 Harris married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, daughter of [[David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore]]. They had three children: the director [[Damian Harris]], and the actors [[Jared Harris]] and [[Jamie Harris (actor)|Jamie 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ann Turkel. Hello! magazine article |url=http://www.annturkel.com/hello-magazine/ |website=annturkel.com |access-date=8 December 2021}}</ref> | ||
Harris was a member of the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Knights of Malta]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanauer |first1=Joan |title=Harris Knighted - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/10/HARRIS-KNIGHTED/2317360993600/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |work=UPI |agency=United Press International |date=10 June 1981 |language=en}}</ref> | Harris was a member of the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Knights of Malta]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanauer |first1=Joan |title=Harris Knighted - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/10/HARRIS-KNIGHTED/2317360993600/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |work=UPI |agency=United Press International |date=10 June 1981 |language=en}}</ref> | ||
Harris paid £75,000 for [[William Burges]]' [[The Tower House|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.<ref name="Goodwin2011">{{cite book|author=Cliff Goodwin|title=Behaving Badly: Richard Harris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI-FAj0F7EYC&pg=PT175|access-date=21 June 2012|date=31 May 2011|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-0-7535-4651-2|pages=175–}}</ref><ref name="Dakers1999–276">{{cite book|author=Caroline Dakers|title=The Holland Park Circle: Artists and Victorian Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCg7HL0z9PwC&pg=PA276|access-date=28 June 2012|date=11 December 1999|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-08164-0|pages=276–}}</ref> Harris employed the original decorators, Campbell Smith & Company Ltd., to carry out extensive restoration work on the interior.<ref name="Dakers1999–276" /> | Harris paid £75,000 for [[William Burges]]' [[The Tower House|Tower House]] in [[Holland Park]], London, in 1968, after discovering that the American entertainer [[Liberace]] had arranged to buy the house but had not yet put down a deposit.<ref name="Goodwin2011">{{cite book|author=Cliff Goodwin|title=Behaving Badly: Richard Harris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI-FAj0F7EYC&pg=PT175|access-date=21 June 2012|date=31 May 2011|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-0-7535-4651-2|pages=175–}}</ref><ref name="Dakers1999–276">{{cite book|author=Caroline Dakers|title=The Holland Park Circle: Artists and Victorian Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCg7HL0z9PwC&pg=PA276|access-date=28 June 2012|date=11 December 1999|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-08164-0|pages=276–}}</ref> Harris employed the original decorators, Campbell Smith & Company Ltd., to carry out extensive restoration work on the interior.<ref name="Dakers1999–276" /> | ||
Harris was a vocal supporter of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (PIRA) from 1973 until 1984.<ref name="Michael Feeney Callan 2004 267">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-wxCwq4u4EC&pg=PA267|title=Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies|year=2004|author=Michael Feeney Callan|page=267|publisher=Pavilion Books |isbn=978-1-86105-766-2}}</ref> 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.<ref name=ocala2>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris Says IRA Has A Just Cause|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4apPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5329%2C4273635|access-date=17 September 2013|newspaper=[[Star-Banner]]|date=24 January 1984}}</ref><ref name=gettysburg>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris ducking IRA "bombs"|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GNYlAAAAIBAJ&pg=6372%2C5324388|access-date=17 September 2013|newspaper=[[The Gettysburg Times]]|date=25 November 1988}}</ref><ref name="Michael Feeney Callan 2004 267" /> | Harris was a vocal supporter of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (PIRA) from 1973 until 1984.<ref name="Michael Feeney Callan 2004 267">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-wxCwq4u4EC&pg=PA267|title=Richard Harris: Sex, Death and the Movies|year=2004|author=Michael Feeney Callan|page=267|publisher=Pavilion Books |isbn=978-1-86105-766-2}}</ref> 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.<ref name=ocala2>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris Says IRA Has A Just Cause|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4apPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5329%2C4273635|access-date=17 September 2013|newspaper=[[Star-Banner]]|date=24 January 1984}}</ref><ref name=gettysburg>{{cite news|title=Richard Harris ducking IRA "bombs"|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GNYlAAAAIBAJ&pg=6372%2C5324388|access-date=17 September 2013|newspaper=[[The Gettysburg Times]]|date=25 November 1988}}</ref><ref name="Michael Feeney Callan 2004 267" /> | ||
