Richard Harris is an actor from Ireland, whose films have been watched by several generations of viewers. Remains one of the most popular actors in American cinema. This is him, Richard Harris played in the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by Albus Dumbledore. In addition, he was a musician, director and writer.
Richard Harris biography
Childhood
Richard St. John Harris was born on October 1, 1930, in Limerick, Ireland, to Ivan John Harris and Mildred Josephine Harris. His family was of the Roman Catholic faith, the fifth of nine children. The upbringing was mainly carried out by the mother, and the father was busy at work. Keeping track of all the kids is not an easy task, but Mildred got up early, went to bed later, and the children grew up, went to school, to dance and theatrical circles, sat down to their own lessons, helped their mother with the housework.
Actor's youth
The family belonged to the wealthy, and in his son Richard, the father hoped to see an assistant and successor to the family business. However, from the age of 10, the boy became seriously interested in rugby, playing first for youth and then adult teams. But he had to interrupt his sports career when he contracted tuberculosis as a teenager. Timely treatment allowed him to recover, but he could no longer play rugby. At the age of 17, he began to play on stage as part of one of the drama groups in Limerick. After recovering, Harris moved to England, wanting to become a director.
Actor career
Having passed the peak of his sporting interests, Harris decided to devote himself entirely to the theater and in 1955 he entered the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Talent and temperament allowed the young actor to quickly establish himself on the stage. However, he was unable to audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and was also rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama because his age was inappropriate (24 years old). After graduating from the Academy, Harris began working at the Theater Workshop.
The dream of acting in films came true in 1958. After episodic roles in several little-known films, in 1960 he got a role in T. Garnett's film "Irresistible Beauty" - in an adventurous drama on the theme of the Irish Revolution. The box office success and laudatory reviews set the stage for a deal with Hollywood. Over the next three years, the actor played cameo roles in low-budget films, and in 1962, fate gave him a meeting with the Hollywood star Marlon Brando, with whom Harris played in the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty". To be on the set with such a master, Richard could only dream of, but it happened.
Worldwide fame was brought to him by the film "Such is a Sports Life" directed by Lindsay Anderson (1963), where he, himself a rugby player in the recent past, played the main character - the controversial athlete Frank Machin. This work earned him the 16th Cannes International Film Festival for Best Actor, BAFTA and Oscar nominations.
In 1964, Harris got one of the main roles in the film "Red Desert" directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, but this time his participation in the filming did not give the expected result, and the role of Corrado Zeller, the lover of the main character (Monica Vitti), turned out to be pale and expressionless. The director regretted the bad choice, but nothing could be fixed.
Later, heroes looking for adventure appeared in his repertoire. In cases where the direction and screenplay raised both action and history films above the average, Harris deservedly shared the film's success. In the sports drama "Hero" (also called "Bloomfield" 1970), he not only played a rugby star, but also acted as a director.
Having gone through a recession in the 1980s, the actor has starred a lot in the last decade of the twentieth century. Perceptibly older, with a bushy beard, Harris continues to play in the theater (the title role in "Henry IV" by L. Pirandello in London), he looks vividly in supporting roles in blockbusters by famous directors.
In 1997, Harris was invited by Nikita Mikhalkov in his famous film "The Barber of Siberia", where he played the memorable role of the designer of the "cutting machine".
At the end of his career, Richard Harris, already at an old age, took part in the production of two Harry Potter films. He played Albus Dumbledore. The actor agreed to this role at the insistence of his granddaughter, who by all means wanted to see his grandfather on the screen along with Harry Potter. Richard Harris, whose Dumbledore turned out to be colorful and personable, did not regret listening to his granddaughter.
And the last film role for the actor was the character of John the Evangelist in the film "Apocalypse".
Harris's musical career
In addition to acting, Richard was seriously involved in music. He had a good voice and perfect ear for music. The film actor often acted as a singer-vocalist and recorded entire albums. The most notable disc in which the songs in his performance were collected is considered A Tramp Shining, containing the hit MakArthur Park, lasting more than seven minutes, by composer Jimmy Webb.
As interpreted by Richard Harris, the song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single sold over a million copies. Harris's second album was also successful and was called The Yard Went On Forever. Its sales began in 1969.
Awards and honors
- 1963 - Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor ("This is a sporting life")
- 1968 - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical / Comedy (Camelot)
- 1971 - Prize of the Moscow International Film Festival for Best Actor ("Cromwell")
- 1971 - Bronze Cowboy Prize (The Man Called Horse)
- 1974 - Grammy Award for Best Conversational Album for the audio recording of The Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- 1993 - Bronze Cowboy Prize (Unforgiven)
- 2000 - European Film Awards for Contribution to Cinematography
- 2000 - Award at the Wine Country Film Festival for his contribution to cinema
- 2001 - Empire Awards for Contribution to Cinematography
- 2001 - London Critics Circle Film Awards
- 2002 - Richard Harris Award (as part of the BIFA Award, posthumous)
- In 1985, the Queen of Great Britain awarded the actor a knightly title for his active work in the field of cinema.
- On September 30, 2006, Manuel di Lucia, a longtime friend of Harris, commissioned a bronze statue of a life-size 18-year-old actor playing badminton. Created a sculpture by Seamus Connolly. She is now in Keilkie, Ireland.
- Another statue of Richard Harris, as King Arthur from Camelot, was erected in Bedford, in the center of his hometown of Limerick. The sculptor of this monument was Jim Connolly.
- At the 2009 BAFTA, Mickey Rourke dedicated his Best Actor award to Harris, calling him "a good friend and a great actor."
Personal life of the actor
Richard Harris was married twice, but both marriages ended in divorce. In 1957, he married Elizabeth Rhys-Williams, an aspiring actress. The first child was born in 1958, he was named Damian. Another son, Jadred, appeared in 1961. The third child was born in 1963, he was named Jamie. All of Harris's children followed in their father's footsteps and began working in films. Damian is a director, the other two are actors.
In 1969, Harris and Rhys-Williams divorced, and after a while the actor met a twenty-four-year-old American actress named Anne Turkel. After some deliberation, he proposed to her, so another married couple appeared. This marriage lasted only a few months and ended in divorce.
Richard Harris suffered from alcoholism, which significantly harmed his health. In addition to drinking, he eventually became addicted to drugs. In 1978, the actor nearly died from too much cocaine. After this shock, he completely abandoned the addiction. However, he continued to drink until his liver ached. Then I had to give up alcohol. In 1981, he drank his last glass.
In August 2002, Harris was diagnosed with lymphogranulomatosis. He died on October 25, 2002 in the hospital, surrounded by his family. According to his will, the ashes of the actor were scattered over the Bahamas, where he lived recently.
