1959–1963: Early roles and breakthrough Harris made his film debut in 1959 in the film
Alive and Kicking, and played the lead role in
The Ginger Man in the West End in 1959. In his second film, he had a small role as an IRA Volunteer in
Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), supporting
James Cagney. The film was shot in Ireland and directed by
Michael Anderson who offered Harris a role in his next film,
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), shot in Hollywood. Harris played another IRA Volunteer in
A Terrible Beauty (1960), alongside
Robert Mitchum. He had a memorable
bit part in the film
The Guns of Navarone (1961) as a
Royal Australian Air Force pilot who reports that blowing up the "bloody guns" of the island of Navarone is impossible by an
air raid. He had a larger part in
The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), playing a British soldier; Harris clashed with
Laurence Harvey and
Richard Todd during filming. For his role in the film
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), despite being virtually unknown to film audiences, Harris reportedly insisted on third billing, behind
Trevor Howard and
Marlon Brando, an actor he greatly admired. However, Harris fell out with Brando over the latter's behaviour during the film's production. Harris's first starring role was in the film
This Sporting Life (1963), as a bitter young coal miner, Frank Machin, who becomes an acclaimed
rugby league football player. It was based on the novel by
David Storey and directed by
Lindsay Anderson. For his role, Harris won
Best Actor in 1963 at the
Cannes Film Festival and an
Academy Award nomination. Harris followed this with a leading role in the Italian film,
Michelangelo Antonioni's
Il Deserto Rosso (
Red Desert, 1964). This won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Harris received an offer to support
Kirk Douglas in a British war film,
The Heroes of Telemark (1965), directed by
Anthony Mann, playing a Norwegian resistance leader. He then went to Hollywood to support
Charlton Heston in
Sam Peckinpah's
Major Dundee (1965), as an Irish immigrant who became a
Confederate cavalryman during the
American Civil War. He played
Cain in
John Huston's film
The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). More successful at the box office was
Hawaii (1966), in which Harris starred alongside
Julie Andrews and
Max von Sydow.
1967–1971: Rise to prominence As a change of pace, he was the romantic lead in a
Doris Day spy spoof comedy,
Caprice (1967), directed by
Frank Tashlin. Harris next performed the role of
King Arthur in the film adaptation of the musical play
Camelot (1967). Critic
Roger Ebert described the casting of Harris and
Vanessa Redgrave as "about the best
King Arthur and
Queen Guenevere I can imagine". Harris revived the role on
Broadway at the
Winter Garden Theatre from 15 November 1981 to 2 January 1982, and broadcast on
HBO a year later. Starring
Meg Bussert as Guenevere,
Richard Muenz as Lancelot and
Thor Fields as Tom of Warwick. Harris, who had starred in the film, and Muenz also took the show on tour nationwide. In
The Molly Maguires (1970), he played
James McParland, the detective who infiltrates the title organisation, headed by
Sean Connery. It was a box-office flop. However
A Man Called Horse (1970), with Harris in the title role, an 1825 English aristocrat who is captured by Native Americans, was a major success. He portrayed
Oliver Cromwell in the film
Cromwell in 1970 opposite
Alec Guinness as King
Charles I of England. That year British exhibitors voted him the 9th-most popular star at the UK box office. In 1971, Harris starred in a
BBC TV film adaptation
The Snow Goose, from a screenplay by
Paul Gallico. It won a
Golden Globe for Best Movie made for TV and was nominated for both a
BAFTA and an
Emmy. and was shown in the United States as part of the
Hallmark Hall of Fame. He made his directorial debut with
Bloomfield (1971) and starred in
Man in the Wilderness (1971), a
revisionist Western based on the
Hugh Glass story.
1973–1981: Established actor '' Harris starred in a
Western for
Samuel Fuller,
Riata, which stopped production several weeks into filming. The project was re-assembled with a new director and cast, except for Harris, who returned:
The Deadly Trackers (1973). In 1973 Harris published a book of poetry,
I, In the Membership of My Days, which was later reissued in part in an audio
LP format, augmented by self-penned songs such as "I Don't Know". Harris starred in two thrillers:
99 and 44/100% Dead (1974), for
John Frankenheimer, and
Juggernaut (1974), for Richard Lester. In
Echoes of a Summer (1976) he played the father of a young girl with a terminal illness. He had a cameo as
Richard the Lionheart in
Robin and Marian (1976), for Lester, then was in
The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976). Harris led the all-star cast in the train disaster film
The Cassandra Crossing (1976). He played Gulliver in the part-animated ''
Gulliver's Travels (1977) and was reunited with Michael Anderson in Orca'' (1977), battling a killer whale. in
The Snow Goose (1971) He appeared in another action film,
Golden Rendezvous (1977), based on a novel by Alistair Maclean, shot in South Africa. Harris was sued by the film's producer for his drinking; Harris counter-sued for defamation and the matter was settled out of court.