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== Illness and death == | == Illness and death == | ||
Harris was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin's disease]] in August 2002, reportedly after being hospitalised with [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2225585.stm |title=Entertainment | Harris's Potter role unaffected by illness |publisher=BBC News |date=30 August 2002 |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> He died at [[University College Hospital]] in [[Bloomsbury]], London, on 25 October 2002, aged 72.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/richard-harris-dies-20021026-gdfrhy.html |title=Richard Harris dies |date=26 October 2002 |access-date=4 August 2018 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref> Harris quipped "It was the food!" as he was wheeled out of the [[Savoy Hotel]] for the last time.<ref>{{cite web |last=deBurca Butler |first=Jonathan |title=Remembering Richard Harris – Bull, bard and boozing silverscreen superstar |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/remembering-richard-harris-bull-bard-and-boozing-silverscreen-superstar-36247119.html |website=Irish Independent |date=23 October 2017 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref> Harris spent his final three days in a coma.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20138440,00.html |title=Lionhearted – Death, Richard Harris |magazine=People |date=26 May 2014 |access-date=19 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204043234/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20138440,00.html |archive-date=4 February 2015 }}</ref> Harris's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in [[ | Harris was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin's disease]] in August 2002, reportedly after being hospitalised with [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2225585.stm |title=Entertainment | Harris's Potter role unaffected by illness |publisher=BBC News |date=30 August 2002 |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> He died at [[University College Hospital]] in [[Bloomsbury]], London, on 25 October 2002, aged 72.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/richard-harris-dies-20021026-gdfrhy.html |title=Richard Harris dies |date=26 October 2002 |access-date=4 August 2018 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref> Harris quipped "It was the food!" as he was wheeled out of the [[Savoy Hotel]] for the last time.<ref>{{cite web |last=deBurca Butler |first=Jonathan |title=Remembering Richard Harris – Bull, bard and boozing silverscreen superstar |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/remembering-richard-harris-bull-bard-and-boozing-silverscreen-superstar-36247119.html |website=Irish Independent |date=23 October 2017 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref> Harris spent his final three days in a coma.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20138440,00.html |title=Lionhearted – Death, Richard Harris |magazine=People |date=26 May 2014 |access-date=19 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204043234/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20138440,00.html |archive-date=4 February 2015 }}</ref> Harris's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in [[the Bahamas]], where he owned a home.<ref name="AP 2002-10-27"/><ref name="Leeman 2002"/> | ||
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 (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' (2004). There were, however, concerns about insuring O'Toole for the six remaining films in the series.<ref>{{cite news |title=12 Actors Who Almost Starred In The Harry Potter Series |url=http://www.fame10.com/entertainment/12-actors-who-were-almost-cast-in-the-harry-potter-series/?streamview=all |work=Fame 10 |access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref> Harris was ultimately succeeded as Dumbledore by [[Michael Gambon]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9733802/Michael-Gambon-receives-Richard-Harris-Award-and-admits-...-all-I-did-was-copy-him-as-Dumbledore.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9733802/Michael-Gambon-receives-Richard-Harris-Award-and-admits-...-all-I-did-was-copy-him-as-Dumbledore.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Michael Gambon receives Richard Harris Award and admits ... all I did was copy him as Dumbledore |date=9 December 2012 |access-date=9 September 2018 |newspaper=[[Telegraph (newspaper)|Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|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.