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| Birth Name(s) : Rex Harrison |
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Full Rex Harrison Biography
Sir Reginald "Rex" Carey Harrison, KBE (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an Academy Award- and Tony Award-winning English theatre and film actor.
Harrison was born in Huyton, Knowsley, then part of Lancashire, and educated at Birkdale Preparatory School and Liverpool College. He first appeared on the stage in 1924 in Liverpool. Harrison's acting career was interrupted during World War II, whilst he served in the Royal Air Force, reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He acted in various stage productions until 11 May 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.
He continued to appear in London, in George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, Pirandello's Enrico IV, and in 1984 he appeared at the Haymarket Theatre with Claudette Colbert in Frederick Lonsdale's Aren't We All?, and also on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre presented by Douglas Urbanski. He again appeared at the Haymarket in J. M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton with Edward Fox.
Harrison was married six times. In 1942 he divorced his first wife, Colette Thomas, and married actress Lilli Palmer the next year; the two later appeared together in numerous plays and films, including The Fourposter. After several years in film, he achieved wide acclaim 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. 1947 saw the release of the classic The Ghost and Mrs. Muir opposite the beautiful Gene Tierney.
In 1947 Harrison's began an affair with the beautiful Carole Landis. The affair became public but Harrison refused to leave his wife. Hollywood blamed Harrison for Carole's 1948 suicide and the scandal resulted in him losing his contract with Fox. Harrison and Palmer divorced in 1957. He soon remarried, to actress Kay Kendall. According to Palmer, Harrison requested a divorce to marry Kendall because he knew that she was dying from leukemia. After Kendall's untimely death, it was rumoured that he tried unsuccessfully to reconcile with Lilli. He was later married to Welsh-born Rachel Roberts, who later, like Landis, committed suicide by taking sleeping pills; then to Elizabeth Rees-Williams (the first wife of Irish actor Richard Harris); and to Mercia Tinker, who would become his widow in 1990.
The chronology of Harrison's six marriages is as follows:
- Colette Thomas (1934-1942), (one son, the actor/singer Noel Harrison)
- Lilli Palmer (1943-1957), (one son, the novelist/playwright Carey Harrison)
- Kay Kendall (1957-1959)
- Rachel Roberts (1962-1971)
- Elizabeth Harris (1971-1975), (three stepsons, Damian Harris, Jared Harris and Jamie Harris)
- Mercia Tinker (1978-1990)
On 25 July 1989, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, while an orchestra played the music of songs from My Fair Lady.
Rex Harrison has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6906 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to motion pictures, and another at 6380 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the television industry.
Wins :
- Academy Award for Best Actor for My Fair Lady (1964)
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for My Fair Lady (1964)
- National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for Cleopatra (1963)
- Golden Glode Award for Best Performance by a actor in a Musical/Comedy for My Fair Lady (1964 film)
- Tony Award for Best Actor (Dramatic) for Anne of the Thousand Days (1949)
- Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) for My Fair Lady (1957) |
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