The greatest film phenomenon in history has hit the silver screen. Harry Potter the English schoolboy wizard, learns his craft from, among others, one of our own celtic sorcerers.

BY DEARBHAIL MCDONALD

PAPA, I READ IN THE PAPER that you're not going to play Dumbledore. If you don't, I'll never speak to you again!" Thus was the ultimatum delivered to veteran Irish actor Richard Harris by his eleven-year-old granddaughter Emma as he toyed with the notion of committing to what is expected to be one of the biggest blockbuster movies of all time, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Not even celebrated hell raiser and reputed womanizer Dickie Harris could crawl out of this young lady's snare. "Well that's it," he replied. "I'll do it."

Due for release in November, Richard Harris is set to star alongside newcomer Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and John Cleese in the highly coveted first Harry Potter movie. Trailers of the movie prior to its release commanded standing ovations from young theatergoers, and over 500 million people worldwide are expected to flock to movie theaters to witness the re-creation of J.K. Rowlings' magical literary phenomenon on the big screen.

Born Richard St. John Harris in Limerick in 1930, Richard Harris has established a reputation, amongst other things, as one of the greatest actors of his generation and of our time. The 70 year old has held court over a renowned acting career and has starred in a remarkable seventy-two movies spanning four decades. Ironic then that the twice Oscar nominated, and much feted Harris never held a passion for acting, or the profession that he scaled "Acting is of no importance, and actors are no more important than taxi drivers - I don't take it seriously at all, I couldn't be bothered," maintains the colorful rugby enthusiast. In fact, if Richard Harris is passionate about anything, it is rugby the Munster variety at that. Professional rugby was Harris' first career choice. His dream as a young lad in Limerick was to play rugby for Ireland. He almost did.

At Crescent School in Limerick the young Harris excelled at rugby, and later joined the legendary Garryowen Club where he won a senior cup medal for Munster. Harris is still fascinated by the tribal warfare of Irish rugby, and one of his most treasured memories is when his alma mater, Crescent, clinched a groundbreaking victory over archrivals Blackrock College, one of Dublin's leading rugby schools.

Harris' dreams of an Ireland debut were thwarted after he contracted a bout of tuberculosis, which eventually sounded the death knell for his sporting ambitions. Harris insists that he would, today, trade all the glory of his acting career, "just to play one game, just to play one hour for Ireland." Approaching 71 years of age, the prospect is unlikely, but this is Richard Harris we are talking about, and you can't rule out the possibility.

After leaving school, Harris went to work in the Mount Kenneth flourmill that his family had successfully operated for generations. At the age of twenty-three, and with twenty one pounds in his pocket, Richard Harris left Limerick and went amongst a nation of strangers to become an actor in London. Harris had fostered a pipe dream of becoming an actor, his desire to act inflamed partly by his brief association with local college players in Limerick. But he insists that rugby aside, he never really had a passion, and if he did, it eer tainly wasn't acting.

Not entirely knowing what direction his life was to take, Harris trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and experienced first hand the prejudice doled out to young Irishmen in post-war Britain. At the academy he was told that unless he lost his Irish accent, he would never go anywhere. Harris never lost his Irish accent, and his advisors have been proven profoundly wrong.

What drew Richard Harris towards theater was a belief that he was gifted, and acting seemed easy enough. His views have not changed; no one can deny his talent, and Harris remains highly critical of the way in which the film industry has degenerated, in his eyes at least, into a farce. "There's a tendency nowadays for actors to believe that they are terribly important, that their craft is entirely difficult, acting is simple. They have created an elitism, which I find nauseating; the whole business now is so degrading. Actors are killing the business, I hate it and I don't entertain it at all."

Even as an aspiring actor, Harris neither harbored dreams of being the next Olivier nor anticipate the level of success that he has subsequently enjoyed throughout his career. This is because when Harris and other Irish actors of his generation emerged on the London theater scene, commercial success was the farthest thing from their young minds. "I came out of a generation where there was no hope," explained Harris, referring to the Second World War, which he and others had been acutely aware of as youths in Ireland. Harris had also suffered the early tragic death of his sister and later the deaths of both parents. "I was conscious and very aware of the war, and we were always aware of death."

Many of Harris' contemporaries, including Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney, had shared similar experiences. "We were made aware that life could change in an instant. It could be war again tomorrow and we were aware that longevity was pretty thin, that we could be the young boys in the trenches. And so, the only commitment we made was to ourselves. Today's young actors want to be the greatest, but we just wanted to survive and enjoy our lives."

In fact, Harris' ambitions in his early twenties were rooted very much in the very simple, old-fashioned Irish notion of getting married and having children, and most importantly, being able to provide for them. "I'm basically very Irish, that was the one obligation I sought and the one obligation I have maintained."

After serving an apprenticeship at The Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in London, Harris' initial roles were confined to the stage, but he soon broke into film with a number of early performances alongside eminent screen actors including, James Cagney (Shake Hands With the Devil 1959), Gary Cooper (The Wreck of Mary Deare 1959) and Robert Mitchum (Night Fighters 1960).

