Biography
Sharp-featured, sharp-tongued British actress Kathleen Harrison was everyone's favorite Cockney, even though she was born in Lancashire. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kathleen made her stage bow in 1926 (nine years earlier, she had appeared fleetingly in a silent picture). Her first talkie was 1931's
Hobson's Choice; within only a few years, she was one of the best-loved actresses on the British screen. Her wide range encompassed suspense films (
The Ghoul [1933],
The Ghost Train [1941]), G. B. Shaw (
Major Barbara [1941],
Caesar and Cleopatra [1946]) and Dickens (
A Christmas Carol [1951],
The Pickwick Papers [1952]). In 1947, Harrison was costarred with
Jack Warner in
Holiday Camp; the actors played the heads of the Huggett family, a British equivalent to MGM's Hardy brood. This led to a popular series of
Huggett films, and other well-received teamings of Warner and Harrison. Active in films until 1979, Kathleen Harrison worked almost exclusively in England; her one American production,
Night Must Fall (1937), was based on a British stage success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide