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Richard Harris Bio
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Richard Harris
This notorious drinker and womanizer counted Richard Burton and Peter O Toole among his friends. During his life, the Irish-born Richard Harris was a successful stage and screen actor, as well as a musician. Although his first film appearance was nearly fifty years ago, he gained a new generation of fans with his role in the massively popular Harry Potter films.
Richard Harris was born on October 1, 1930 in Limerick, Ireland. Before suffering from a bout of tuberculosis, Harris had dreams of becoming a professional rugby player and was quite good at the sport. After his recovery and a move to London, he then decided he would like to be a producer. It was only because he couldn’t find any good directing programs that he enrolled in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Upon completion, he joined Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop and began appearing in stage productions, such as his 1956 role in The Quare Fellow. Harris’s film debut was in the 1958 Alive and Kicking, but it would be five years before he would earn his first starring role. He played a coal-miner turned rugby player in The Sporting Life. Acclaim for Richard’s first starring role came in the form of an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
More praise, although no award nominations, would come for his co-starring role with Charlton Heston in the 1965 Major Dundee. Perhaps more well-known is his role as King Arthur in Camelot, a portrayal that he also delivered on stage for years.
After a series of flops, Harris was cast as the lead in The Field after the original choice died suddenly. The 1990 film earned Harris an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Harris’s notable performances after his impressive comeback include starring roles in Oscar-Winning films Unforgiven, also starring Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, and Gladiator, in which he played Marcus Aurelius.
Richard made his talents known to a whole new generation of fans when he took on the role of school headmaster Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter. He portrayed the character for two installments, but unfortunately died from Hodgkin’s Disease shortly before the premiere of the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Harris was 72 years old.
Harris’s first marriage was in 1957 to Elizabeth Rees-Williams, daughter of socialite and member of parliament David Rees-Williams. Their three children, Jared, Jamie and Damian, all grew up to become involved in the entertainment indutry. Jared and Jamie are actors while Damian is a director. The pair divorced in 1969, and Harris went on to marry again. This time it was to actress Ann Turkel, an American who has appeared on such series as Night Court and Murder She Wrote. Harris and his 16 year younger wife stayed together until 1982. Richard did not remarry after his second divorce. |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Derek Jacobi in Gladiator |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Djimon Hounsou in Gladiator |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with David Schofield in Gladiator |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with John Shrapnel in Gladiator |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Tomas Arana in Gladiator |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Jaimz Woolvett in Unforgiven |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Saul Rubinek in Unforgiven |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Frances Fisher in Unforgiven |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with Anna Levine in Unforgiven |
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Richard Harris - Appeared with David Mucci in Unforgiven |
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Yuddy top celebrities
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