Rex Harrison

Rex Harrison was born Reginald Carey Harrison in Huyton, Lancashire, England, to Edith Mary (Carey) and William Reginald Harrison, a cotton broker. He changed
his name to Rex as a young boy, knowing it was the Latin word for "King".
Starting out on his theater career at age 18, his first job at the
Liverpool Rep Theatre was nearly his last - dashing across the stage to
say his one line, made his entrance and promptly blew it. Fates were
kind, however, and soon he began landing roles in the West End. "French
Without Tears", a play by
Terence Rattigan, proved to be his
breakthrough role. Soon he was being called the "greatest actor of
light comedy in the world". Having divorced his first wife Collette
Thomas in 1942, he married German actress
Lilli Palmer. The two began appearing
together in many plays and British films. He attained international
fame when he portrayed the King in
Anna and the King of Siam (1946),
his first American film. After a sex scandal, in which actress
Carole Landis apparently committed suicide
because he ended their affair, the relationship with wife Lilli became
strained. Rex (by this time known as "Sexy Rexy" for his philandering
ways and magnetic charm) 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. During this time Rex was offered the defining role of
his career: Professor Henry Higgins in the original production of "My
Fair Lady". He won the Tony for the play and an Oscar for the film
version. In 1962 Harrison 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. He and Mercia
remained happily married until his death in 1990. She was also with him
in 1989 when he was granted his much-deserved and long awaited
knighthood at Buckingham Palace. Rex Harrison died of pancreatic cancer
three weeks after his last stage appearance, as Lord Porteous in
W. Somerset Maugham's "The Circle".