Noel Harrison

Noel Harrison is known best in music circles for scoring a hit in 1969 with "Windmills of Your Mind," a song written by Michel Legrand. The haunting single had received a boost when it was featured prominently in the Steve McQueen film The Thomas Crown Affair one year earlier, and thanks to the exposure, the single hit number eight on the charts in Britain. Harrison began his mainstream recording career in 1966 with a self-titled LP for Decca, but he had previously been in the public eye, both for being the son of actor Rex Harrison (most famous for his role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady) and for his own role on television as Mark Slate in The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (a spin-off of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.). Harrison continued recording until 1970, releasing several LPs for Reprise before eventually leaving Hollywood to make his home in Nova Scotia. There he hosted a television program called Take Time, which featured various songwriters, and also continued to sing. After ten years he returned to Los Angeles, where he continued to compose songs and occasionally act. He added screenwriting to his list of credits and scripted several soft porn movies. In addition to acting and singing, Harrison is also a director and author. His father played opposite the singer's mother, Collette Thomas. The younger Harrison also took on the Higgins role, and has appeared in Camelot, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. ~ Linda Seida, All Music Guide