The actor Richard Harris may have been known as a “hellraiser,” but an exhibition of his life and career at the Hunt Museum in Limerick shows there were many other sides to him. Little-known stories of Harris’s early life as well as personal and professional letters, rare photographs, sporting memorabilia, and other carefully selected artefacts reflect his range and influence.
The interactive display uncovers the story of an actor, born in Limerick city on October 1st, 1930 who became internationally renowned for his multifaceted roles which include playing the part of Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster, in the first two Harry Potter films.
Harris grew up in Overdale, a large Edwardian redbrick house on Ennis Road. Like many Limerick families, summers were spent at Kilkee where the young boy displayed his athleticism by swimming across the bay and winning the Tivoli Cup for Racquets, a competitive mix of handball and squash.
He attended St Philomena’s Junior Jesuit School and later Crescent College, where he excelled at rugby. Harris played in the Munster Junior and Senior Cup teams and for the Garryowen club with his sights set on international rugby, but his career was cut short in his teenage years by a bout of tuberculosis. Although sport was a formative part of his early identity, his love for the game remained undiminished throughout his life; his cherished rugby jersey and a ball – described by Harris as “a horrible, quartered leather ball,”’ – are on display.
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During his recovery from TB, Harris discovered the works of Joyce, Beckett, and Dylan Thomas in a period that he called: “The luckiest thing that ever happened to me … if I hadn’t started to read, I would probably be selling insurance now".
That love of reading included Shakespeare which provided a grounding for his acting career after enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His performance in Behan’s The Quare Fellow (1956) gained notice for his presence and intensity, especially his rendition of The Auld Triangle.
Key moments are reflected such as his breakthrough performance in This Sporting Life (1963) in which Harris plays an ex-miner who becomes a successful rugby league player and for which he was awarded an Oscar nomination.
Other major roles were in Gladiator, Camelot, and John B Keane’s The Field (1990) for which he received his second Oscar nomination for his performance as the character Bull McCabe. The crown he wore as King Arthur in Camelot, as well as his Golden Globe Awards, are given prominence.
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In the late 1950s Harris starred in the West End production of JP Donleavy’s novel The Ginger Man as the lead character Sebastian Dangerfield. However, the Dublin run was closed after three nights due to censorship by the Catholic Church, prompting Harris’s reply about the controversy: “I’m sending the script to the Vatican. I don’t deny there is vulgarity in it but that doesn’t stop it from being a fine play.”
Aside from his acting, Harris was a singer, poet and director. His poetry collection I, In the Membership of My Days, was published in 1973 and explores thoughts on childhood, fame, memory, family and death. The book revealed a quieter more introspective side of Harris, and a creative aspect of his world that was separate from his film and theatre work, and about which he said: “I am known as someone who drinks too much, womanises too much, raises too much hell. But this book shows how I have fooled them. I have always played a double game, one in public and the other in private. This is the private me, the real Richard Harris.”
Long-forgotten film footage and interview clips provide an insight into his acting methods and creative processes. Annotated scripts, short stories, poems, and works in progress, make fascinating reading.
During his lifetime, Harris overcame many challenges, including dyslexia. But whatever he was involved with, humour played a large part, and a reflective quotation is cited: “I often sit back and think, I wish I’d done that, and find out later that I already have.”
In the Savoy Hotel in London he maintained a private existence for over 28 years in a room later renamed the Richard Harris Suite. It became a personal sanctuary where he entertained friends and conducted interviews.
In August 2002, Harris was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and died two months later, on October 25th, aged 72. According to the Savoy archivist, as he was being taken from the hotel on a stretcher, shortly before his death, he warned the diners, “It was the food!”
His three sons, Jared, Damian and Jamie, donated their father’s archive to University College Cork unravelling an important cultural legacy and presenting an intimate reappraisal of an enigmatic life which continues to inspire.
From Dickie to Richard – Richard Harris: Role of a Lifetime at the Hunt Museum is a collaboration between the museum, the Harris family and University College Cork, and runs until November 16th. www.huntmuseum.com
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