Rex Harrison

No one could do better the particular thing British actor Rex Harrison (1908-1990) did: the quizzical, elegant, sexually predatory man-about-town. He is best known for his portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins in the classic musical My Fair Lady (1964).


East-German postcard by VEB Filmverleih Progress Starfoto, no. 2990. Photo: Warner Bros. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, no. 1428. Photo: Twentieth Century Pictures.


Vintage postcard. Image: poster artwork for Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963) with Rex Harrison, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Burton.


East-German postcard by VEB-Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2989. Retail price: 0,20 MDM. Photo: Warner Bros. Audrey Hepburn, Jeremy Brett and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964). Costumes: Cecil Beaton.

Dinner jackets

Reginald Carey Harrison was born in 1908 in Huyton, England, a granite-quarrying town six miles east of Liverpool. William Reginald Harrison, a cotton broker, and Edith Carey Harrison were his parents. As a young boy, he changed his name to Rex knowing it was the Latin word for King.

When he started his theatre career at age 18, he never had any acting lessons, but he soon landed roles in the West End. Brian McFarlane notes in the Encyclopedia of British Film that Harrison wore a lot of dinner jackets in 1930s British theatre. 'French Without Tears' (1937), a play by Terence Rattigan, proved to be his breakthrough role.

Noel Coward said, "Rex Harrison is the greatest interpreter of high comedy in the world ... next to Me". Rex was not considered for the 1940 film version of French Without Tears since he was unknown in Hollywood. His film debut was in The Great Game (Jack Raymond, 1930).

Other films he appeared in were Storm in a Teacup (Ian Dalrymple, Victor Saville, 1937) with Vivien Leigh, Sidewalks of London (Tim Whelan, 1938) with Charles Laughton, and The Citadel (King Vidor, 1938) starring Robert Donat. During the war, he starred in Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed, 1940) opposite Margaret Lockwood, Major Barbara (Gabriel Pascal, 1941) with Wendy Hiller, based on the novel by G.B. Shaw, and the fantastical comedy Blithe Spirit (David Lean, 1945) based on the play by Noel Coward.

Having divorced his first wife Collette Thomas in 1942, Harrison married German actress Lilli Palmer in 1943. They would appear together in many plays and films, including The Rake's Progress (Sidney Gilliat, 1945).


British postcard by Real Photograph, London, in the Picturegoer Series, no. 1207. Photo: Wainwright Prods.


Dutch postcard by HEMO. Photo: Eagle Lion.

Sexy Rexy

Rex Harrison attained international fame when he portrayed the King in Anna and the King of Siam (John Cromwell, 1946), his first American film. His next film, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1947), was another big hit. From then on he was more likely to be filming in Hollywood than Britain.

He became known in the press as 'Sexy Rexy' for his philandering ways and magnetic charm. After a sex scandal, in which starlet Carole Landis apparently committed suicide because he ended their affair, the relationship with wife Lilli became strained. The scandal also damaged his career and his contract with Fox was ended by mutual consent.

He began a relationship with British actress Kay Kendall and divorced Lilli to marry the terminally ill Kay with hopes of a re-marriage to Palmer upon Kay's death. The death of Kay affected Harrison greatly and Lilli never returned to him. On stage he alternated appearances in London and New York, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for his appearance as Henry VIII in 'Anne of the Thousand Days'.

He was best known for his portrayal of Henry Higgins, the sharp-tongued professor of phonetics in 'My Fair Lady', the musical by Frederick Loewe with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, based on George Bernard Shaw's play 'Pygmalion'. He was in the original production of 1956, won the Tony for the play in 1957 and an Oscar for the 1964 film version by George Cukor.

When he accepted his Academy Award for My Fair Lady, he dedicated it to his 'two fair ladies', Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews. Andrews had played cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway production but was passed over for the film version in favour of Hepburn.


Dutch postcard.