<ref name="ColumbusTHR">{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Lexy |date=11 November 2021 |title='Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct 'Cursed Child' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/chris-columbus-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-20th-anniversary-1235034578/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111181757/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/chris-columbus-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-20th-anniversary-1235034578/ |archive-date=11 November 2021 |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> | Harris was a lifelong friend of the 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 (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' (2004). There were, however, concerns about insuring O'Toole for the six remaining films in the series.<ref>{{cite news |title=12 Actors Who Almost Starred In The Harry Potter Series |url=http://www.fame10.com/entertainment/12-actors-who-were-almost-cast-in-the-harry-potter-series/?streamview=all |work=Fame 10 |access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref> Harris was ultimately succeeded as Dumbledore by [[Michael Gambon]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9733802/Michael-Gambon-receives-Richard-Harris-Award-and-admits-...-all-I-did-was-copy-him-as-Dumbledore.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9733802/Michael-Gambon-receives-Richard-Harris-Award-and-admits-...-all-I-did-was-copy-him-as-Dumbledore.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Michael Gambon receives Richard Harris Award and admits ... all I did was copy him as Dumbledore |date=9 December 2012 |access-date=9 September 2018 |newspaper=[[Telegraph (newspaper)|Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|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.<ref name="ColumbusTHR">{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Lexy |date=11 November 2021 |title='Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct 'Cursed Child' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/chris-columbus-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-20th-anniversary-1235034578/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111181757/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/chris-columbus-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-20th-anniversary-1235034578/ |archive-date=11 November 2021 |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> | ||
== Memorials and legacy == | == Memorials and legacy == | ||
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[[File:Richard Harris Statue Kilkee 2007.jpg|thumb|right|A statue in [[Kilkee]], Ireland, of the young Harris playing [[racquetball]]]] | [[File:Richard Harris Statue Kilkee 2007.jpg|thumb|right|A statue in [[Kilkee]], Ireland, of the young Harris playing [[racquetball]]]] | ||
On 30 September 2006 | On 30 September 2006 Manuel Di Lucia, of [[Kilkee]] in [[County Clare]], a longtime friend, organised the placement in Kilkee of a bronze life-size statue of Harris. It shows Harris at the age of eighteen playing [[racquetball]]. (He had won the local competition three or four consecutive times during the late 1940s.) The sculptor was Seamus Connolly and the work was unveiled by [[Russell Crowe]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/?c=ENTERTAINMENT&jp=cwqlsnkfidau&d=2 |work=BreakingNews.ie |date=2 October 2006 |title=Crowe pays tribute to Harris at Irish ceremony}}</ref> Harris was an accomplished [[squash racquets]] player, winning the Tivoli Cup in Kilkee four consecutive years (1948 to 1951), a record unsurpassed to this day.<ref name="Richard Harris and the Tivoli Cup">{{cite web|url=http://www.kilkee.ie/about_history_tivolicup.html |title=Tivoli Cup in Kilkee |publisher=kilkee.ie |access-date=21 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810075626/http://www.kilkee.ie/about_history_tivolicup.html |archive-date=10 August 2011 }}</ref> | ||
Another life-size statue of | Another life-size statue of Harris, as King Arthur from his film ''[[Camelot (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". | At the 2009 BAFTAs, [[Mickey Rourke]] dedicated his Best Actor award to Harris, calling him a "good friend and great actor". | ||
In 2013 | In 2013 Rob Gill and Zeb Moore founded the annual [[Richard Harris International Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.richardharrisfilmfestival.com/|title=Richard Harris International Film Festival|date=19 May 2022}}</ref> 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. | ||
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 | 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://limerickwriterscentre.com/|title=Limerickwriters|website=Limerickwriters}}</ref> | ||
In 1996 | In 1996 Harris was honoured with a [[List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland#1990s|commemorative Irish postage stamp]] for the "Centenary of Irish Cinema", a four-stamp set featuring twelve Irish actors in four Irish films.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stamp Irish Cinema - The Field, Ireland 1996 |url=https://stampes.net/product/198055 |access-date=27 February 2023 |website=stampes.net |archive-date=27 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227141121/https://stampes.net/product/198055 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Field |url=https://connemara.irish/news/media/the-field |access-date=27 February 2023 |website=Connemara Irish |language=en}}</ref> He was again honoured in 'Irish Abroad' stamps in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Reporter |date=27 February 2020 |title=An Post release St. Patrick's Day stamp of Richard Harris |url=https://www.limerickpost.ie/2020/02/27/an-post-release-st-patricks-day-stamp-of-richard-harris/ |access-date=27 February 2023 |website=Limerick Post Newspaper |language=en-GB}}</ref> | ||
