RH
Richard Harris
Actor, Director
Died October 25, 2002 (72 years)
Richard St. John Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer. He appeared on stage and in many films, and is perhaps best known for his roles as King Arthur in Camelot (1967), as Oliver Cromwell in Cromwell (1970) and as 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) and a gunfighter in Clint Eastwood's Western film Unforgiven (1992). As a singer, Harris is probably best remembered for his recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park", which reached the top ten in sales on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in 1968.
Harris, the fifth of nine children, was born in Limerick City, County Limerick, Munster, Ireland, the son of Ivan John Harris and Mildred Josephine Harty Harris.
In 1957, he married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, the daughter of David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore. Their three children are the actor Jared Harris, the actor Jamie Harris, and the director Damian Harris. Harris and Rees-Willams divorced in 1969, and then Elizabeth married another well-known actor, Sir Rex Harrison. Harris' second marriage was to the American actress Ann Turkel, who was 16 years younger than he, and this marriage also ended in a divorce.
Despite his divorces, Harris was a member of the Roman Catholic Knights of Malta, and was also dubbed a knight by the Queen of Denmark in 1985. Harris was a life long friend of actor Peter O'Toole. Harris died of Hodgkin's disease on 25 October 2002, aged 72, two and a half weeks before the American premiere of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He was replaced as Dumbledore by the Irish-born actor Sir Michael Gambon. For years, whenever he was in London, Harris resided at the Savoy Hotel. According to the hotel archivist Susan Scott, as Harris was being taken from the hotel on a stretcher, shortly before his death, he warned the diners, "It was the food!" Harris's remains were cremated, and his ashes were scattered in The Bahamas Islands, where he had owned a home.
Filmography
| 2021 | Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy (TV Series) · as actor |
| 2003 | Kaena: The Prophecy · as Opaz (english voice) |
| 2003 | Build a Scene · as Professor Albus Dumbledore |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets · as Albus Dumbledore |
| 2002 | The Count of Monte Cristo · as Abbé Faria |
| 2002 | Julius Caesar · as Lucius Cornelius Sulla |
| 2002 | Julius Caesar (TV Series) · as Lucius Cornelius Silla |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone · as Albus Dumbledore |
| 2001 | Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World · as Unknown |
| 2000 | Gladiator · as Marcus Aurelius |
| 2000 | The Apocalypse · as John |
| 2000 | Bette (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1999 | To Walk with Lions · as George Adamson |
| 1999 | Grizzly Falls · as Old Harry |
| 1998 | The Barber of Siberia · as Douglas McCraken |
| 1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow · as Dr. Andreas Tork |
| 1997 | This Is the Sea · as Old Man Jacobs |
| 1997 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame · as Dom Frollo |
| 1996 | Trojan Eddie · as John Power |
| 1995 | Cry, the Beloved Country · as James Jarvis |
| 1995 | Savage Hearts · as Sir Roger Foxley |
| 1993 | Wrestling Ernest Hemingway · as Frank |
| 1993 | Silent Tongue · as Prescott Roe |
| 1993 | Abraham (TV Series) · as Abraham |
| 1992 | Patriot Games · as Paddy O'Neil |
| 1992 | Unforgiven · as English Bob |
| 1990 | The Field · as 'Bull' McCabe |
| 1990 | King of the Wind · as King George II |
| 1989 | Mack the Knife · as Mr. Peachum |
| 1988 | Strike Commando 2 · as Major Vic Jenkins |
| 1988 | Maigret · as Jules Maigret |
| 1985 | Wild Geese II · as Capt. Rafer Janders |
| 1985 | Martin's Day · as Unknown |
| 1983 | Triumphs of a Man Called Horse · as John Morgan - Man Called Horse |
| 1982 | Camelot · as King Arthur |
| 1982 | Highpoint · as Lewis Kinney |
| 1981 | Tarzan the Ape Man · as James Porter |
| 1981 | Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid · as Jason |
| 1979 | Ravagers · as Falk |
| 1979 | Game for Vultures · as David Swansey |
| 1979 | The Last Word · as Danny Travis |
| 1978 | The Wild Geese · as Capt. Rafer Janders |
| 1977 | Orca · as Captain Nolan |
| 1977 | Golden Rendezvous · as John Carter |
| 1977 | Gulliver's Travels · as Gulliver |
| 1976 | Robin and Marian · as Richard the Lionheart / King Richard |
| 1976 | The Return of a Man Called Horse · as John Morgan / Horse |
| 1976 | Echoes of a Summer · as Eugene |
| 1976 | The Cassandra Crossing · as Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain |
| 1974 | Juggernaut · as Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon |
| 1974 | 99 and 44/100% Dead! · as Harry Crown |
| 1973 | The Deadly Trackers · as Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick |
| 1971 | Man in the Wilderness · as Zachary Bass |
| 1970 | The Hero · as Eitan |
| 1970 | A Man Called Horse · as John Morgan |
| 1970 | Cromwell · as Oliver Cromwell |
| 1970 | The Molly Maguires · as James McKenna |
| 1967 | Camelot · as King Arthur |
| 1966 | The Bible: In the Beginning... · as Cain |
| 1966 | Hawaii · as Capt. Rafer Hoxworth |
| 1965 | I tre volti · as Robert (segment "Gli amanti celebri") |
| 1965 | The Heroes of Telemark · as Knut Straud |
| 1965 | Major Dundee · as Captain Benjamin Tyreen |
| 1964 | Red Desert · as Corrado Zeller |
| 1964 | The Hollywood Palace (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1963 | This Sporting Life · as Frank Machin |
| 1962 | Mutiny on the Bounty · as Seaman John Mills |
| 1961 | The Guns of Navarone · as Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF |
| 1961 | Jungle Fighters · as Cpl. Johnstone |
| 1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil · as Terence O'Brien |
| 1959 | The Wreck of the Mary Deare · as Higgins |
| 1958 | Alive and Kicking · as Lover |
| 1956 | Armchair Theatre (TV Series) · as Major Gaylord |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Philip Rhayadar |