Editing Rex Harrison (section)

==Stage career==
[[File:Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool 2018-2.jpg|thumb|[[Liverpool Playhouse|Playhouse Theatre]], Liverpool where Harrison made his stage debut in 1924]]
Harrison first appeared on stage in 1924 in ''Thirty Minutes in a Street'' at the [[Liverpool Playhouse]], when he was 16 years old. He remained there, playing small parts, until 1927 when he joined a touring production of ''[[Charley's Aunt]].'' Six years of touring and repertory followed. He achieved critical acclaim for ''Heroes Don't Care'' in 1936. His [[West End theatre|West End]] debut in the same year was in [[Terence Rattigan]]'s ''[[French Without Tears]]'' which proved to be his breakthrough stage role as a leading light comedian.<ref name="ODNB" /> His acting career was interrupted by [[World War II]], during which he served in the [[Royal Air Force]] (1942–1944), reaching the rank of [[Flight Lieutenant]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Sir Rex Harrison Biography at |url=http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9329855 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090717002210/http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9329855 |archive-date=17 July 2009 |access-date=5 February 2014 |publisher=Biography.com}}</ref> 

[[File:Julie Andrews Rex Harrison My Fair Lady.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins alongside [[Julie Andrews]] as [[Eliza Doolittle]] in the musical ''My Fair Lady'']]
He alternated appearances in London and New York in such plays as ''[[Bell, Book and Candle (play)|Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1950), ''[[Venus Observed]]'', ''[[The Cocktail Party]]'', ''The Kingfisher'' and ''[[The Love of Four Colonels]]'', which he also directed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2208|title=The Love of Four Colonels|publisher=ibdb.com|access-date=1 October 2009}}</ref> He won his first [[Tony Award]] for his appearance at the [[Shubert Theatre (New York City)|Shubert Theatre]] as [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] in [[Maxwell Anderson]]'s play ''[[Anne of the Thousand Days]]'' and international superstardom (and a second Tony) for his portrayal of Henry Higgins in the 1956 stage musical ''[[My Fair Lady#Original Broadway production|My Fair Lady]]'', where he appeared opposite [[Julie Andrews]].

Later appearances included a 1984 appearance at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] with [[Claudette Colbert]] in [[Frederick Lonsdale]]'s ''[[Aren't We All?]]'', and one on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre presented by [[Douglas Urbanski]], at the Haymarket in [[J. M. Barrie]]'s ''[[The Admirable Crichton]]'' with [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]]. He returned as Henry Higgins in the revival of ''My Fair Lady'' directed by [[Patrick Garland]] in 1981.

Having retired from films after ''[[A Time to Die (1983 film)|A Time to Die]]'' in 1983, Harrison continued to act on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and the [[West End theatre|West End]] until the end of his life, despite suffering from [[glaucoma]], painful teeth, and a failing memory.<ref>{{harv|Wapshott|1991|page=327}}</ref> Later roles included [[Julius Caesar]] in ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'', and General Burgoyne in a Los Angeles production of ''[[The Devil's Disciple (play)|The Devil's Disciple]]''. He was nominated for a third [[Tony Award]] in 1984 for his performance as Captain Shotover in the revival of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Heartbreak House]]''. He followed with two successful pairings with [[Claudette Colbert]], ''The Kingfisher'' in 1985 and ''[[Aren't We All?]]'' in 1986. In 1989, he appeared with [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]] in ''[[The Admirable Crichton]]'' in London. In 1989/90, he appeared on Broadway in ''The Circle'' by [[W. Somerset Maugham]], opposite [[Glynis Johns]], [[Stewart Granger]], and [[Roma Downey]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |date=21 November 1989 |title=Review/Theater; Rex Harrison Back on Broadway |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/21/theater/review-theater-rex-harrison-back-on-broadway.html |access-date=12 May 2009}}</ref> The production opened at [[Duke University]] for a three-week run followed by performances in Baltimore and Boston before opening 14 November 1989 on Broadway.<ref>{{cite news |last=York |first=New |date=29 June 1989 |title=Coming Full 'Circle' |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/06/29/coming-full-circle-10/ |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Treadwell |first=David |date=15 December 1989 |title=Column One : Culture in the South Rises Again |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-15-mn-178-story.html |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref>