Vale Richard Harris

I've just heard on the news that Richard Harris has died. He was in a London hospital being treated for Hodkins Disease.

RIP.

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I don't mean to be callous, but I'm surprised his imminent mortality wasn't taken into consideration when he was cast in Harry Potter. My first thought when I saw him as Dumbledore was, 'What if he dies before they've finished the seven films?'

Do you suppose they're going to do an Oliver Reed-'Gladiator' trick for Prisoner of Azkhaban, which must be in production by now?

Do you think they're going to try to borrow Ian McKellan from Lord of the Rings as a replacement?

My vote for Dubledore (as it has been since the beginning) would be Richard Attenborough, however.

OK. I'm going to go say a few Hail Marys for my evil thoughts then watch Camelot...

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>
> Richard Harris has died.



....And we'll never have that recipe again.....oh no....

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How tasteless.

:-)

Simon Holt wrote:
>
> How tasteless.
>
> :-)





Well, what do you expect? After all....someone left his cake out in the rain...

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And that recipe is,in fact,very tasty if it is cooked with proper care and attention.
But it would be very foolish of anyone to go to all that trouble to bake what is a difficult cake only to leave it to the mercy of the elements.

I suggest after it has been cooked then one should leave it to cool on the draining board or a nearby shelf but definately not outside where-apart from the odd shower-birds and insects could get at it.

Bon Appetit!

....and that's definitely the last phrase from "MacArthur Park" I'll quote in this context.

I thought I was expressing the right amount of subtle wit and reverence when I marked the passing of Richard Harris with a paraphrase from his famous song, "...and we'll never have that recipe again".
We won't. He was a talent unto himself. RIP.


I didn't intend to be tasteless, although I think Simon's wry comment on taste probably referred to the song itself, which was not to everyone's taste (especially with all the sweet green icing flowing down...)

I personally quite like the song, with it's weird structure, and the symbolic lyrics...although I'm buggered if I faintly understand it.


But now that the reverent tone of this thread has been completely destroyed, perhaps I'll point it back to somewhere near where Amanda left off... Richard Harris also had the 'Gladiator' connection, like Oliver Reed - do you think Derek Jacobi will be next...?




Cheers,
Craig




PS: MacArthur Park lyrics :
www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?sid=%3E58%7F%E6%80%F6%F4

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Isn't the urban legend connected to that song to do with a bet between songwriters to write a song which meant absolutely nothing at all and have it go to number one on the charts? This was leaked many years after countless music fans, academics, tv personalities, and know-it-alls analysed the song backwards and forwards, without ever being able to agree.

Oh, and Toby met Jacobi earlier this year when he was here - and says he was fighting fit! Doubt he'll go for many years. He mentioned that he still had his 'Lear' to do yet!

Cheers

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGHHH!! Don't even think that, you bastard!

I've seen Derek J live three times now and I want to see him a few more times, thank you very much.

Anyway, he's only 64 and doesn't appear alcohol sodden. Close up, he looks pretty damn good for 64.



Thou roguish fen-sucked giglet! And then some!

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The version I have (which is very similar) is that the song was a product of a bet between the wonderful Mr Harris and a music producer friend. Mr Producer said that he could take any song no matter how ridiculous, with any singer, no matter how untalented and make it a hit. Mr Harris took the bet, penned the lyrics over several bottles of scotch and, despite what he maintained was a truely terrible singing voice, sung it himself.

Needless to say, Mr Producer won the bet.

I think the real truth of the story has faded into uban mythology now.....

AAaaagh ! Now I can't get those lyrics out of my head! (Hmmm...nothing's changed much in 35 years, has it Kylie?)



MacArthur Park was written (music AND lyrics) by Jimmy Webb.

Originally sung by Richard Harris, it charted at number 2 in 1968.
(Donna Summer scored a number 1 with a disco version in 1978).


I don't think there should be so much surprise about the song's success....not particularly because its merits are so good, but rather that it's competition is so bad...think about the thousands of successfully charting songs both before and since that have had even more banal lyrics and more hopeless singers.

If the 'someone took a bet with the producer' story is true, it was a really poor bet. History has shown that weird lyrics and dubious voices have never really been a hindrance to popsongs, and have often in fact helped them succeed.


Richard Harris' plaintive wavering voice struck a note of truth that sold the song's cryptic poetry of a love lost forever. If the lyrics made narrative sense, they probably would have been quickly forgotten.

Perhaps an example of how an accomplished actor can carry off a song well, whereas an accomplished singer is not necessarily able to act...?



Cheers,
Craig

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Pamela Smith wrote:

> I've seen Derek J live three times now ...


Wow! If he's lived that many lives already, he must have a few more up his sleeve...! My apologies.


I hope he continues his illustrious career and lives to rival 'the old men playing checkers by the trees'. (Sorry, couldn't resist yet another McPark reference!)


Cheers,
Craig

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crgwllms wrote:
>
> Pamela Smith wrote:
>
> > I've seen Derek J live three times now ...
>
>
> Wow! If he's lived that many lives already, he must have a
> few more up his sleeve...! My apologies.

I've seen him 'dead' a few times, mind you. Hamlet (both as Hambo and Claudie), Dead Again, Huncback of Notre Dame, Breaking the Code....

>
>
> I hope he continues his illustrious career and lives to rival
> 'the old men playing checkers by the trees'. (Sorry,
> couldn't resist yet another McPark reference!)

Try. Please.



Thou pox-marked tickle-brained hugger-mugger!

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Back on 27 October Amanda Chesterton (that's me, you see) wrote:

> Do you think they're going to try to borrow Ian McKellan from
> Lord of the Rings as a replacement [for Richard Harris as Professor
> Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies]?

...and the winner is Ian McKellan. Do you think I can use this website as evidence in my case for claiming a cut of the casting director's fee?

The ITA website: the place to find out all the Hollywood goss before it even happens.

I keep myself amused, anyway...

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Now it's being reported that Ian McKellen wasn't in the running but a "source close to the production" has claimed that another English actor, Michael Gambon, has been asked to do the role.