Ridley Scott, who directed Harris in ''Gladiator'', would later cast [[Paul Mescal]] as Lucius Verus in ''[[Gladiator II]]'' in part because Mescal clocked a resemblance with Harris, who portrayed his character's grandfather in the original film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gq.com/story/paul-mescal-enters-the-arena-in-gladiator-ii |title=Paul Mescal Enters the Arena in ''Gladiator II'' |date=October 15, 2024 |accessdate=November 5, 2024}}</ref> | [[Ridley Scott]], who directed Harris in ''Gladiator'', would later cast [[Paul Mescal]] as Lucius Verus in ''[[Gladiator II]]'' in part because Mescal clocked a resemblance with Harris, who portrayed his character's grandfather in the original film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gq.com/story/paul-mescal-enters-the-arena-in-gladiator-ii |title=Paul Mescal Enters the Arena in ''Gladiator II'' |date=October 15, 2024 |accessdate=November 5, 2024}}</ref> | ||
== | == Acting credits == | ||
=== Film === | === Film === | ||
| Line 297: | Line 296: | ||
! Title | ! Title | ||
! Role | ! Role | ||
! | ! Notes | ||
|- | |- | ||
| rowspan="3" |1958 || ''[[ITV Play of the Week]]'' || Michael O'Riordan || Episode: "The Iron Harp" | | rowspan="3" |1958 || ''[[ITV Play of the Week]]'' || Michael O'Riordan || Episode: "The Iron Harp" | ||
| Line 323: | Line 322: | ||
|2000 || ''[[The Apocalypse (2000 film)|The Apocalypse]]'' || John | |2000 || ''[[The Apocalypse (2000 film)|The Apocalypse]]'' || John | ||
|- | |- | ||
|2003 || ''[[Julius Caesar (miniseries)|Julius Caesar]]'' || Lucius Cornelius Sulla || 2 episodes<br />Posthumous release | |2003 || ''[[Julius Caesar (miniseries)|Julius Caesar]]'' || Lucius Cornelius Sulla || 2 episodes; also released as a movie<br />Posthumous release | ||
|} | |} | ||
| Line 460: | Line 459: | ||
== Discography == | == Discography == | ||
===Studio albums=== | |||
=== | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! rowspan="2"| Year | |||
{{ | ! rowspan="2"| Album | ||
! colspan="3"| Chart positions | |||
|- | |||
! style="width:50px;"| <small>[[Billboard 200|US]]</small><br/><ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1996 | year = 1996 | publisher = Record Research | page = 64 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/64/mode/2up | access-date = 2025-07-10}}</ref> | |||
! style="width:50px;"| <small>[[Cash Box|US CB]]</small><br/><ref>{{cite book| last = Hoffmann| first = Frank W.| title = ''Cash Box Pop Albums Charts, 1950–1993''| publisher = Libraries Unlimited| year = 1974| pages = 158| isbn = 978-0-8108-2005-0| url = https://archive.org/details/cashboxalbumchar0000hoff/page/158| access-date = 2025-08-21}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan= "2"|1968 | |||
| ''[[A Tramp Shining]]'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 4 | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 | |||
|- | |||
| ''[[The Yard Went On Forever]]'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 27 | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 21 | |||
|- | |||
| 1971 | |||
{{ | | ''[[My Boy (Richard Harris album)|My Boy]]'' | ||
| style="text-align:center;"| 71 | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 42 | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan= "2"|1972 | |||
| ''Slides'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 181 | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 125 | |||
|- | |||
| ''[[Tommy (London Symphony Orchestra album)|Tommy]]''{{efn|(narration of some tracks)}} | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 5 | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
|- | |||
| 1973 | |||
| ''His Greatest Performances'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan= "2"|1974 | |||
| ''The Prophet''{{efn|(music by [[Arif Mardin]], based on ''[[The Prophet (book)|The Prophet]]'' by [[Kahlil Gibran]])}} | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 173 | |||
|- | |||
| ''I, in the Membership of My Days'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| 167 | |||
|- | |||
| 1977 | |||
| ''Gulliver Travels'' | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
|- | |||
| 1992 | |||
| ''Little Tramp''{{efn|(Musical)}} | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
|- | |||
| 2004 | |||
| ''The Apocalypse''{{efn|(The Story of John the Apostle on an Island named Patmos)}} | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
| style="text-align:center;"| — | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
===Soundtracks=== | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:75%" | |||
! Year | |||
! Album/Media | |||
! Notes | |||
|- | |||
| 1963 | |||
| ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' | |||
