Harrington was a Welshman born in Merthyr Tydfil to Timothy and Sarah (née Burchell) Harrington. It was a mixed marriage; his mother was a devout Catholic. His father was an atheist and Communist, who fought against the Fascists in the
Spanish Civil War. His mother, known as "Sally", was also an anti-fascist. In the poverty of the 1930s, she also sold her wedding ring to keep the family for a week, telling her husband it had dropped down the sink."She beat up the national organiser of the British Union of Fascists – she was a woman not of reflection, but of action. He was coming out with all this racist filth and she went for him with her shoe. And then she took off with the fascists chasing her." Harrington was educated at St Illtyds Roman Catholic School Dowlais before going up to
Trinity University College, Carmarthen (now part of
University of Wales Trinity Saint David) to become a teacher. There he became a friend of
Dylan Thomas. He moved to
London after gaining employment in
Brixton, before becoming a geography teacher at Kennington Secondary school. Then he moved on to become head of English at
Daneford School in
Bethnal Green. His friends in the East End had included
Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the gangsters. He learnt the arts of welterweight boxing, plus watching his team
West Ham United on a Saturday. Harrington was openly gay and lived for fifty years with his partner, Christopher "Chris" Downes, who worked as a theatrical dresser for
Laurence Olivier and
Maggie Smith. Downes became a board director of the National Theatre on the South Bank. Both men were active members of the board of trustees of the
National Youth Theatre. They shared a house in London and later in Brighton, where they entertained the
glitterati. Actors were welcome in their house. Both were heavily involved as writers and editors of
The Camden New Journal and
West End Extra. Downes died in 2003. Harrington died on 1 October 2015, aged 84. He is survived by two siblings, Kathleen and Paul. Harrington's nephew is actor
Richard Harrington. ==Political career==