Richard Harris

Richard Harris, who stars as Albus Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" movies, has been hospitalized in London after treatment for cancer, his agent said Tuesday. The veteran Irish actor fell ill in August after shooting the second film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," and went to a hospital with a severe chest infection, said his London agent, Sharon Thomas.

On AMC's "Mad Men" Sunday night, Jared Harris made his second exit from a television series this season. The first, a few weeks back, was from Fox's "Fringe,"where his David Robert Jones -- suddenly revealed to be not the brainy mastermind behind the show's collapsing universes but only a pawn (or a bishop, according to the script) in William Bell's (Leonard Nimoy) twisted game -- literally crumbled to dust on a Boston rooftop. His departure from "Mad Men" was not exactly a surprise, given his character's season-long struggle to get out from under a financial misjudgment and ethical blooper; certainly, from the time Don Draper required Lane Pryce's resignation for forging his signature on a check, his fate was all but a fait accompli.

In his 60 years on Earth, Richard Harris has been written off as a hopeless case more than once. An actor of unquestionable gifts, he's widely regarded as someone who squandered his career in riotous bouts of drinking and a slew of rotten movies. So when he announced plans to return to the stage in a serious drama after 26 years, bringing Pirandello's madman Henry IV to the West End after out-of-town tryouts, the gossip vultures gathered in waiting.

Hellraisers The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed Robert Sellers Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's: 304 pp., $25.99

One of life's oddities is how often a series of genuinely comedic incidents congeals into, if not tragedy, then tragic loss. Robert Sellers certainly has no intention of turning readers' thoughts in that moody direction, but "Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed" probably will, though there's a tremendous amount of unapologetic, unself-conscious fun to be had on the way to...

After a decade in retreat from the silver screen, Richard Harris campaigned for the part of stubborn Irish farmer Bull McCabe in the upcoming movie "The Field." Invited to discuss a lesser role in the film, Harris showed up with a beard to look like the McCabe character, dressed in costume and spoke with the proper accent. It worked. He got the lead role in the film by director Jim Sheridan, who made "My Left Foot."

LONDON -- Hell-raising Irishman Richard Harris, for years one of the wild men of British acting along with Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, died in a London hospital on Friday. He had been suffering from Hodgkin's disease. The 72-year-old Harris, who later developed a trademark shaggy white mane of hair, made his name with films like "Camelot," "This Sporting Life" and "A Man Called Horse" as he carved an unmistakable acting niche for himself.

Richard Harris, the irascible, craggy-faced, Irish-born actor perhaps best known as King Arthur in the 1967 film musical "Camelot" and more recently as the wise old wizard headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two "Harry Potter" films, died Friday in a London hospital. He was 72. Harris, who in earlier years forged an image as a hard-drinking hell-raiser in the style of fellow actors Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, died at University College of London Hospital.

That roguish charmer Richard Harris, who died Oct. 25 at age 72, had a life and career full of dramatic ups and downs but fortunately bowed out on a high note in "My Kingdom," Don Boyd's corrosive reworking of "King Lear" as a gangster picture set in contemporary Liverpool. Gaunt, silver-haired and leonine, he brings a tragic dimension and savage full-bodied wit and cunning to the aging Sandeman, whose underworld kingdom starts unraveling as a result of a flash of paranoid bravado on his part.

It seems apropos that Richard Harris' last starring role was as a contemporized King Lear in the film "My Kingdom," which opens Friday for a one-week Oscar-qualifying engagement. In the drama co-written and directed by Don Boyd, Harris plays Sandeman, a Liverpool mob boss whose life is shattered when his wife, Mandy (Lynn Redgrave), is killed in a mugging. He winds up losing his home, power, fortune and dignity when he gives his "kingdom" to his two eldest money-grubbing daughters.

One of life's oddities is how often a series of genuinely comedic incidents congeals into, if not tragedy, then tragic loss. Robert Sellers certainly has no intention of turning readers' thoughts in that moody direction, but "Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed" probably will, though there's a tremendous amount of unapologetic, unself-conscious fun to be had on the way to...

AS the embodiment of Harry Potter from the time of the first film's release in 2001, Daniel Radcliffe has grown up with his character and, as he approaches his 18th birthday, has signed on for the final two films. On the eve of the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Radcliffe reflects on his personal and professional growth as well as the darker nature of the later story lines. You were 11 when you took on the part of Harry Potter, having had just one small film role.

For the most part, My Favorite Weekend is a big snore. Could these celebrities possibly be more mundane in their taste? If one took all the references to chain restaurants and stores, one could reconstitute an entire mall. However, every so often you score. For instance, Belinda Carlisle's weekend had nothing cookie-cutter about it. And this week Michelle Lee saves us. Ranch 99, Rage and MacArthur Park too! Though it would have been nice if the opening paragraph had included some of the fabulous Asian movies she has been a part of. Her career is not beginning with "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Thanks for the page on Downtown Culver City ("Downtown Culver City Buzz," by Jessica Gelt, A Day In, Nov. 19), but how could you omit 1) the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which exemplifies the word "unique" and draws discerning people from around the globe, and 2) the apartment complex at 3819-25 Dunn Drive, which, to quote David Gebhard and Robert Winter, is "a Medieval fairy-tale world of Hansel and Gretel cottages in a witch-infested jungle with pools of water." Experiencing these places converts a trip to Culver City from being merely invigorating to being truly inspirational.

Some readers may vehemently disagree with Mike Males and his "Boomergeddon" conclusions ("The Boomer Buster," by Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Jan. 22). The suggestion of this 50-year-old? Simply attend any Southern California public education graduation ceremony and observe the behavior of the majority of "grown-up" boomers. If most of the older parents and younger grandparents show up to the ceremony in beachwear from the day before--and can't seem to control the urge to clap, whistle, yell, blow an air horn or simply talk their way through the whole thing until their kid walks to the platform--then it's game, set and match to Mr. Males!

I enjoyed reading about the restaurants in "Comfort and Joy" [Dec. 22] and have eaten in many of them. But how in the world could Charles Perry not have included Philippe the Original? It's a real Los Angeles institution with French dip sandwiches, delicious side dishes and scrumptious desserts. I frequently take out-of-town guests there, and they all have enjoyed it. The wine is good and reasonable, and coffee for 10 cents is always a surprise. BETTY A. KEEL Hawthorne Charles!

Richard Harris has been named sales manager of Lasercure Medical.

Hellraisers The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed Robert Sellers Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's: 304 pp., $25.99

Re "Sudoku ku-ku," Opinion, Oct. 2 Being a crossword puzzle fan, I was excited when the arrival of Sudoku was heralded with news stories recounting how it had made irrevocable addicts out of the entire populations of Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. When I lost interest almost immediately after trying to play the game for a few days, I felt as if there was clearly something lacking in my abilities. Now, thanks to Chris Harris, I know that it's not me, it's them! RICHARD HARRIS Los Angeles Oh, that's choice.

Can we call a moratorium on the word "hipster"? Its use has been escalating in The Times, reaching an apotheosis of sorts with S. Irene Virbila's review of the Lodge ("A High-Stakes Enterprise," Aug. 4), which contained the word, not once, not twice, but three times. This in a review of about 400 words. Years ago, "hipster" would have been taken as a compliment, but since its resurrection, it has been used ironically as a label for the terminally trendy. RICHARD HARRIS Los Angeles