Stage career
Harrison first appeared on the stage in 1924 in Liverpool. His acting career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Air Force and reached the rank of Flight Lieutenant.[7] He acted in various stage productions until 11 May 1990. He made his West End debut in 1936, appearing in the Terence Rattigan play French Without Tears, which proved to be his breakthrough role, and established him as a leading light comedian of the English stage.[8]
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.[9] 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 stage musical My Fair Lady, where he appeared opposite Julie Andrews.
Later appearances included Pirandello's Henry IV, a 1984 appearance at the Haymarket Theatre with Claudette Colbert in Frederick Lonsdale's Aren't We All?, and one on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre presented by Douglas Urbanski, at the Haymarket in J. M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton with Edward Fox. He returned as Henry Higgins in the revival of My Fair Lady directed by Patrick Garland in 1981, cementing his association with the plays of George Bernard Shaw, which included a Tony nominated performance as Shotover in Heartbreak House, Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra, and General Burgoyne in a Los Angeles production of The Devil's Disciple.
Cinema appearances
Harrison's film debut was in The Great Game (1930) and he had a bit part in The School for Scandal (1930).
He had support roles in Get Your Man (1934), Leave It to Blanche (1934), and All at Sea (1935), and a better part in Men Are Not Gods (1936) as a reporter in love with Miriam Hopkins; this was the first time Harrison worked for Alexander Korda.
Leading Man
Harrison's first starring role was in the romantic comedy Storm in a Teacup (1937), opposite Vivien Leigh, for Korda.[10] He starred in School for Husbands (1937) then reteamed with Leigh in St. Martin's Lane (1938).
Harrison had a key support role in The Citadel (1938) for MGM and starred in a comedy for Korda, Over the Moon (1939) alongside Merle Oberon. He starred in some thrillers: The Silent Battle (1939), Ten Days in Paris (1940) and Night Train to Munich (1940), the latter directed by Carol Reed and co starring Margaret Lockwood.
Harrison played Adolphus in Major Barbara (1941)—filmed in London during The Blitz of 1940, a role for which he received critical acclaim, and a success at the British box office. He was then absent from screens due to war service.
Harrison returned to movies with the lead in Blithe Spirit (1945), from the play by Noel Coward and directed by David Lean. Coward described him as "The best light comedy actor in the world—except for me.",[11]
Harrison appeared opposite Anna Neagle in I Live in Grosvenor Square (1945) which was another big hit. Also popular was The Rake's Progress (1946), directed by Sidney Gilliat.
20th Century Fox
Harrison received an offer from 20th Century Fox to star in Anna and the King of Siam (1946) in Hollywood. Harrison signed a long term contract with Fox.
Anna was popular as was The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) with Gene Tierney and The Foxes of Harrow (1947) with Maureen O'Hara. Escape (1949) reunited Harrison with Joseph L. Mankiewicz who had made Ghost and Mrs Muir.
Return to England
Back in England he appeared in The Long Dark Hall (1951) opposite his then wife Lila Palmer. They co starred in an adaptation of The Four Poster (1952).
In Hollywood he made his first action film, the medieval epic King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) playing Saladin.
In England Harrison was in The Constant Husband (1955) for Sidney Gilliat and British Lion. It was a hit at the box office.
Post-My Fair Lady
Harrison had a huge Broadway success in My Fair Lady based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion. He was offered top billing in MGM's The Reluctant Debutante (1958) alongside his wife Kay Kendall.
He co-starred opposite Doris Day in Midnight Lace (1960) and Rita Hayworth in The Happy Thieves (1961).
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Harrison received an offer from Joseph L. Mankiewicz to play Julius Caesar in the 20th Century Fox epic Cleopatra (1963). He was overshone in terms of publicity by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who had a famous affair, but his performance was the better received critically. The film was a significant box office hit although it was not profitably due to its cost.
Harrison reprised his stage performance as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor.
He was one of several stars in the popular The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), and played the Pope opposite Charlton Heston in Fox's The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), for Carol Reed.
Harrison starred in 1967's Doctor Dolittle. At the height of his box office clout after the success of My Fair Lady, Harrison proved a temperamental force during production, demanding auditions for prospective composers after musical playwright Leslie Bricusse was contracted[12] and demanding to have his singing recorded live during shooting, only to agree to have it re-recorded in post-production.[13] He also disrupted production with incidents with his wife, Rachel Roberts and deliberate misbehavior, such as when he intentionally moved his yacht in front of cameras during shooting in St. Lucia and refused to move it out of sight due to contract disputes.[14] Harrison was at one point temporarily replaced by Christopher Plummer, until he agreed to be more cooperative.[15] Harrison was not by any objective standards a singer (the talking on pitch style he used in My Fair Lady was adopted by many other classically trained actors with limited vocal ranges); the music was written to allow for long periods of recitative, or "speaking to the music". Nevertheless, "Talk to the Animals", which Harrison performed in Doctor Dolittle, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1967.
Harrison reunited with Mankiewicz in The Honey Pot (1967), a modern adaptation of Ben Jonson's play Volpone. Two of his co-stars, Maggie Smith and Cliff Robertson, were to become lifelong friends. Both spoke at his New York City memorial at the Little Church Around the Corner when Harrison died in 1990.
Harrison made two more films for 20th Century Fox, both expensive play adaptations that failed at the box office: A Flea in Her Ear (1968), and Staircase (1969).[16]
Later career
After a break from screen acting, Harrison appeared in The Prince and The Pauper (1977)m and a Hindi film Shalimar alongside Indian Bollywood stars Dharmendra and Zeenat Aman. He had small roles in Ashanti (1979), The Fifth Musketeer (1979) and A Time to Die (shot 1979) which was his last film.