Richard Harris Biography: Height, Siblings, Age, Net Worth, Parents, Movies, Children, Songs, Wife, Death

Richard Harris was an acclaimed Irish actor and singer who became an icon of the British New Wave cinema movement.

After studying at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he received widespread critical acclaim and numerous prestigious accolades throughout his illustrious career.

Some of Harris’s most notable achievements include winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a Grammy Award.

According to a list compiled by The Irish Times, he was recognized as the third most outstanding film actor from Ireland in 2020.

Profile

• Full Name: Richard St John Francis Harris
• Stage Name: Richard Harris
• Born: October 1, 1930
• Age: 72 years old
• Death date: October 25, 2002
• Bloomsbury, London, England
• Birthplace: Limerick, Ireland
• Nationality: Irish
• Occupation: Irish actor and singer
• Height: 1.85 m
• Parent: Ivan John Harris and Mildred Josephine Harty Harris
• Siblings: James Charles, Edward Harris, Harriet Mary, Harmay Harris, Audrey Mary Harris, Patrick Ivan, Harris, Noel William Michael Harris, Diarmid Gerard, Dermot Harris, William George Harris
• Spouse: Elizabeth Rees-Williams​ (m.1957-1969)​ , Ann Turkel ​(m. 1974-1982)
• Children: Damian Harris, Jared Harris, and Jamie Harris
• Relationship: Divorced
• Net Worth: $28.4 million

Early Life And Education

Richard St John Francis Harris was born on October 1, 1930, in Limerick, Ireland. He was the fifth child of Ivan John Harris and Mildred Josephine Harty Harris. He had seven siblings – James Charles Edward Harris, Harriet Mary Harmay Harris, Audrey Mary Harris, Patrick Ivan Harris, Noel William Michael Harris, Diarmid Gerard Dermot Harris, and William George Harris.

Harris attended Crescent College, a Jesuit school, where he excelled as a rugby player and developed a strong passion for literature.

After completing his education, Harris enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art to pursue acting. Richard Harris was ethnically Irish and practiced Christianity as his religion.

Career

Harris began his acting career in the late 1950s and quickly gained recognition for his intense and often troubled characters. He made his film debut in 1959 with a small role in the movie Alive and Kicking.

Later that year, he played the lead role in the West End production of “The Ginger Man.” Harris had another minor part in the 1959 film “Shake Hands with the Devil,” supporting James Cagney.

Director Michael Anderson was impressed with Harris’s performance and cast him in the 1959 film The Wreck of the Mary Deare.

In 1960, Harris portrayed an IRA volunteer alongside Robert Mitchum in the film A Terrible Beauty. The following year, he had a memorable bit part as an Australian pilot in The Guns of Navarone.

Harris had a more significant role in 1961’s “The Long and the Short and the Tall,” though he clashed with co-stars Laurence Harvey and Richard Todd during filming.

Despite being relatively unknown, Harris insisted on third billing for his role in the 1962 film “Mutiny on the Bounty” after Marlon Brando, an actor he greatly admired.

Taking a change of pace, Harris played the romantic lead in the 1967 Doris Day spy comedy “Caprice.” Later that year, he portrayed King Arthur in the film adaptation of the musical “Camelot.”

In 1970, Harris starred as detective James McParland in “The Molly Maguires” alongside Sean Connery. In 1971, Harris starred in the acclaimed BBC TV film “The Snow Goose,” which won a Golden Globe and was nominated for a BAFTA and Emmy.

That same year, he made his directorial debut with Bloomfield and starred in the revisionist Western Man in the Wilderness. Beyond his acting work, Harris also had a successful music career.

He released several albums in the 1960s and 1970s, including “I, In the Ghetto” and “The Richard Harris Collection.” His recording of the song “MacArthur Park” became a significant hit in 1968, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Harris has also recorded several albums of music. One of his albums, “A Tramp Shining,” included the hit song “MacArthur Park,” which was written by Jimmy Webb.

The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and was a top European seller in 1968. “MacArthur Park” sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold record.

Harris later released another album, “The Yard Went on Forever,” which consisted entirely of songs composed by Jimmy Webb. In a 1973 TV special with Burt Bacharach,

Harris explained that as an untrained singer, he approached songs more as an actor focused on the words and emotions rather than a technical vocalist. He then performed the song “If I Could Go Back” from the Lost Horizon soundtrack.

Awards and Nominations

Richard Harris, the renowned Irish actor and singer, had an illustrious career marked by numerous accolades and prestigious awards.

Academy Awards:

•   1964: Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “This Sporting Life”
•   1991: Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The Field”

Grammy Awards:

•   1974: Winner for Best Spoken Word Recording for “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”
•   1975: Nominated for Best Spoken Word Recording for “The Prophet”

Golden Globe Awards:

•   1968: Winner for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for “Camelot”
•   1971: Nominated for Foreign Film – English Language for “Bloomfield”
•   1991: Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for “The Field”

Social Media

Richard Harris does not have any active social media accounts.

Personal Life

Richard Harris was an acclaimed Irish actor who married twice during his lifetime. In 1957, Harris married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, the daughter of Baron Ogmore.

Together, they had three children: director Damian Harris, actor Jared Harris, and actor Jamie Harris. Harris and Rees-Williams divorced in 1969, after which Elizabeth married actor Rex Harrison.

Harris’s second marriage was to American actress Ann Turkel in 1974. They remained married for 8 years before divorcing in 1982.

In August 2002, at the age of 72, Harris was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease after being hospitalized with pneumonia. Tragically, he passed away on October 25, 2002, at University College Hospital in London.

Filmography

Films

• Camelot (1967)   
• A Man Called Horse (1970)   
• Cromwell (1970)   
• The Molly Maguires (1970)   
• The Field (1990)    
• Unforgiven (1992)   
• Gladiator (2000)   
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)   
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)   
• The Heroes of Telemark (1965)   
• Major Dundee (1965)   
• Hawaii (1966)   
• The Cassandra Crossing (1976)   
• The Wild Geese (1978)   
• The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

Discography

Albums

• Camelot (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1967)
• A Tramp Shining (1968)
• The Yard Went On Forever (1968)
• The Richard Harris Love Album (1970)
• My Boy (1971)
• Slides (1972)
• Tommy (1972)
• His Greatest Performances (1973)

Singles

• “Here in My Heart” (Theme from This Sporting Life)” (1963)
• “How to Handle a Woman (from Camelot)” (1968)
• “MacArthur Park” (1968)
• “Didn’t We?” (1968)
• “The Yard Went On Forever” (1968)
• “The Hive” (1969)
• “One of the Nicer Things” (1969)
• “Fill the World With Love” (1969)
• “Ballad of A Man Called Horse” (1970)
• “Morning of the Mourning for Another Kennedy” (1970)

Net Worth

Richard Harris, the renowned Irish actor, had an impressive net worth of $28.4 million when he passed away in 2002.

This substantial wealth was predominantly amassed through his successful and prolific career in the film, television, and theatrical industries.

Harris is widely recognized for his iconic roles in various acclaimed productions, including “The Guns of Navarone,” “Camelot,” and the “Harry Potter” film series.