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Jun 3, 1990 · Rex Harrison, 82, the actor best known for his wonderful portrayal of Henry Higgins, the irascible and impatient professor of language who won hearts when he fell for a Cockney flower girl in "My ...
He won the Tony for the play and an Oscar for the film version. In 1962 Harrison married actress Rachel Roberts. This union and the one following it to Elizabeth Harris (Richard's ex) also ended in divorce. In 1978 Rex met and married Mercia Tinker. He and Mercia remained happily married until his death in 1990.
- March 5, 1908
- June 2, 1990
- He Thought Pretty Highly of Himself
- He Was Very Sick
- He Did It on His Own
- He Worked Hard to Establish Himself
- He Wanted More
- It Wasn't A Happy Wedding
- He Fell Hard
- He Wanted to Help
- They Couldn’T Keep It Together
- He Gave Everything to His Work
The man we know as Rex Harrison was born Reginald Carey Harrison in 1908 in England. To say that Harrison was born for the spotlight would be an understatement. He wanted the spotlight from the time that he was just a child. As for the name Rex? He gave it to himself when he was just a child, after learning that Rex was Latin for “king.” If you thi...
When Harrison was just a child, he survived a terrible bout of measles—but suffered lasting damage. The illness caused him to lose almost all of his sight in his left eye, and the impairment was permanent. To lift his spirits after this crushing blow, his mother brought him to the theater. It changed the young boy’s life. Wikimedia Commons
Rex Harrison became determined to become an actor after seeing a production at a local theater as a child. He also wanted to do it on his own terms. Harrison refused to take acting lessons, but still managed to land his first stage role in 1924. He was just 16 years old. Many actors will continue to brush up on their craft throughout their career, ...
After graduating from high school, Harrison immediately took to the stage in Liverpool. He worked away for about six years before eventually moving up to the West End in London in 1930. That was the same year that he got his first film role. The wind was at his back and things were looking up for Harrison…but not for long. Wikipedia
Harrison wasn’t just climbing the ranks when it came to his acting career—he was also a notorious social climber. His playboy reputation was born around this time. However, there was one woman who made him stop in his tracks: Ethel Marjorie Noel Colette Thomas. Not only was she a model, but she also came from a wealthy, upper-class background. She ...
Thomas’s father was adamant: He did not want his daughter marrying an actor, let alone one from a middle-class background. But there was also another reason for his disapproval. Harrison had gotten his precious daughter pregnant out of wedlock. Despite daddy's reservations, Harrison proposed and Thomas accepted. Shortly before their son was born, H...
At the outbreak of WWII, Harrison dealt his wife a cruel and heartbreaking betrayal. While she was working for the Red Cross, he began an affair with a young actress named Lilli Palmer. As a German Jew, Palmer had fled Berlin with her sisters in the mid-30s. Harrison was desperately smitten with her. He separated from his wife in 1940 as a result. ...
When WWII broke out, Harrison was determined to join the fight—until something from his past came back to haunt him.Harrison was denied entry to the Royal Air Force as a result of his damaged eye. Regardless, he knew he wanted to help. In 1942 the Royal Air Force finally accepted him. Harrison then worked his way up to the rank of flight lieutenant...
Harrison performed a valuable service, but on the home front, his life was falling apart. His and Thomas’s relationship hadn’t exactly gotten off on the right foot. The couple faced many obstacles—including his ongoing affair with Lilli Palmer—and they eventually proved insurmountable. They divorced in 1942 after eight years of marriage. Harrison m...
Following his divorce from Thomas, Harrison threw himself into his work as a flight lieutenant. You might be imagining him in the cockpit of a plane. However, he actually worked in underground bunkers, directing the planes to safety from there. Harrison had been passionate about acting for his whole life. However, during this period, he said that h...
He was subsequently married to Welsh actress Rachel Roberts from 1962 to 1971. Harrison then married Elizabeth Rees-Williams, divorcing in 1975; finally, in 1978, he married Mercia Tinker, his sixth and final wife. [28]
Jun 3, 1990 · With Harrison when he died early yesterday were his sixth wife, the former Mercia Tinker, and two sons by prior marriages, Noel and Carey Harrison.
Jun 3, 1990 · Sir Rex is survived by his sixth wife, Mercia Tinker, whom he married in 1978, and by his two sons.
