|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard St John Harris (October 1, 1930 – October 25, 2002) was an Irish actor, singer and songwriter. He was featured on stage and in many films, and was perhaps best known for the film role of King Arthur in Camelot (1967) and for the portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), his last film. He also played a British aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse (1970).
BiographyEarly life and careerHarris was born in Limerick, Ireland, one of nine children of farmer Ivan Harris and Mildred Harris (nee Harty). He was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College. A talented rugby player, he was on several Munster Junior and Senior Cup teams for Crescent, and played for the well-respected Garryowen club. He might have become a provincial or international-standard rugby player, but his athletic career was cut short when he contracted tuberculosis in his teens. He remained an ardent fan of Munster provincial rugby team until his death, attending many matches, and there are numerous stories of japes at rugby matches with fellow actors and rugby fans Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton. After recovering from the disease he moved to London, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable courses and enrolled in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to learn acting. While still a student, Harris rented the tiny "off-West End" Irving Theatre, and directed his own production of the Clifford Odets play Winter Journey (The Country Girl). The show was a critical success, but a financial failure, and Harris lost all his savings on the venture. As a result, he ended up temporarily homeless, sleeping in a coal cellar for six weeks. After completing his studies at the Academy, Harris 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. Career
His first star turn was in the 1963 film This Sporting Life, as a bitter young coal miner, Frank Machin, who becomes an acclaimed rugby league footballer. For his role as Frank Machin, Harris won the 1963 award for best actor at the Cannes film festival. He also won acclaim and notice for his leading role (with Charlton Heston) in Sam Peckinpah's famous "lost masterpiece" Major Dundee (1965), as an Irish immigrant-turned-Confederate cavalryman during the American Civil War. Image:MM-1.jpg Richard Harris and Sean Connery film on-location in Eckley, Pennsylvania, for The Molly Maguires (1970). He appeared as King Arthur in the film adaptation of Camelot (in which he was cast despite his limited singing range, just like Richard Burton), and proceeded to appear on stage in that role for years. He recorded several albums, one ("A Tramp Shining") included the seven-minute hit song written by Jimmy Webb, "MacArthur Park" (which Harris mispronounced as "MacArthur's Park"); that song reached #2 on the United States Billboard magazine pop chart, while topping several charts in Europe, in the summer of 1968. A second all-Webb composed album, "The Yard Went on Forever", was released in 1969. He also wrote one of the songs, There are Too Many Saviours on My Cross, considered to be a criticism of the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Some memorable performances followed, among them a role as a reluctant police informer in The Molly Maguires (1970) alongside Sean Connery. In 1971 he starred in the film Man in the Wilderness and in the low-budget Orca in 1977. Harris achieved a form of cult status for his role as mercenary tactician Rafer Janders in the 1978 film The Wild Geese. Also, in 1973, Harris wrote a highly acclaimed book of poetry, titled I, In The Membership Of My Days which was later released in record format with him reciting his poems. By the end of the 1980s, Harris had gone a long time without a significant film role. He was familiar with the stage plays of fellow Irishman John B. Keane, and had heard that one of them, The Field, was being adapted for film by director Jim Sheridan. Sheridan was working with actor Ray McAnally on the adaptation, intending to feature McAnally in the lead role (Bull McCabe). When McAnally died suddenly during initial preparations for the film, Harris began a concerted campaign to be cast as McCabe. This campaign eventually succeeded, and the film version of The Field (which also starred Tom Berenger) was released in 1990. Harris earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal. Later career and Harry PotterImage:Dumbledoreharris1.jpg Harris as Albus Dumbledore. Late in his career, he acted in the Oscar-winning films Unforgiven and Gladiator (in the latter as Marcus Aurelius). He played Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. He at first declined the offer to play Dumbledore; however upon hearing the news that her grandfather had a very good shot at playing the role, his granddaughter told him that if he did not go back and take the part, she would never speak to him again. And, so, against his will, he got the part. In 2003, his voice could be heard as the character Opaz in the animated film Kaena: The Prophecy. The movie was also dedicated to him as he had died the previous year. Personal life and deathIn 1957, he married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, daughter of David Rees-Williams; they were divorced in 1969, and Elizabeth married another actor, Rex Harrison. Their three children are actor Jared Harris, actor Jamie Harris (born Tudor St. John Harris, but known as Jamie since childhood), and director Damian Harris (who has a son named Marlowe, born 2002, with Australian actress Peta Wilson). Richard Harris married secondly the American actress Ann Turkel, who was 16 years his junior, but that marriage also ended in divorce. He was a member of the Knights of Malta, despite his divorces, and was also knighted by Denmark in 1985 ([1]). Harris died of Hodgkin's disease in 2002 at the age of 72, shortly before the U.S. premiere of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He would be replaced as Dumbledore by fellow Irish-born actor, Michael Gambon. EpilogueIn December 2005, Harris' Bar opened in the new landmark Riverpoint building in Limerick. It was named in honour of the Limerick legend. A statue of Harris is also said to be unveiled in Bedford Row in Limerick when the street that is currently being refurbished is completed in late 2006. On 30 September 2006, Manuel Di Lucia, of Kilkee, County Clare and long time friend, organised a statue of Harris to be unveiled in Kilkee, in memory of the summers that "Dickie" Harris used to spend in Kilkee playing rackets back at the "Alleys". Academy Award Nominations
Grammy Nominations & WinsNominations
Wins
Trivia
Filmography
The Guns of Navarone (1961) • Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) • This Sporting Life (1963) • Il Deserto Rosso (1964) • The Heroes of Telemark (1965) • Major Dundee (1965) • The Bible (1966) • Hawaii (1966) • Caprice (1967) • Camelot(1967) • The Molly Maguires (1970) • A Man Called Horse (1970) • Cromwell (1970) • Man in the Wilderness (1971) • Juggernaut (1974) • Robin and Marian (1976) • The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976) • The Cassandra Crossing (1976) • Orca (1977) • The Wild Geese (1978) • The Field (1990) • Patriot Games (1992) • Unforgiven (1992) • Gladiator (2000) • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)• The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) DiscographyAlbums
Singles
Compact Disc Releases & Compilations
See also
|
Sites |
Searched sites for "Richard Harris" |
|
No sites found. |
Sorry, no matching site records were found. |
Want your site listed here?
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Submit
your site |
 |
|
Relevant quality search results and fast easy navigation throughout the
different sections of the site, make Americola.com |