Dutch postcard by Rembrandt N.V., Amsterdam, no. 1301. Photo: Warner Bros. Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam, no. 1306. Photo: Warner Bros. Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).

The quizzical, elegant, sexually predatory man-about-town

No one could do better that particular thing Rex Harrison did: the quizzical, elegant, sexually predatory man-about-town. The film that enshrines the persona most vividly is The Rake's Progress (Sidney Gilliat, 1945), in which he plays the caddish philanderer who redeems himself in World War II. (Harrison had served in the RAF).

Although he excelled in comedy, he attracted favourable notices in dramatic roles such as his witty, cynical portrayal of Julius Caesar in Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963) starring Elizabeth Taylor. For his role, he was nominated for an Academy Award in 1963. Famous critic Bosley Crowther wrote in The New York Times: "Caesar is no fustian tyrant. Played stunningly by Rex Harrison, he is a statesman of manifest wisdom, shrewdness and magnanimity. And he is also a fascinating study of political ambiguities. Mr. Harrison's faceted performance is the best in the film."

Harrison received more acclaim for his part as Pope Julius II in The Agony and the Ecstasy (Carol Reed, 1965), opposite Charlton Heston as Michelangelo. He also appeared as an aging homosexual opposite Richard Burton as his lover in Staircase (Stanley Donen, 1969). Harrison retired from films after making The Fifth Musketeer (Ken Annakin, 1979) and A Time to Die (Matt Cimber, 1982), but he continued to act on stage and television.

In 1981 he returned to the role of Professor Higgins, to repeated standing ovations, in a 1981 Broadway revival of 'My Fair Lady', in which he was given total artistic control. He starred again on Broadway in a revival of Somerset Maugham's comedy 'The Circle' until three weeks before his death. At 82, Rex Harrison died of pancreatic cancer in 1990 at his home in Manhattan.

He was married six times. In 1962 he 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. They remained happily married until his death. She was also with him in 1989 when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. He was the father, with Lilli Palmer, of novelist/playwright Carey Harrison, and the father, with Collette Thomas, of actor/singer Noel Harrison. He had five grandchildren, including actress Cathryn Harrison. Harrison's autobiography, 'A Damned Serious Business: My Life in Comedy', was published posthumously in 1991.


American postcard in the Magic of the Movies Series by Mayfair Cards, no. FP 859. Lobby card: Warner Bros / Reel Poster Archive. Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


The original trailer for Blithe Spirit (1945). Source: Antiquaria (YouTube).


Rex Harrison asks the question 'Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?' in My Fair Lady (1964). Source: Bravo Divine (YouTube).

Sources: Brian McFarlane (Encyclopedia of British Film), Eric Pace (New York Times - page now defunct), Peacham (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 17 August 2024.

My Fair Lady (1964)

Today, EFSP starts two months of posts with European postcards with pictures of Hollywood film stars and/or films. Thursday is the day for the film specials, and our first film is special! 

My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964) is one of the all-time great film musicals, featuring classic songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and the wonderful costumes by Cecil Beaton. The film won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Rex Harrison in his legendary performance as misanthropic phonetics professor Henry Higgins. But Audrey Hepburn failed to be nominated for Best Actress. The Oscar was won by Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, in what many observers saw as a backlash against Andrews' not being cast in the film after originating the role of Eliza on stage.


Spanish postcard by Oscarcolor. Photo: Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


East-German postcard by VEB-Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2988. Retail price: 0,20 MDM. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964). Costume: Cecil Beaton.

The delusive dream of a man forming his own perfect woman

My Fair Lady was adapted by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe as a stage musical from the the 1913 brilliant stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw about the delusive dream of a man forming his own perfect woman.

In Edwardian London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society. Outside Covent Garden on a rainy evening in 1912, he boasts to a new acquaintance, Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself an expert in phonetics, that he could teach any person to speak in a way that he could pass them off as a duke or duchess at an embassy ball.