| Performer: "Here in My Heart" | |||
|- | |||
| 1965 | |||
| ''[[Major Dundee]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[Dixie (song)|Dixie]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1966 | |||
| ''[[Texaco Star Theater|The Milton Berle Show]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[The Impossible Dream (The Quest)|The Impossible Dream]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1967 | |||
| ''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'' | |||
| [[Soundtrack|Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]] | |||
|- | |||
| 1968 | |||
| ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|Toast of the Town]]'' | |||
| Performer: "Camelot" | |||
|- | |||
| 1970 | |||
| ''[[The Molly Maguires (film)|The Molly Maguires]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh|Eileen Aroon]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1973 | |||
| ''[[Burt Bacharach|Burt Bacharach in Shangri-La]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[Didn't We (Richard Harris song)|Didn't We?]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1976 | |||
| ''[[Echoes of a Summer]]'' | |||
| Performer: "The Last Castle" | |||
|- | |||
| 1982 | |||
| ''Camelot'' | |||
| Original [[West End theatre|West End]] recording | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="2"| 1989 | |||
| ''[[Camp Midnite]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" | |||
|- | |||
| ''[[Mack the Knife (1989 film)|Mack the Knife]]'' | |||
| Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |||
|- | |||
| 1990 | |||
| ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|London Symphony Orchestra: "Tommy"]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[Go to the Mirror!]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1992 | |||
| ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' | |||
| Performer: "MacArthur Park" | |||
|- | |||
| 1993 | |||
| ''[[Warner Bros.|Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros.]]'' | |||
| Performer: "Camelot" | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="2"| 1996 | |||
| ''[[Unhook the Stars]]'' | |||
| Performer: "MacArthur Park" | |||
|- | |||
| ''[[Trojan Eddie]]'' | |||
| Performer: "[[Norman Wisdom|Don't Laugh at Me ('Cause I'm a Fool)]]" | |||
|- | |||
| 1999 | |||
| ''[["Weird Al" Yankovic|"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!]]'' | |||
| rowspan="2"| Credit: "[[Jurassic Park]]" (MacArthur Park [[parody music|parody]]) | |||
|- | |||
| 2003 | |||
| ''"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection'' | |||
|- | |||
| 2008 | |||
| ''[[The Wrecking Crew (2008 film)|The Wrecking Crew!]]'' | |||
| rowspan="3"| Performer: "MacArthur Park" | |||
|- | |||
| 2014 | |||
| ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon]]'' | |||
|- | |||
| 2024 | |||
| ''[[Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (soundtrack)|Beetlejuice Beetlejuice]]'' | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
==== Notes ==== | |||
{{notelist}} | |||
=== Singles === | === Singles === | ||
| Line 501: | Line 629: | ||
* "The Last Castle (Theme from ''[[Echoes of a Summer]]'')" (1976) | * "The Last Castle (Theme from ''[[Echoes of a Summer]]'')" (1976) | ||
* "Lilliput (Theme from ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'')" (1977) | * "Lilliput (Theme from ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'')" (1977) | ||
{{div col end}} | {{div col end}} | ||
| Line 522: | Line 640: | ||
* ''My Boy'' (2006) | * ''My Boy'' (2006) | ||
* ''Man of Words Man of Music The Anthology 1968–1974'' (2008) | * ''Man of Words Man of Music The Anthology 1968–1974'' (2008) | ||
* ''Richard Harris & [[Scott English]] Greatest Hits'' (2011) | |||
{{div col end}} | {{div col end}} | ||
== References == | ==See also== | ||
* [[List of Irish actors]] | |||
* [[List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Ireland]] | |||
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]] | |||
* [[List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories]] | |||
* [[List of Irish Grammy Award winners and nominees]] | |||
* [[List of Golden Globe winners]] | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
| Line 560: | Line 687: | ||
[[Category:21st-century Irish male actors]] | [[Category:21st-century Irish male actors]] | ||
[[Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]] | [[Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]] | ||
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]] | |||
[[Category:Audiobook narrators]] | [[Category:Audiobook narrators]] | ||
[[Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners]] | [[Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners]] | ||
| Line 566: | Line 694: | ||
[[Category:Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma]] | [[Category:Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma]] | ||
[[Category:Dunhill Records artists]] | [[Category:Dunhill Records artists]] | ||
[[Category:European Film | [[Category:European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients]] | ||
[[Category:Garryowen Football Club players]] | [[Category:Garryowen Football Club players]] | ||
