Celebrated actor Richard St. John Harris (1930–2002) was born on this day in Limerick, Ireland, one of nine children. A serious bout with tuberculosis ended his dreams of becoming a professional rugby player, and he turned to the stage, graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Outspoken and driven, Harris once said, “There are too many prima donnas in this business and not enough action.” He earned international attention in 1963 for This Sporting Life, playing a working-class rugby player with raw intensity.

He brought regal gravitas to King Arthur in Camelot (1967) and embodied frontier transformation in A Man Called Horse (1970). Harris also sang, scoring a Top Ten hit in 1968 with the Jimmy Webb song “MacArthur Park.”

Later roles introduced him to a new generation: the emperor Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000) and the benevolent headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. “I feel most alive when I’m working on a film,” he said.

Richard Harris’s passion inspires us to live each day as a gift, alive with wonder and gratitude.