Golden Rendezvous was a flop but
The Wild Geese (1978), where Harris played one of several mercenaries, was a big success outside America.
Ravagers (1979) was more action, set in a
post-apocalyptic world.
Game for Vultures (1979) was set in Rhodesia and shot in South Africa. In Hollywood, he appeared in
The Last Word (1979), then supported
Bo Derek in
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981). He made a film in Canada,
Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1981), a drama about impotence. He followed it with another Canadian film,
Highpoint, a movie so bad it was not released for several years.
1980–1988: Continued success For a while in the 1980s, Harris went into semi-retirement on
Paradise Island, in
the Bahamas, where he kicked his drinking habit and embraced a healthier lifestyle. It had a beneficial effect. Harris's career was revived by his success on stage in
Camelot, and powerful performance in the
West End run of
Luigi Pirandello's
Henry IV. He was the subject of
This Is Your Life in 1990, when he was surprised by
Michael Aspel during the curtain call of the
Pirandello's play
Henry IV at the
Wyndham's Theatre in London. Over several years in the late 1980s, Harris worked with Irish author
Michael Feeney Callan on his biography, which was published by
Sidgwick & Jackson in 1990. His film work during this period included:
Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983), ''
Martin's Day (1985), Strike Commando 2
(1988), King of the Wind (1990) and Mack the Knife (1990) (a film version of The Threepenny Opera'' in which he played J.J. Peachum ) plus the
TV film version of
Maigret, opposite
Barbara Shelley. This indicated declining popularity which Harris told his biographer,
Michael Feeney Callan, he was "utterly reconciled to".
1989–2002: Stardom and final roles In June 1989 the director
Jim Sheridan cast Harris in the lead role in
The Field, written by the esteemed Irish playwright
John B. Keane. The lead role of "Bull" McCabe was to be played by the former
Abbey Theatre actor
Ray McAnally. When McAnally died suddenly on 15 June 1989, Harris was offered the McCabe role.
The Field was released in 1990 and earned Harris his second
Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He lost to
Jeremy Irons for
Reversal of Fortune. In 1992, Harris had a supporting role in the film
Patriot Games. He also had roles in
Unforgiven (1992),
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993) and
Silent Tongue (1994). He played the title role in
Abraham (1994) and had the lead in
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). A lifelong supporter of Jesuit education principles, Harris established a friendship with
University of Scranton President Rev. J. A. Panuska He chaired acting workshops and cast the university's production of
Julius Caesar in November 1987. Harris appeared in two films which won the
Academy Award for Best Picture: firstly as the gunfighter "English Bob" in the revisionist Western
Unforgiven (1992); secondly as the
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in
Ridley Scott's
Gladiator (2000). He also played a lead role alongside
James Earl Jones in the
Darrell Roodt film adaptation of
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). In 1999, Harris starred in the film
To Walk with Lions. After
Gladiator, Harris played the supporting role of
Albus Dumbledore in the first two of the
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 portrayed
Abbé Faria in
Kevin Reynolds' film adaptation of
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). The film
Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) was dedicated to him posthumously as he had voiced the character Opaz before his death. Harris hesitated to take the role of Dumbledore in ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) owing to the multi-film commitment and his declining health, but he ultimately accepted because, according to his account of the story, his 11-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again if he did not take it. In an interview with the Toronto Star in 2001, Harris expressed his concern that his association with the Harry Potter'' films would outshine the rest of his career. He explained, "Because, you see, I don't just want to be remembered for being in those bloody films, and I'm afraid that's what's going to happen to me." Harris also made part of the Bible TV movie project filmed as a cinema production for the TV, a project produced by
Lux Vide Italy with the collaboration of
RAI and Channel 5 of France, and premiered in the United States in the channel TNT in the 1990s. He portrayed the main and
title character in the production
Abraham (1993) as well as Saint
John of Patmos in the 2000 TV film production
Apocalypse. == Singing career ==