REX C. HARRISON, FROM THE WEST END TO HOLLYWOOD

Today, The Grandma has been watching My Fair Lady, a masterpiece interpreted by Rex Harrison, the English actor who died on a day like today in 1990.

Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908-2 June 1990) was an English actor. 

Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play French Without Tears, in what was his breakthrough role. He won his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Henry VIII in the Broadway play Anne of the Thousand Days in 1949. He returned to Broadway portraying Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1956) where he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

In addition to his stage career, Harrison also appeared in numerous films. His first starring role was opposite Vivien Leigh in the romantic comedy Storm in a Teacup (1937). Receiving critical acclaim for his performance in Major Barbara (1941), which was shot in London during the Blitz, his roles since then included Blithe Spirit (1945), Anna and the King of Siam (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Cleopatra (1963), My Fair Lady (1964), reprising his stage role as Henry Higgins which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the titular character in Doctor Dolittle (1967).

In 1975, Harrison released his first autobiography. In June 1989, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He was married six times and had two sons: Noel and Carey Harrison. He continued working in stage productions until shortly before his death in June 1990 at the age of 82. His second autobiography, A Damned Serious Business: My Life in Comedy, was published posthumously in 1991.

Reginald Carey Harrison was born on 5 March 1908 at Derry House in Huyton, Lancashire, the son of Edith Mary (née Carey) and William Reginald Harrison, a cotton broker.

Harrison first appeared on stage in 1924 in Thirty Minutes in a Street at the Liverpool Playhouse, when he was 16 years old. He remained there, playing small parts, until 1927 when he joined a touring production of Charley's Aunt. Six years of touring and repertory followed. He achieved critical acclaim for Heroes Don't Care in 1936. His West End debut in the same year was in Terence Rattigan's French Without Tears which proved to be his breakthrough stage role as a leading light comedian. His acting career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Air Force (1942-1944), reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

He alternated appearances in London and New York in such plays as Bell, Book and Candle (1950), Venus Observed, The Cocktail Party, The Kingfisher and The Love of Four Colonels, which he also directed. He won his first Tony Award for his appearance at the Shubert Theatre as Henry VIII in Maxwell Anderson's play Anne of the Thousand Days and international superstardom (and a second Tony) for his portrayal of Henry Higgins in the 1956 stage musical My Fair Lady, where he appeared opposite Julie Andrews.

Harrison's film debut was in The Great Game (1930) and he had a bit part in The School for Scandal (1930).

Harrison died at his home in Manhattan, New York City, on 2 June 1990 at the age of 82. The stage production in which he was appearing at the time, The Circle, came to an end upon his death.

More information: Los Angeles Times

Exhilaration is that feeling
you get just after a great idea hits you,
and just before you realize what's wrong with it.

Rex Harrison