Editing Rex Harrison (section)

==Film career==
Harrison's film debut was in ''[[The Great Game (1930 film)|The Great Game]]'' (1930) and he had a bit part in ''[[The School for Scandal (1930 film)|The School for Scandal]]'' (1930). 

He had support roles in ''[[Get Your Man (1934 film)|Get Your Man]]'' (1934), ''[[Leave It to Blanche]]'' (1934), and ''[[All at Sea (1935 film)|All at Sea]]'' (1935), and a better part in ''[[Men Are Not Gods]]'' (1936) as a reporter in love with [[Miriam Hopkins]]; this was the first time Harrison worked for [[Alexander Korda]].
===Leading man===
Harrison's first starring role was in the romantic comedy ''[[Storm in a Teacup (film)|Storm in a Teacup]]'' (1937), opposite [[Vivien Leigh]], for Korda.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91492/storm-in-a-teacup#articles-reviews |title=Storm in a Teacup (1937) |author=Frank Miller |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |access-date=25 December 2011}}{{Verify source|date=December 2011}}</ref> He starred in ''[[School for Husbands]]'' (1937) then reteamed with Leigh in ''[[St. Martin's Lane (film)|St. Martin's Lane]]'' (1938).

Harrison had a key support role in ''[[The Citadel (1938 film)|The Citadel]]'' (1938) for [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] and starred in a comedy for Korda, ''[[Over the Moon (1939 film)|Over the Moon]]'' (1939) alongside Merle Oberon. He starred in some thrillers: ''[[The Silent Battle (1939 film)|The Silent Battle]]'' (1939), ''[[Ten Days in Paris]]'' (1940) and ''[[Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940), the latter directed by Carol Reed and co starring Margaret Lockwood.

Harrison played Adolphus in ''[[Major Barbara (film)|Major Barbara]]'' (1941)—filmed in London during [[The Blitz]] of 1940, a role for which he received critical acclaim, and a success at the British box office. He was then absent from screens due to war service (1942–1944).<ref name=":2" />

Harrison returned to films as the lead in ''[[Blithe Spirit (1945 film)|Blithe Spirit]]'' (1945), from the play by [[Noël Coward]], directed by David Lean. Coward described him as "The best light comedy actor in the world—except for me."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=J. Y.|title=Rex Harrison, 82, Dies; Star of 'My Fair Lady'|newspaper=The Washington Post|pages=c. 07|date=3 June 1990}}</ref> 

Harrison appeared opposite [[Anna Neagle]] in ''[[I Live in Grosvenor Square]]'' (1945) which was another big hit. Also popular was ''[[The Rake's Progress (film)|The Rake's Progress]]'' (1946), directed by [[Sidney Gilliat]].

===20th Century Fox===
Harrison received an offer from 20th Century Fox to star in ''[[Anna and the King of Siam (film)|Anna and the King of Siam]]'' (1946) in Hollywood. Harrison signed a long term contract with Fox.

''Anna'' was popular, as was ''[[The Ghost and Mrs. Muir]]'' (1947) with [[Gene Tierney]] and ''[[The Foxes of Harrow]]'' (1947) with [[Maureen O'Hara]]. ''[[Escape (1948 film)|Escape]]'' (1949) reunited Harrison with [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]] who had made ''Ghost and Mrs Muir''.
===Return to England===
Back in England, he appeared in ''[[The Long Dark Hall]]'' (1951) opposite his then wife Lilli Palmer. They co-starred in an adaptation of ''[[The Four Poster (1952 film)|The Four Poster]]'' (1952).

In Hollywood, he made his first action film, the medieval epic ''[[King Richard and the Crusaders]]'' (1954) playing Saladin.

In England, Harrison was in ''[[The Constant Husband]]'' (1955) for Sidney Gilliat and British Lion. It was a hit at the box office.

=== America ===
Harrison was offered top billing in MGM's ''[[The Reluctant Debutante (film)|The Reluctant Debutante]]'' (1958) alongside his wife Kay Kendall.

He co-starred opposite [[Doris Day]] in ''[[Midnight Lace]]'' (1960) and [[Rita Hayworth]] in ''[[The Happy Thieves]]'' (1961).
[[File:1963 Cleopatra trailer screenshot (34).jpg|thumb|Harrison as [[Julius Caesar]] in ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award]]

Harrison received an offer from [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]] to play Julius Caesar in the 20th Century Fox epic ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963).

In 1964 Harrison reprised his 1956 stage performance as Henry Higgins in ''[[My Fair Lady (1964 film)|My Fair Lady]]'', for which he won an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]].

He was one of several stars in the popular ''[[The Yellow Rolls-Royce]]'' (1964), and played the Pope opposite [[Charlton Heston]] in Fox's ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' (1965), for Carol Reed.

Harrison starred in 1967's ''[[Doctor Dolittle (1967 film)|Doctor Dolittle]]''. At the height of his box office fame after the success of ''My Fair Lady'', Harrison proved a temperamental force during production, demanding auditions for prospective composers after musical playwright [[Leslie Bricusse]] was contracted<ref>{{harv|Harris|2008|page=131}}</ref> and demanding to have his singing recorded live during shooting, only to agree to have it rerecorded in post-production.<ref>{{harv|Harrison|1975|p=155}}</ref> He also disrupted production by engaging in incidents with his then wife, [[Rachel Roberts (actress)|Rachel Roberts]], and through other deliberate misbehaviour, such as intentionally moving his yacht in front of cameras during shooting in St Lucia and refusing to move it out of sight, all prompted by contract disputes.<ref>{{harv|Harrison|1975|pp=242–243}}</ref> Harrison was at one point temporarily replaced by [[Christopher Plummer]], until he agreed to be more cooperative.<ref>{{harv|Harrison|1975|pp=133–134}}</ref> Harrison was not by any objective standards a singer and the ''talking on pitch'' style he used in ''My Fair Lady'' was adopted by many other classically trained actors with limited vocal ranges; the music was written to allow for long periods of [[recitative]], or "speaking to the music". Nevertheless "[[Talk to the Animals]]", which Harrison performed in ''Doctor Dolittle'', won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] in 1967.  In a rare coincidence the very next year his son [[Noel Harrison]] sang the song that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, "[[The Windmills of Your Mind]]."

Harrison reunited with Mankiewicz in ''[[The Honey Pot]]'' (1967), a modern adaptation of [[Ben Jonson]]'s play ''[[Volpone]]''. Two of his co-stars, [[Maggie Smith]] and [[Cliff Robertson]], were to become lifelong friends. Both spoke at his New York City memorial at the [[Little Church Around the Corner]] when he died in 1990. 

Harrison made two more films for 20th Century Fox, both expensive play adaptations that failed at the box office: ''[[A Flea in Her Ear (film)|A Flea in Her Ear]]'' (1968), and ''[[Staircase (film)|Staircase]]'' (1969).<ref>{{harv|Hadleigh|2001|p=91}}</ref>

===Later film career===
After a break from screen acting, Harrison appeared in ''The Prince and The Pauper'' (1977) and a [[Hindi]] film, ''[[Shalimar (1978 film)|Shalimar]]'', alongside Indian [[Bollywood]] stars [[Dharmendra]] and [[Zeenat Aman]]. He had small roles in ''[[Ashanti (1979 film)|Ashanti]]'' (1979), ''[[The Fifth Musketeer]]'' (1979) and ''[[A Time to Die (1982 film)|A Time to Die]]'' (shot 1979), his last film.