Noel Harrison

Noel John Christopher Harrison (29 January 1934 – 19 October 2013) was an English actor and singer. In the 1950s, he was a member of the British Olympic skiing team. In 1968, Harrison had a top-10 hit in the UK Singles Chart with "The Windmills of Your Mind". He was the son of actor Rex Harrison.

Early life Harrison was born on 29 January 1934 in Kensington, London. His mother, Ethel Margery Noel Collette-Thomas, was the first of Rex Harrison's six wives; they divorced in 1942. Ethel and her cousin Richard Michael Collette Thomas (later a lieutenant-colonel killed in action in 1944, in France) were brought up together by their grandparents, Major John Cyril Collette-Thomas and Jessie Maud Scott-Brown, in Bude, North Cornwall. As a child, he attended Sunningdale School, where his father had also been a pupil. When he was 15, Ethel took young Noel out of school at Radley to live in the Swiss Alps.

Harrison never returned to school and began ski-racing. He joined the Ipswich repertory theatre group and taught himself guitar, but his main interest and most of his spare time was spent skiing. At an early age, he was a member of the British ski team, becoming its first giant-slalom champion in 1953, and representing Great Britain at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, and at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Harrison undertook National Service and, after leaving the army in the 1950s, toyed with the idea of becoming a journalist, but instead, concentrated on his guitar. His early break came when he took a regular part in the BBC Television programme Tonight, as part of a team who sang the day's news in a calypso style.

When Harrison was 20, he started playing professionally, around the tables in a Greek restaurant in London. He also made a living playing in bars and nightclubs all over Europe, including appearances at the Blue Angel nightclub in Mayfair, London, where one show was recorded for a live album.

Move to the United States After appearing in small roles in British films such as The Best of Enemies (1961), Hot Enough for June (1964) and Where the Spies Are (1965) Harrison left for the United States in 1965, working as a nightclub entertainer at such venues as the Hungry I in San Francisco, and at the Persian Room in New York City. Thanks to his managers Bob Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, who went on to produce the Rocky films, he had a record reach the charts. The track was "A Young Girl", written by Charles Aznavour. In the 1966–67 television season he appeared as Mark Slate in 29 episodes of the NBC series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. as the costar of Stefanie Powers (April Dancer). Despite the song winning the 1968 Oscar for best original song, Harrison did not sing it at the ceremony. Instead his place was taken by Jose Feliciano. The change was made because he was working on the film, Take A Girl Like You in England, with Oliver Reed and Hayley Mills. Coincidentally, his father had sung the Oscar-winning song ("Talk to the Animals") only the previous year (1967). He also toured with the Beach Boys, and Sonny and Cher, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, featured on a music program, Hullabaloo and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1968, Harrison played the male lead in The Fantasticks, in touring theatres in the round, including the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. In 1970, he played the male lead role in "Blithe Spirit" at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA and returned in 1983 for the lead male role in "The Housekeeper".

Move to Canada In 1972, Harrison left the United States for Nova Scotia, He subsequently built a new house from scratch with no electricity, inspired by the fashionable pioneers Helen and Scott Nearing and their self-help bible, Living the Good Life.

Touring shows During the 1970s, Harrison toured the United States in productions of Camelot and The Sound of Music. He also played Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, the part first performed by his father in the musical's original stage production and film version. Other touring roles included King Arthur in Camelot, Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Brian Runicles in No Sex Please, We're British and Lloyd Dallas in Noises Off.

Harrison died in hospital after suffering a heart attack at his Devon home, several hours after performing a concert locally on the evening of 19 October 2013.

Discography

Albums Noel Harrison at the Blue Angel (1960) Noel Harrison at UnMusic (1960) Noel Harrison (1966) Collage (1967) Santa Monica Pier (1968) The Great Electric Experiment Is Over (1969) Produced by Peter Pilalfian and arranged by Luiz Henrique Rosa The World of Noel Harrison (1969 — compilation) Mount Hanley Song (1979) Live From Boulevard Music (2002 — live album recorded in the United States) Adieu, Jacques (2002 — music from the show, sung in French) Hold Back Time (2003) Life Is a Dream (2003 compilation) From the Sublime to the Ridiculous (2010)

Singles Year Single Peak chartpositions Album UK CAN US 1965 "A Young Girl (Of Sixteen)" — 5 51 Noel Harrison 1967 "Suzanne" — — 56 Collage 1969 "The Windmills of Your Mind" 8 — — The Thomas Crown Affair (soundtrack) "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1961 The Best of Enemies Lt. Hilary 1964 Hot Enough for June Johnnie 1965 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders Second Mohock 1966 Where the Spies Are Jackson 1968 To Tell the Truth Himself 1970 Take a Girl Like You Julian Ormerod 1986 Power Leonard Thompson 1997 Déjà Vu John Stoner 1999 The Murder in China Basin George Guest (final film role)