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Article: Rex Harrison, RIP. (obituary)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- June 25, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT WAS sheer, eloquent coincidence that just as Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest gorefest was hitting several thousand movie theaters, Rex Harrison was dying, as quietly as a falling leaf Like Greta Garbo, he belonged to an age when entertainment meant a kind of enchantment, when wit disclosed a higher part of ourselves, when even the double-entendre was used sparingly.
He couldn't sing, dance, chew scenery, or mash a grapefruit in a girl's face. Shakespeare (except for Much Ado about Nothing) and Tennessee Williams were beyond him. But he could speak a line so that you'd never forget it. He could chill with acerbic authority, then overwhelm with a boundless charm. ...