For most of his early acting career, Harris gained notoriety as documented that in my own rather wild life, I have survived vodka, dangerous women and disease!" Harris also managed to survive his first marriage to Elizabeth Rees, with whom he would have three sons, Damian, Jared and Jamie. Harris' justification for his highly documented mischief was the 'war syndrome'; he was always aware life wasn't going to last, so any trouble he found himself in was warranted.

Indeed, his only regret is that his ageing body is defying his youthful mind. If he still had the stamina, he would still be up to his old tricks!

Harris spectacular lifestyle off-screen ensured that he was constantly maintained in the headlines, and his infamy was suitably matched by his stunning success on screen during the sixties. In 1963, Harris secured an Oscar nomination playing star rugby player Frank Machin in Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life. Harris also offered magnificent performances in the epic The Guns of Navarone, and stole the thunder from Marlon Brando as seaman John Mills in Mutiny On The Bounty.

Harris continued to scale the ladder of success with his screen portrayal of King Arthur in the musical Camelot. Harriswho now owns the rights to Camelot, was simultaneously exposed as an accomplished singer as well as an actor, and embraced the world of music when he released a string of singles from the Camelot soundtrack The unintended success of the soundtrack made Harris one of the biggest actor/musicians of the late 1960's, and for a time Harris became Ireland's answer to Frank Sinatra.

Richard Harris was fortunate to have been cast suitable roles in his professional life, but laments that he was woefully miscast, twice, as a husband in his private life. He accepts 100% liability in the failure of his two marriages, the latter to actress Ann Turkel. Absolved from all marital sin by his total admission of guilt in the process, Harris now enjoys amicable and rewarding friendships with both of his once leading ladies.

Post-Camelot, Harris enjoyed continued success in a number of roles, with the glaring exception of Tarzan, The Ape Man in 1981, when Harris played Bo Dereks father in what Harris refers to as a 'disastrous' movie. He replaced an infirm Richard Burton on a U.S. tour of Camelot and on Broadway, but it wasn't until 1990 that Harris re-emerged as the major screen star he had become in his younger days.

Richard Harris has carved out a distinctive career without playing the Hollywood game, and doesn't rely on commercial pictures to maintain his career. But not even Harris himself could resist the temptation to play the Bull McCabe in the screen version of Keane's The Field. The role of the Bull won Harris his second Oscar Nomination for Best Actor in 1990. Although he had not even been considered for the role, Harris had to resort to some covert tactics before convincing Sheridan to give him the role; The Field nonetheless put Harris back in the big picture. Acclaimed performances in Patriot Games, Clint Eastwood's Unfougiven and Trojan Eddie followed suit, and by the turn of the millennium, Harris was entering his prime once again with featured roles in blockbusters such as Gladiator and most recently, Havry Potter and the Sorcerev's Stone.

Success does not belong to Richard Harris alone. Harris Sr. is the patriarch of one of the most prolific dramatic families. Harris' son Damian is a renowned director, and his son Jared has established himself as an accomplished actor, most notably for his fascinating portrayal in 1996 of pop artist Andy Warhol in I Shot Andy Warhol. Harris' third son, Jamie, has also been highly successful as an actor winning a National Theatre Guild Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and later as Best Actor.

A third generation has also emerged; Richard's granddaughter Emma features alongside him in the Potter movie as one of Harry's play friends. Although he doesn't usually attend premieres, Harris has broken the habit of a lifetime by accompanying his persuasive grandchild to the Potter premiere. He probably had little choice about that decision also.

Contrary to his bawdy notoriety in his hey-day, Richard Harris now leads a more temperate life, one that is marked by his desire to be left alone. Although acting is his profession, he remains distinctly apart from the industry. He despises the elitism of the industry. If you star in a movie with Harris, don't expect him to call you and don't call him, you'll probably never see each other again! That's the way Harris prefers to go about his business. A professional in the extreme, Richard Harris is confident that when he does a picture, nobody works as hard as he does. He commands and expects one hundred percent and is extremely dedicated. But once a project is over, it is over. Period. After that, Harris doesn't take acting seriously: "I have lived my own life, played my own part, at my own pace, with the people that I love. And that's it." Although Harris adores returning home to his native Limerick and to the village of Kilkee, Co. Glare, Harris could never return to Ireland to live permanently. Harris feels that he couldn't live the type of reclusive life that he has become accustomed to. By consent with old friend Peter O'Toole, he vowed not to return to Ireland a number of years ago because he would have almost certainly died - the pair are renowned for inspiring each other's mischief.

Richard Harris is an intensely private man, who spends most of his time alone. He rarely goes out, not enjoying to do so unless he is in the company of his family. It is a life well lived, in his own distinctive way. His family remains his one obligation in life, and in this way, he has fulfilled the ambitions of the 23-yearold Harris arriving in London some 50 years ago. A transient character, Harris rarely settles, choosing to reside in a number of locations, including New York, London, and the Bahamas. One of the reasons why he initially refused the Potter role was owing to the nature of the long-term commitment and sequels.

Harris was genuinely bewildered by the speculation surrounding his alleged revival or 'comeback.' "This is an amazing phenomenon. What revival! I never disappeared. I never stopped. From what place was I revived!" With four blockbusters lined up for this year alone, and many more in the future, people are going to be talking about Richard Harris for a long time to come.