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Born March 5, 1908 in Lancashire, England, Reginald Carey Harrison was the third child and only son of William Reginald Harrison, a cotton broker and his wife Edith Mary (née Carey). A precocious child, he dreamed of going on stage because he liked the applause and changed his name to Rex because it was the Latin word for King and because it would fit better on a marquee.

Harrison went on the stage in 1926 at the age of 18 and made his film debut in a bit part in 1930’s The Great Game, followed by bit parts in five more films through 1936 when he had his breakthrough role on stage in Terence Rattigan’s French Without Tears. He had married socialite Colette Thomas in 1934, who gave birth to his son, actor Noel Harrison (1934-2013).

In better screen roles now, he appeared opposite Vivien Leigh in both 1937’s Storm in a Teacup and 1948’s Sidewalks of London, in support of Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell in 1938’s The Citadel, opposite Margaret Lockwood in 1940’s Night Train to Munich and Wendy Hiller in 1941’s Major Barbara. He divorced Thomas in 1942 and married actress Lilli Palmer in 1943 with whom he had son Carey Harrison. His last British film of note was 1945’s Blithe Spirit.

Harrison and Palmer then moved to Hollywood where he starred in 1946’s Anna and the King of Siam and 1947’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, both huge box-office hits. In a highly publicized affair with actress Carole Landis, she committed suicide on July 5, 1948 when he refused to leave Palmer to become her sixth husband. Her death put a pall over his next film, 1948’s Unfaithfully Yours in which he played a symphony conductor who plots his wife’s murder. He was vindicated with a Tony award-winning performance as Henry VIII in Broadway’s Anne of the Thousand Days.

Alternating appearances on the London stage with those on Broadway and TV as well as on screen in such films as The Four Poster (opposite Palmer) and King Richard and the Crusaders, he achieved show biz immortality and a second Tony as Henry Higgins in Broadway’s My Fair Lady opposite Julie Andrews. Now involved in an affair with actress Kay Kendall, he was informed by her doctors that she was dying of leukemia, but wasn’t to be told. He asked Palmer what he should do, she told him to divorce her, marry Kendall, and remarry her after Kendall died. He married Kendall in 1957, made 1958’s The Reluctant Debutante with her, after which she made one more film and died in 1959.

Devastated when Palmer refused to take him back, Harrison married fourth wife, actress Rachel Roberts in 1962. He received his first Oscar nomination for 1963’s Cleopatra, the year Roberts was nominated for Best Actress for This Sporting Life. The following year he won for the film version of My Fair Lady. He continued in major roles for the remainder of the decade in such films as The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Honey Pot, Doctor Dolittle, A Flea in Her Ear (opposite Roberts) and Staircase. His marriage to Roberts ended in 1971 and he married fifth wife, Elizabeth Harris, actor Richard Harris’ ex-wife. They divorced in 1975 and he married sixth wife, Mercia Tinker in 1978.

In minor roles on screen in the 1970s, Harrison retired from films at the end of the decade, but kept up his appearances on stage. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1989 at the age of 81. He died of pancreatic cancer in New York three weeks after completing his last stage role on June 2, 1990 at the age of 82.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM (1946), directed by John Cromwell

Irene Dunne had one of her greatest roles as Anna Leonowens (shortened to Owens here), the British school teacher imported by Mongkut, the King of Siam to teach his children. Harrison, in his first Hollywood film, is every bit her equal as the sly, intellectual king, more Asian in practice if less so in appearance than Yul Brynner would be in The King and I, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical remake opposite Deborah Kerr as Mrs. Anna. The film’s production values are superb, as is the supporting cast that includes Linda Darnell, Lee J. Cobb and Gale Sondergaard.

THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Harrison was at his best in haughty roles, and they don’t come much haughtier than the ghost of the sea captain who haunts the cottage he lived in, forming a bond with the widow who rents it. She’s played by Gene Tierney in one of her loveliest roles. Although Harrison encourages Tierney to find another husband and father for her impressionable daughter, played by Natalie Wood, he is obviously in love with her himself and non-approving of her suitors which include George Sanders. The atmospheric film greatly benefits from its production design and Oscar nominated cinematography.

MY FAIR LADY (1964), directed by George Cukor

Cary Grant famously told Jack Warner when he turned down the role of Henry Higgins, that not only wouldn’t he play the part, he wouldn’t see the film unless Rex Harrison got to reprise the rle he made famous on Broadway opposite Julie Andrews. Warenr relented, and cast Harrison and Stanley Holloway in the roles Warner had hoped to replace them with Grant and James Cagney, who also turned down the role of Dolittle. Andrews wasn’t so lucky. Audrey Hepburn accepted warner’s offer, but she won the Oscar for Mary Poppins the night Harrison won for this, his greatest role.

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965), directed by Carol Reed

Harrison continued the mid-career high that began with his Julius Caesar in Cleopatra with his portrayal of Pope Julius II, the warrior pope who cajoled Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) into painting the Sistine Chapel, the definitive work of the Renaissance. Historically inaccurate as a biography of the artist, it is nevertheless a fascinating look at the interplay of the two men. Harrison failed to translate his third consecutive Globe Globe nod into a third Oscar nod, but the film did earn five well-earned nominations including those for art direction, costume design and cinematography.

DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967), directed by Richard Fleischer

One of the most notorious flops in movie history, Twentieth Century-Fox nevertheless brazenly marketed the film to an astonishing nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Harrison had been nominated for a Golden Globe for the fourth time in five years, but it was co-star Richard Attenborough who won the film’s only Golden Globe, his second surprise win in a row, having won for The Sand Pebbles the year before. The film did win for its special effects and for the catchy tune, “Talk to the Animals”, nicely warbled by Harrison, which remains the highlight of this turkey.

REX HARRISON AND OSCAR

  • Cleopatra (1963) – nominated – Best Actor
  • My Fair Lady (1964) – Oscar – Best Actor

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