Sir
Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (March 5, 1908–June
2, 1990) was a British theatre and film actor.
He was born in Huyton, Lancashire,
England and first appeared on the stage in 1924 in
Liverpool. He acted in various stage productions until
May 11 1990. He acted in the West End of London when
he was young, appearing in the Terence Rattigan play
French Without Tears, which proved to be his breakthrough
role.
Harrison was married six times. In
1942 he divorced his first wife, Marjorie Thomas,
and married actress Lilli Palmer the next year; the
two later appeared in numerous plays and films. After
several years in film, he achieved wide success starring
in the adaptation of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit (1945).
He followed that with his first major American film,
starring as King Mongkut in Anna and the King of Siam.
Harrison's affair with young actress
Carole Landis, which is suspected to have played some
part in her being led to commit suicide, caused a
scandal but failed to derail his career. Harrison
and Palmer divorced in 1957, and he was soon remarried
to the actress Kay Kendall. It was rumoured that he
tried for a reconciliation with Lilli, but changed
his mind when he discovered that Kendall was terminally
ill with leukaemia.
He was later married to the actress
Rachel Roberts, Elizabeth Harris (the first wife of
the actor Richard Harris) and enduringly to his widow
Mercia Tinker. (Roberts's death was also a suicide.)
Harrison was best known for his portrayal
of Professor Henry Higgins in the musical My Fair
Lady, based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion,
especially after he reprised the role in the 1964
film version. He also starred in 1967's Doctor Dolittle.
Rex Harrison could not sing, and so the music in both
these musicals had to be carefully written. Harrison
"spoke" the words to the music, and it sounded,
more or less, like singing. Although Harrison's acting
was often described as limited, he attracted favourable
notices for his portrayal of Julius Caesar in 'Cleopatra'
(1963) and as Pope Julius II in 'The Agony and the
Ecstasy' (1965), opposite Charlton Heston in the unlikely
role of Michelangelo.
The chronology of Harrison's
marriages is as follows:
Marjorie Thomas (1934-1942), (one
son, the actor/singer Noel Harrison)
Lilli Palmer (1943-1957), (one son, the actor Carey
Harrison)
Kay Kendall (1957-1959)
Rachel Roberts (1962-1971)
Elizabeth Harris (1974-1976)
Mercia Tinker (1978-1990)
On 25 July 1989 he was formally knighted
by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, while
an orchestra played the music of songs from My Fair
Lady.
Sir Rex Harrison died in in his home
in New York City, aged 82, from pancreatic cancer;
he had had no knowledge of even having the disease
until the very end. At the end of his life he had
been performing on Broadway with Glynis Johns in a
play (The Circle by W. Somerset Maugham). Having retired
from films in the lates 1970s, he had continued to
act on Broadway until the very end, despite suffering
from glaucoma, painful teeth and a failing memory.
For his contribution to motion pictures,
Rex Harrison has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6906 Hollywood Blvd. and for his contribution to
the television industry at 6380 Hollywood Blvd.
The voice of Stewie Griffin, a character
in the animated TV show Family Guy, was partially
based on Rex Harrison.
Awards:
Nominations:
Academy Award for Best Actor for Cleopatra
(1963)
BAFTA Award for Best British Actor for My Fair Lady
Wins :
Academy Award for Best Actor
for My Fair Lady (1964)
source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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