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Noel Harrison
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Noel Harrison was an English actor and singer, born on 29 January 1934 in Kensington, London, and died on 19 October 2013. He was the son of the actor Rex Harrison. In the 1950s he was in the British Olympic ski team. In 1953 he became the first British giant slalom champion and took part in the Winter Games of 1952 in Oslo and of 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo. He taught himself the guitar. His first breakthrough came through the BBC programme Tonight, in which he sang the news of the day in calypso style with a small group. At twenty he was already playing professionally, between the tables in a Greek restaurant in London, and then in bars and nightclubs all across Europe.
Music and breakthrough
In 1965 he left for the United States, where he performed in nightclubs and had a role in the television series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. His 1966 debut album Noel Harrison contained A Young Girl, written by Charles Aznavour. In 1968 he had a hit in the British top ten with The Windmills of Your Mind, the theme song of the film The Thomas Crown Affair, which that year won an Oscar for best film song. At the ceremony it was not he who sang, but Jose Feliciano. For Reprise he recorded, among others, Santa Monica Pier and The Great Electric Experiment Is Over. Later he appeared in touring stage productions, including Camelot, The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady, and made a one-man show about Jacques Brel, Adieu, Jacques, with an album in 2002.
Influence
Harrison stands for the singers of the 1960s who brought songs from the world of film to the charts. His life lay at the crossroads of sport, theatre and pop.
Listening
The Windmills of Your Mind · Noel Harrison, 1968