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]] | [[Category:Grammy Award winners]] | ||
| Line 589: | Line 717: | ||
[[Category:1990s in Irish music]] | [[Category:1990s in Irish music]] | ||
[[Category:2000s in Irish music]] | [[Category:2000s in Irish music]] | ||
Latest revision as of 18:27, 30 October 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Other people". Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002)[1] was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous accolades including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, a Grammy Award, and a Golden Globe. In 2020 he was listed at number 3 on The Irish TimesTemplate:'s list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[2]
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 King Arthur in the 1967 film Camelot based on the Lerner and Loewe musical of the same name. For his performance, he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He reprised the role in the 1981 Broadway musical revival. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his role in Pirandello's Henry IV (1991).
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 and education
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 and two girls) born to Ivan Harris, a flour merchant, and his wife, 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 union 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 the actors and fellow rugby fans Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
After recovering from tuberculosis, Harris moved to England, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable training courses, and enrolled to learn acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[9] He had failed an audition at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and had been rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama, because they felt he was too old at 24.[10] While still a student, he rented the tiny "off-West End" Irving Theatre, and there directed his production of Clifford Odets's play Winter Journey (The Country Girl).
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.[11]
Career
1959–1963: Early roles and breakthrough
Harris made his film debut in 1959 in the film Alive and Kicking, and played the lead role in The Ginger Man in the West End in 1959. In his second film, he had a small role as an IRA Volunteer in Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), supporting James Cagney. The film was shot in Ireland and directed by Michael Anderson who offered Harris a role in his next film, The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), shot in Hollywood.
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 This Sporting Life (1963), as a bitter young coal miner, Frank Machin, who becomes an acclaimed rugby league football player.[12] It was based on the novel by David Storey and directed by Lindsay Anderson. For his role, Harris won Best Actor in 1963 at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination. Harris followed this with a leading role in the Italian film, Michelangelo Antonioni's Il Deserto Rosso (Red Desert, 1964). This won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
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 Doris Day spy spoof comedy, Caprice (1967), directed by Frank Tashlin. Harris next performed the role of King Arthur in the film adaptation of the musical play Camelot (1967). Critic Roger Ebert described the casting of Harris and Vanessa Redgrave as "about the best King Arthur and Queen Guenevere I can imagine".[13] Harris revived the role on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre from 15 November 1981 to 2 January 1982, and broadcast on HBO a year later. Starring Meg Bussert as Guenevere, Richard Muenz as Lancelot and Thor Fields as Tom of Warwick. Harris, who had starred in the film, and Muenz also took the show on tour nationwide.[14]
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 portrayed Oliver Cromwell 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.[15]
In 1971 Harris starred in a BBC TV film adaptation The Snow Goose, from a screenplay by Paul Gallico. It won a Golden Globe for Best Movie made for TV and was nominated for both a BAFTA and an Emmy.[16] and was shown in the United States as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. He made his directorial debut with Bloomfield (1971) and starred in Man in the Wilderness (1971), a revisionist Western based on the Hugh Glass story.
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: 99 and 44/100% Dead (1974), for John Frankenheimer, and Juggernaut (1974), for Richard Lester. In Echoes of a Summer (1976) he played the father of a young girl with a terminal illness. He had a cameo as Richard the Lionheart in Robin and Marian (1976), for Lester, then was in The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976). Harris led the all-star cast in the train disaster film The Cassandra Crossing (1976). He played Gulliver in the part-animated Gulliver's Travels (1977) and was reunited with Michael Anderson in Orca (1977), battling a killer whale.
