Richard Harris

Biography

Richard St John Francis Harris (October 1, 1930 – October 25, 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert, Frank Machin in This Sporting Life, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and as King Arthur in the 1967 film Camelot, as well as the 1981 revival of the stage musical.

He played an English aristocrat captured by the Sioux in A Man Called Horse (1970), Oliver Cromwell in Cromwell (1970), an embattled Irish farmer in Jim Sheridan's The Field (which earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor), English Bob in Clint Eastwood's revisionist Western Unforgiven (1992), Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) as Abbé Faria, and Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), the latter of which was his final film role. Harris had a number-one singing hit in Australia, Jamaica and Canada, and a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park". In 2020, he was listed at number 3 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

CritifyHub Reviews Featuring Richard Harris

"It’s a hell of a thing, killin’ a man." This stark and regretful line encapsulates the moral weight of violence explored in "Unforgiven."

on Unforgiven | May 31, 2025

Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is a revisionist Western that deconstructs the myths and romanticism often associated with the genre, offering a darker and more realistic portrayal of violence and its las... Read more

"What we do in life echoes in eternity." This powerful quote encapsulates the themes of legacy and honor in Ridley Scott’s epic "Gladiator."

on Gladiator | May 31, 2025

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator isn’t merely a historical epic; it’s a visually stunning and emotionally resonant tale of betrayal, revenge, and the enduring power of the human spirit. Set in ancient Rome at... Read more