Rex Harrison

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March 5, 1908

2 June 1990 (aged 82) in New York City, New York, U.S. of pancreatic cancer at his home in Manhattan. Was cremated and part of his ashes were scattered in Italy in Portofino and on the grave of his second wife, Lilli Palmer.

Reginald Carey Harrison

Mercia Tinker (17 December 1978 - 2 June 1990) (his death)

Elizabeth Rees (26 August 1971 - 16 December 1975) (divorced)

Rachel Roberts (21 March 1962 - 19 February 1971) (divorced)

Kay Kendall (22 June 1957 - 6 September 1959) (her death)

Lilli Palmer (25 January 1943 - 6 February 1957) (divorced) 1 child

Noel Marjorie Collette Thomas (1933 - 1942) (divorced) 1 child

Actor

1986 Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (TV movie)

1985 Great Performances (TV series)

1983 The Kingfisher (TV movie)

1982 A Time to Die

1981 Titanic in a Tub: The Golden Age of Toy Boats (short) Narrator

1979 The Fifth Musketeer

1979 Ashanti

1978 Shalimar

1977 Crossed Swords

1971-1973 BBC Play of the Month (TV series)

1969 Staircase

1968 A Flea in Her Ear

1968 Phenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankamen
(uncredited)

1967 Doctor Dolittle

1967 The Honey Pot

1965 The Agony and the Ecstasy

1964 The Yellow Rolls-Royce

1964 My Fair Lady

1963 Cleopatra

1961 The Happy Thieves

1960 Midnight Lace

1960 Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (TV series)

1960 Startime (TV series)

1958 The Reluctant Debutante

1957 The DuPont Show of the Month (TV series)

1955 The Constant Husband

1954 King Richard and the Crusaders

1953 The United States Steel Hour (TV series)

1952 Omnibus (TV series)

1952 The Four Poster

1951 The Long Dark Hall

1950 The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (TV series)

1948 Unfaithfully Yours

1948 Escape

1947 The Foxes of Harrow

1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

1946 Anna and the King of Siam

1945 The Rake's Progress

1945 Journey Together (uncredited)

1945 I Live in Grosvenor Square

1945 Blithe Spirit

1941 Major Barbara

1940 Night Train to Munich

1940 Ten Days in Paris

1939 The Silent Battle

1939 Over the Moon

1938 Villa for Sale (TV short)

1938 The Citadel

1938 Sidewalks of London

1937 School for Husbands

1937 Storm in a Teacup

1936 Men Are Not Gods

1935 All at Sea

1934 Leave It to Blanche

1934 Get Your Man

1930 School for Scandal (uncredited)

1930 The Great Game

Producer

1951 The Long Dark Hall (associate producer)

Appearances

1985 The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (TV special)

1985 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV series)

1985 The 39th Annual Tony Awards (TV special)

1981 The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (TV special documentary)

1974 Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love (TV movie)

1973 The 27th Annual Tony Awards (TV special)

1971 V.I.P.-Schaukel (TV series documentary)

1969 The David Frost Show (TV series)

1968 Today (TV series)

1967 The Joey Bishop Show (TV series)

1967 Cinema (TV series documentary)

1966 Hollywood Talent Scouts (TV series)

1966 The 38th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

1965 The 37th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

1965 Flashes Festival (documentary short)

1952-1964 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV series)

1964 The Fairest Fair Lady (documentary short)

1960 The Fabulous Fifties (documentary)

1954 Person to Person (TV series documentary)

1953 Main Street to Broadway

1951 The Colgate Comedy Hour (TV series)

1951 The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter (TV series)

1950 Your Show of Shows (TV series)

1949 On Stage! (documentary short)

1947 The 19th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

Academy Awards

1965 Won Oscar Best Actor in a Leading Role for: My Fair Lady (1964).

1964 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Leading Role
for: Cleopatra (1963).

BAFTA Awards

1966 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best British Actor
for: My Fair Lady (1964).

David di Donatello Awards

1965 Won David Best Foreign Actor (Migliore Attore Straniero) for: My Fair Lady (1964).

Golden Globes

1968 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for: Doctor Dolittle (1967).

1966 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama for: The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965).

Henrietta Award World Film Favorite - Male

1965 Won Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for: My Fair Lady (1964).

1964 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama for: Cleopatra (1963).

Laurel Awards

1966 Nominated Golden Laurel Dramatic Performance, Male for: The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965). 4th place.

1966 Nominated Golden Laurel Male Star 10th place.

1965 Won Golden Laurel Musical Performance, Male
for: My Fair Lady (1964).

1965 Nominated Golden Laurel Male Star 4th place.

1964 2nd place Golden Laurel Top Male Dramatic Performance for: Cleopatra (1963).

National Board of Review, USA

1963 Won NBR Award Best Actor for: Cleopatra (1963).

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

1964 Won NYFCC Award Best Actor for: My Fair Lady (1964).

Walk of Fame

1960 Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture
On 8 February 1960. At 6904 Hollywood Blvd.
Television On 8 February 1960. At 6390 Hollywood Blvd.

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Sir Rex Harrison exuded hauteur as effortlessly as he tossed even the most elaborate dialogue. He was born to play cads or characters that combined a glacial air along with an inerasable gravitas. At times, he came across as the kind of personality for whom the phrase "high maintenance" was coned, even if his screen vehicles were invariably lightweight in the best sense.

Harrison made his stage debut in 1924 and his screen debut in 1930. He first grabbed hold of the cinematic audience with the Hitchcockean thriller Night Train to Munich (1940) and the film adaptation of George Barnard Shaw's Major Barbara (1941). Following service in the British navy in World War II, Harrison returned to form in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit (1945) and The Rake's Progress (1945).

Hollywood beckoned, and Harrison's appearances were something of a hodgepodge; it was as though the dream factory could not altogether make a place for him. After a racial makeover for the leading role in Anna and the King of Siam (1946), he worked with two directors who understood and successfully employed his acidic air: Preston Sturges in Unfaithfully Yours (1948), and Joseph L. Mankiewicz in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) and Escape (1948). In the wake of these successes, the 1950s were largely a cinematic blind alley for Harrison, although his star became even more luminous with the stage success of My Fair Lady (1956). The movie version in 1964 transferred his most indelible performance to celluloid. Few other jobs tested his skills as successfully, although Mankiewicz called upon him twice more, in the notorious Cleopatra (1963) as Caesar, and as an eccentric tycoon in The Honey Pot (1967). He also had a stab at singing once more in Doctor Dolittle (1967).

"There is always a struggle, a striving for something bigger than yourself in all forms of art."

Was almost completely blind in the left eye as the result of a childhood bout of measles.

Is the basis for the voice of Stewie Griffin on "Family Guy" .

Salary

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) $250,000

My Fair Lady (1964) $250,000

Cleopatra (1963) $300,000

Anna and the King of Siam (1946) $4,000/week