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.[17] Golden Rendezvous was a flop but The Wild Geese (1978), where Harris played one of several mercenaries, was a big success outside America.[18] 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 Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, where he kicked his drinking habit and embraced a healthier lifestyle. It had a beneficial effect. Harris's career was revived by his success on stage in Camelot, and powerful performance in the West End run of Luigi Pirandello's Henry IV.[19]
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1990, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during the curtain call of the Pirandello's play Henry IV at the Wyndham's Theatre in London.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Over several years in the late 1980s, Harris worked with Irish author Michael Feeney Callan on his biography, which was published by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1990. His film work during this period included: Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983), Martin's Day (1985), Strike Commando 2 (1988), King of the Wind (1990) and Mack the Knife (1990) (a film version of The Threepenny Opera in which he played J.J. Peachum ) plus the TV film version of Maigret, opposite Barbara Shelley. This indicated declining popularity which Harris told his biographer, Michael Feeney Callan, he was "utterly reconciled to".
1989–2002: Stardom and final roles
In June 1989 the 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 the 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 also had 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,[20] Harris established a friendship with University of Scranton President Rev. J. A. Panuska[21][22] 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.[21][22] He chaired acting workshops and cast the university's production of Julius Caesar in November 1987.
Harris appeared in two films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture: firstly as the gunfighter "English Bob" in the revisionist Western Unforgiven (1992); secondly as the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000). He also played a lead role alongside James Earl Jones in the Darrell Roodt film adaptation of Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). In 1999, Harris starred in the film To Walk with Lions. After Gladiator, Harris played the supporting role of Albus Dumbledore in the first two of the Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002),[23] the latter of which was his final film role.[24] Harris portrayed Abbé Faria in Kevin Reynolds' film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). The film Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) was dedicated to him posthumously as he had voiced the character Opaz before his death.
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.[25] 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."[26]
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,[27] 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, A Tramp Shining, included the seven-minute hit song "MacArthur Park" (Harris insisted on singing the lyric as "MacArthur's Park").[28] This song was written by Jimmy Webb, and it reached number 2 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also topped several music sales charts in Europe during the summer of 1968. "MacArthur Park" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[29] In 2024, "MacArthur Park" was featured in the wedding sequence of the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.[30] A second album, also consisting entirely of music composed by Webb, The Yard Went on Forever, was released in 1969.[31] In the 1973 TV special "Burt Bacharach in Shangri-La", after singing Webb's "Didn't We", Harris tells Bacharach that since he was not a trained singer he approached songs as an actor concerned with words and emotions, acting the song with the sort of honesty the song is trying to convey. Then he proceeds to sing "If I Could Go Back", from the Lost Horizon soundtrack.
Personal life
In 1957 Harris married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, daughter of David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore. They had three children: the director Damian Harris, and the actors Jared Harris and Jamie 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.[32]
Harris was a member of the Knights of Malta.[33]
Harris paid £75,000 for William Burges' Tower House in Holland Park, London, in 1968, after discovering that the American entertainer Liberace had arranged to buy the house but had not yet put down a deposit.[34][35] Harris employed the original decorators, Campbell Smith & Company Ltd., to carry out extensive restoration work on the interior.[35]
Harris was a vocal supporter of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) from 1973 until 1984.[36] 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.[37][38][36]
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.[39] He gave up drugs after almost dying from a cocaine overdose in 1978.
