Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Richard Harris(1930-2002)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00033
Richard Harris
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer1:35
Kaena: The Prophecy (2003)
43 Videos
99+ Photos
Richard St John Harris was born on October 1, 1930 in Limerick, Ireland, to a farming family, one of nine children born to Mildred (Harty) and Ivan Harris. He attended Crescent College, a Jesuit school, and was an excellent rugby player, with a strong passion for literature. Unfortunately, a bout of tuberculosis as a teenager ended his aspirations to a rugby career, but he became fascinated with the theater and skipped a local dance one night to attend a performance of "Henry IV". He was hooked and went on to learn his craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), then spent several years in stage productions. He debuted on screen in Shake Hands with the Devil (1959) and quickly scored regular work in films, including The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), The Night Fighters (1960) and a good role as a frustrated Australian bomber pilot in The Guns of Navarone (1961).

However, his breakthrough performance was as the quintessential "angry young man" in the sensational drama This Sporting Life (1963), which scored him an Oscar nomination. He then appeared in the WW II commando tale The Heroes of Telemark (1965) and in the Sam Peckinpah-directed western Major Dundee (1965). He next showed up in Hawaii (1966) and played King Arthur in Camelot (1967), a lackluster adaptation of the famous Broadway play. Better performances followed, among them a role as a reluctant police informer in The Molly Maguires (1970) alongside Sir Sean Connery. Harris took the lead role in the violent western A Man Called Horse (1970), which became something of a cult film and spawned two sequels. As the 1970s progressed, Harris continued to appear regularly on screen; however, the quality of the scripts varied from above average to woeful.

His credits during this period included directing himself as an aging soccer player in The Hero (1970); the western The Deadly Trackers (1973); the big-budget "disaster" film Juggernaut (1974); the strangely-titled crime film 99 and 44/100% Dead! (1974); with Connery again in Robin and Marian (1976); Gulliver's Travels (1977); a part in the Jaws (1975); Orca (1977) and a nice turn as an ill-fated mercenary with Richard Burton and Roger Moore in the popular action film The Wild Geese (1978).

The 1980s kicked off with Harris appearing in the silly Bo Derek vanity production Tarzan the Ape Man (1981) and the remainder of the decade had him appearing in some very forgettable productions. However, the luck of the Irish was once again to shine on Harris's career and he scored rave reviews (and another Oscar nomination) for The Field (1990). He then locked horns with Harrison Ford as an IRA sympathizer in Patriot Games (1992) and got one of his best roles as gunfighter English Bob in the Clint Eastwood western Unforgiven (1992). Harris was firmly back in vogue and rewarded his fans with more wonderful performances in Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993); Cry, the Beloved Country (1995); The Great Kandinsky (1995) and This Is the Sea (1997). Further fortune came his way with a strong performance in the blockbuster Gladiator (2000) and he became known to an entirely new generation of film fans as Albus Dumbledore in the mega-successful Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). His final screen role was as "Lucius Sulla" in Caesar (2002).

Harris died of Hodgkin's disease, also known as Hodgkin's lymphoma, in London on October 25, 2002, aged 72.
BornOctober 1, 1930
DiedOctober 25, 2002(72)
BornOctober 1, 1930
DiedOctober 25, 2002(72)
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00033
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars
    • 11 wins & 19 nominations total

Photos315

Richard Harris in Robin and Marian (1976)
Sean Connery and Richard Harris in Robin and Marian (1976)
Sean Connery, Richard Harris, and Nicol Williamson in Robin and Marian (1976)
Sean Connery, Richard Harris, and Nicol Williamson in Robin and Marian (1976)
Richard Harris, Art Carney, and Ann Turkel in Ravagers (1979)
Richard Harris
Richard Harris in Camelot (1982)
Richard Harris in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Marlon Brando, Richard Harris, Richard Haydn, and Tim Seely in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Marlon Brando, Richard Harris, Percy Herbert, Duncan Lamont, and Chips Rafferty in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Marlon Brando and Richard Harris in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Richard Harris, Percy Herbert, and Gordon Jackson in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Known for

Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris in Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven
8.2
  • English Bob
  • 1992
Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator
8.5
  • Marcus Aurelius
  • 2000
Camelot (1967)
Camelot
6.5
  • King Arthur
  • 1967
Jim Caviezel in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
The Count of Monte Cristo
7.7
  • Abbe Faria
  • 2002

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Christopher Walken, Richard Harris, and Jeremy Sisto in Caesar (2002)
    Caesar
    • Lucius Cornelius Sulla
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2003
  • Kaena: The Prophecy (2003)
    Kaena: The Prophecy
    • Opaz (English version, voice)
    • 2003
  • Richard Harris in The Apocalypse (2002)
    The Apocalypse
    • John
    • TV Movie
    • 2002
  • Rupert Grint, Toby Jones, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    • Albus Dumbledore
    • 2002
  • Jim Caviezel in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
    The Count of Monte Cristo
    • Abbe Faria
    • 2002
  • The Pearl (2001)
    The Pearl
    • Dr. Karl
    • 2001
  • Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Richard Harris, Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    • Albus Dumbledore
    • 2001
  • My Kingdom (2001)
    My Kingdom
    • Sandeman
    • 2001
  • Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
    Gladiator
    • Marcus Aurelius
    • 2000
  • Grizzly Falls (1999)
    Grizzly Falls
    • Old Harry
    • 1999
  • To Walk with Lions (1999)
    To Walk with Lions
    • George Adamson
    • 1999
  • Julia Ormond and Oleg Menshikov in The Barber of Siberia (1998)
    The Barber of Siberia
    • Makkreken (as Richard Kharris)
    • 1998
  • This Is the Sea (1997)
    This Is the Sea
    • Old Man Jacobs
    • 1997
  • Salma Hayek, Richard Harris, and Mandy Patinkin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1997)
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    • Dom Frollo
    • TV Movie
    • 1997
  • Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Smilla's Sense of Snow
    • Dr. Andreas Tork
    • 1997

Producer

  • The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
    The Return of a Man Called Horse
    • executive producer
    • 1976
  • Echoes of a Summer (1976)
    Echoes of a Summer
    • executive producer
    • 1976

Director

  • The Hero (1970)
    The Hero
    • Director
    • 1970

Videos43

The Count of Monte Cristo
Clip 1:11
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
Clip 1:28
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
Clip 1:43
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Field
Clip 3:08
The Field
Trailer
Trailer 3:17
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:41
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:28
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:00
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:53
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:23
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:22
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:52
Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Richard Harris International Film Festival
  • Alternative name
    • Richard Kharris
  • Height
    • 6′ 0½″ (1.84 m)
  • Born
    • October 1, 1930
    • Limerick, Ireland
  • Died
    • October 25, 2002
    • Bloomsbury, London, England, UK(Hodgkin's disease)
  • Spouses
      Ann TurkelJune 7, 1974 - 1982 (divorced)
  • Children
      Damian Harris
  • Parents
      Mildred Josephine Harris (Harty)
  • Relatives
      Ed Harris(Not Related)
  • Other works
    Album: "A Tramp Shining" (ABC Records), featuring Harris' "MacArthur Park", written/produced by Jimmy Webb
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Print Biographies
    • 6 Interviews
    • 18 Articles
    • 4 Pictorials
    • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Only agreed to take the part of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) after his then 11-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again if he didn't.
  • Quotes
    There are too many prima donnas in this business and not enough action.
  • Trademarks
      A rebel in real life, a part he often portrayed on screen

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.