Higgins selects as an example a young flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who has a strong Cockney accent. Higgins tells Pickering that, within six months, he could transform Eliza into a proper lady, simply by teaching her proper English.

Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her thick accent makes her unsuitable. Having come from India to meet Higgins, Pickering is invited to stay with the professor. The following morning, face and hands freshly scrubbed, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, offering to pay him to teach her to be a lady. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all expenses, should the experiment be successful.

My Fair Lady became the longest-running Broadway musical with in the leads Rex Harrison as Henry and Julie Andrews as Eliza. With the same cast, the musical also became a huge success in London. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe made a great musical score. Most of their songs would become standards over the years that delighted audiences all over the world.

However, when Hollywood producer Jack Warner decided to make a film version of the hit musical, he felt that Andrews, at the time unknown beyond Broadway, wasn't bankable. He replaced her with Audrey Hepburn, a wonderful film actress but not a real singer. Hepburn's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who had dubbed Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961). Supporting roles went to Stanley Holloway (as Eliza's father, dustman Afred P. Doolittle), Gladys Cooper (Henry's mother Mrs. Higgins), Wilfrid Hyde-White (Colonel Pickering) and Jeremy Brett as the young playboy Freddy.


Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam, no. 1306. Photo: Warner Bros. Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 261. Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).

How could Eliza be played by anyone else than Julie Andrews?

With a production budget of $17 million, My Fair Lady became the most expensive film shot in the United States up to that time. George Cukor created an elegant, colourful adaptation of the beloved stage musical and Rex Harrison did another winning performance. But how did Audrey Hepburn? The move to choose her over Julie Andrews had puzzled many in the theatrical world. How could Eliza be played by anyone else than Andrews?

Hepburn played the unschooled street urchin with a sweet, naive charm. Eliza goes through many forms of speech training, such as speaking with marbles in her mouth, enduring Higgins' harsh approach to teaching and his treatment of her personally. She makes little progress, but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are about to give up, Eliza finally 'gets it'; she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper class accent. As the elegant and beautiful lady at the end of the film, Hepburn literally glows in the exquisite costumes designed for her by Cecil Beaton. She is a perfect match to Harrison's Higgins.

Ephraim Gadsby at IMDb: "The old furors over Audrey Hepburn seem silly in hindsight. Hepburn replaced Julie Andrews, a wonderful singer-actress who had created the role, not only on Broadway but in London. But Andrews was not a familiar face to movie-goers and no one knew if she'd hold an audience in the movies as in the live theaters. Too, Hepburn was an inspired choice, since her background probably would make Eliza Doolittle's transformation from flower-selling gutter-snipe into a lady of quality more believable (Hepburn's mother was a baroness)."

Richard Gilliam in his review at AllMovie: "Exquisitely produced by Warner Bros, it represents the zenith of the movie musical as an art form and as popular entertainment. Rex Harrison leads an impeccable cast, and, yes, that's Marni Nixon singing for Audrey Hepburn, but Hepburn is perfectly cast otherwise. The major star of the film is perhaps set designer/costume designer Cecil Beaton, whose visual contributions immediately impacted European and U.S. fashion trends."

In 1998, the American Film Institute named My Fair Lady (1964) the 91st greatest American film of all time. Critic Roger Ebert put the film on his 'Great Movies' list: "My Fair Lady is the best and most unlikely of musicals, during which I cannot decide if I am happier when the characters are talking or when they are singing. The songs are literate and beloved; some romantic, some comic, some nonsense, some surprisingly philosophical, every single one wonderful."


East-German postcard by VEB-Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2989. Retail price: 0,20 MDM. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964) with Audrey Hepburn, Jeremy Brett and Rex Harrison.


East-German postcard by VEB-Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3028. Retail price: 0,20 MDM. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).

Sources: Roger Ebert, Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Richard Gilliam (AllMovie), Ephraim Gadsby (IMDb), Dennis Littrell (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.