Illness and death
Harris was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in August 2002, reportedly after being hospitalised with pneumonia.[40] He died at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury, London, on 25 October 2002, aged 72.[41] Harris quipped "It was the food!" as he was wheeled out of the Savoy Hotel for the last time.[42] Harris spent his final three days in a coma.[43] Harris's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Bahamas, where he owned a home.[44][45]
Harris was a lifelong friend of the 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.[46] Harris was ultimately succeeded as Dumbledore by Michael Gambon.[47] 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.[48]
Memorials and legacy
On 30 September 2006 Manuel Di Lucia, of Kilkee in County Clare, a longtime friend, organised the placement in Kilkee of a bronze life-size statue of Harris. It shows Harris at the age of eighteen playing racquetball. (He had won the local competition three or four consecutive times during the late 1940s.) The sculptor was Seamus Connolly and the work was unveiled by Russell Crowe.[49] Harris was an accomplished squash racquets player, winning the Tivoli Cup in Kilkee four consecutive years (1948 to 1951), a record unsurpassed to this day.[50]
Another life-size statue of 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.[51] 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.[52]
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.[53][54] He was again honoured in 'Irish Abroad' stamps in 2020.[55]
Ridley Scott, who directed Harris in Gladiator, would later cast Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus in Gladiator II in part because Mescal clocked a resemblance with Harris, who portrayed his character's grandfather in the original film.[56]
Acting credits
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | ITV Play of the Week | Michael O'Riordan | Episode: "The Iron Harp" |
| ITV Television Playhouse | Dan Galvin | Episode: "Rest in Violence" | |
| The DuPont Show of the Month | Performer | Episode: "The Hasty Heart" | |
| 1960 | Armchair Theatre | Major Gaylord | Episode: "Come in Razor Red" |
| The Art Carney Special | Performer | Episode: "Victory" | |
| 1971 | The Snow Goose | Philip Rhayader | Television movie |
| 1982 | Camelot | King Arthur | |
| 1988 | Maigret | Jules Maigret | |
| 1993 | Abraham | Abraham | |
| 1995 | The Great Kandinsky | Ernest Kandinsky | |
| 1997 | The Hunchback | Dom Frollo | |
| 2000 | The Apocalypse | John | |
| 2003 | Julius Caesar | Lucius Cornelius Sulla | 2 episodes; also released as a movie Posthumous release |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Easter | Sebastian | Playhouse Limerick |
| 1956–1957 | A View from the Bridge | Louis | Comedy Theatre, London |
| 1957 | Macbeth | Ross | Theatre Royal Stratford East |
| You Won't Always Be at the Top | Mick | ||
| And the Wind Blew | Monsignor Gusman | ||
| 1957–1958 | The Pier | Tommy Ledou | Bristol Old Vic |
| 1958 | Love and Lectures | George Bernard Shaw | Theatre Royal Stratford East |
| The Quare Fellow | Micksar | Comedy Theatre, London | |
| Man, Beast and Virtue | Paulino | Theatre Royal Stratford East | |
| 1959 | The Dutch Courtesan | Malheureux | |
| The Ginger Man | Sebastian Dangerfield | Fortune Theatre | |
| Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be | George/Sgt. Collins | Theatre Royal Stratford East | |
| 1963 | The Diary of a Madman | Aksenti Ivanovitch | Royal Court Theatre Downstairs |
| early 1970s | Becket | Unsure | Haymarket Theatre, London |
| 1981–1985 | Camelot | King Arthur | Old Vic Theatre, London Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway National Tour |
| 1989–1990 | Henry IV | Henry IV | Theatre Royal, Bath |
| 1990 | Wyndham's Theatre, London |
Awards and nominations
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [59] |
US CB [60] | |||
| 1968 | A Tramp Shining | 4 | 3 | |
| The Yard Went On Forever | 27 | 21 | ||
| 1971 | My Boy | 71 | 42 | |
| 1972 | Slides | 181 | 125 | |
| TommyTemplate:Efn | 5 | — | ||
| 1973 | His Greatest Performances | — | — | |
| 1974 | The ProphetTemplate:Efn | — | 173 | |
| I, in the Membership of My Days | — | 167 | ||
| 1977 | Gulliver Travels | — | — | |
| 1992 | Little TrampTemplate:Efn | — | — | |
| 2004 | The ApocalypseTemplate:Efn | — | — | |
Soundtracks
Notes
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)
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)
- Richard Harris & Scott English Greatest Hits (2011)
See also
- List of Irish actors
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Ireland
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories
- List of Irish Grammy Award winners and nominees
- List of Golden Globe winners
References
Further reading
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External links
- Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:Tcmdb name
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- Richard Harris file at Limerick City Library, Ireland Template:Webarchive
- Obituary by Paul Bond at the World Socialist Web Site
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