Richard Harris (actor)

Harris died of Hodgkin's disease in 2002, weeks after the second Harry Potter film was released. Movie reviewer Leonard Maltin said of him: "Droopy-eyed, dark, and suavely handsome, this extremely versatile actor was one of the most respected stage performers of his generation.". He gained a new generation of fans as Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. His body was flown back to Puerto Rico where he was given a state funeral attended by thousands. In his late career, he acted in the Oscar-winning films Unforgiven and Gladiator (in the latter as Marcus Aurelius). He died eight days later at the age of only 54. He was a member of the Knights of Malta, and was knighted by Denmark. On October 16, 1994, a few days before his last movie, Street Fighter, was finished, Juliá suffered a stroke in his New York City apartment and fell into a coma.

In 1971, he starred in the film, Man in the Wilderness. In 1993 he was diagnosed with cancer, but Juliá kept on acting, creating one of his most memorable roles as Brazilian rainforest activist Chico Mendez in The Burning Season (1994), for which he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. He recorded an album, including the 7-minute hit song "MacArthur Park" (which Harris mispronounced as "MacArthur's Park"); that song reached #2 on the United States Billboard magazine pop chart, while topping several charts in Europe, in the summer of 1968. In the popular two Addams Family movies, Juliá played Gomez Addams. He appeared as King Arthur in the film adaptation of Camelot (in which he was cast despite his limited singing range), and proceeded to appear on stage in that role for years. In Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), he played a passionate political prisoner, and in Romero (1989) he played the Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero. His first star turn was in the 1963 film This Sporting Life, as a bitter young coal miner who becomes an acclaimed rugby player. In 1983, he starred in a spectactularly disastrous made-for-TV adaptation of John Varley's short story Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.

For his role in Mutiny on the Bounty, despite being virtually unknown, he insisted on third billing, behind Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando. Although he never became a major film star, Juliá had notable dramatic and comic roles in a number of films and made-for-TV-movies. He made his film debut in 1958 in the film Alive and Kicking. In the early 1980s, Juliá was invited to join Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios company and appeared in One From the Heart (1982). In the 1950s he had a number of stage roles. The stage successes led to his film debut in The Organization (1971) starring opposite Sidney Poitier. After recovering from the disease he moved to London, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable courses and enrolled in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to learn acting. Juliá went on to enjoy great success on the musical stage, winning four Tony Awards for his roles in Two Gentlemen of Verona (1972), Where's Charley? (1975), as Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera (1977), and in the Fellini-inspired Nine (1982).

As a teenager he was a rugby player for Munster, but he had to give up his involvement in sports when he contracted tuberculosis. His Shakespearean roles included Edmund in King Lear in 1973 and the title role of Othello in 1979. He was born in Limerick, Ireland and was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College. In 1966, Juliá hooked up with theater impresario Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was a notorious playboy and drinker, part of a rowdy generation of talented British and Irish actors that included Albert Finney, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. He soon found work in off-Broadway theater. Some of his most notable movie appearances were in Camelot (1967), A Man Called Horse (1970) and, at the end of his career, the first two Harry Potter movies. Juliá moved to New York City in 1964 and began studying drama with Wynn Handman.

Richard Harris (October 1, 1930 - October 25, 2002) was an Irish actor. He first came to attention while performing in a nightclub by actor Orson Bean who encouraged him to come to the United States. 1991 - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Field. Juliá was born and grew up in San Juan. 1964 - Best Actor in a Leading Role - This Sporting Life. His career spanned stage and screen, and included dramatic, comic, and musical roles. Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 - October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor who lived and worked for many years in the United States.