Richard St John Harris (October 1, 1930 – October 25, 2002) was an Irish actor, singer, theatrical producer, film director and writer.
Harris appeared on stage and in many films, and is perhaps best known for his role as Frank Machin in This Sporting Life. He is also known for playing King Arthur in the 1967 film Camelot and the subsequent 1981 revival of the show.
He played an aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse (1970), a gunfighter in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven (1992), Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000), and Albus Dumbledore in both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Harris had a top ten hit in the UK and the US with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb’s song “MacArthur Park”.