Richard Harris

Richard St John Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, appearing as Frank Machin in This Sporting Life, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, King Arthur in the 1967 film Camelot and the subsequent 1981 revival of the show. He played an aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse (1970), a gunfighter in Clint Eastwood's Western film Unforgiven (1992), Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000), and Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films: the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). Harris had a number one hit in Australia and Canada and a top ten hit in the United Kingdom and United States with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park". 2Early life Harris was born in Limerick: his siblings included Patrick Ivan (1929–2008), Noel William Michael (1932–1996), Diarmid (Dermot, 1939–1985), and William George Harris (1942–2007). His niece is actress Annabelle Wallis. He was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College: a talented rugby player, he appeared on several Munster Junior and Senior Cup teams for Crescent, and played for Garryowen. Harris' athletic career was cut short when he caught tuberculosis in his teens. He remained an ardent fan of the Munster Rugby and Young Munster teams until his death, attending many of their matches, and there are numerous stories of japes at rugby matches with actors and fellow rugby fans Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton. After recovering from tuberculosis, Harris moved to Britain, wanting to become a directo