After winning a Tony Award for his role as Henry Higgins on Broadway opposite Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison followed up with a Best Actor Oscar for the 1964 film version with Audrey Hepburn. He may have played a charming gentleman on the big screen but in real life his leading ladies Eliza Doolittle suffered from his terrible behaviour. This included refusing to sing one of Andrews’ most famous musical lines during the stage show when he tried to fire her.
Despite winning a Tony Award and an Oscar Higgins, the Broadway role didn’t come to Harrison until Noel Coward, Michael Redgrave, and George Sanders turned down the role. In fact, by his own admission, he wasn’t the best singer, and Cary Grant, Peter O’Toole, Rock Hudson, and Laurence Olivier were approached for the movie version before he was. Regardless, the star of My Fair Lady was completely and utterly convinced that both versions of the musical were about him.
Andre Previn, the musical arranger for the 1964 film later said of the leading man: “He felt that any fuss about Audrey or Julie was pointless, because no one was interested in the girl. They were only interested in him… It was Rex Harrison, who He gave one of the most transcendental performances ever, and – and I don’t say this lightly – the most terrifying human being I’ve ever worked with. He was charming, funny, and a great gentleman, but Jesus Christ what he did to people. Rex didn’t like Audrey very much. He was mean to her, not to her. This was more than his style.”
When Hepburn was cast, she faced backlash with many fans saying the part should have gone to Andrews after her acclaimed role in the theatrical version.
Although Harrison was sympathetic in public, he kept talking about how Marnie Nixon dubbed the co-singing voice on My Fair Lady. He also repeatedly talked about her lack of entitlement to her huge salary and made it look like Hepburn “snatched” the part from Andrews.
The Higgins star was furious behind the scenes because he was only paid $250,000 ($2.4 million today) compared to Hepburn’s $1 million (about $10 million). He warmed to her later on set, but only because she was suffering from all the bad press around her title, which allowed him to overwhelm the production.
By comparison, Andrews had more fights while running with him on Broadway in 1956 and the West End two years later.
Read more: ‘My Fair Lady snub’ led Julie Andrews to the actress’ first Oscar
Andrews reportedly used profanity in summarizing her time with Harrison in the musical. He once walked off the stage after a show shouting, “If that slave is still here on Monday, I’m quitting the show!”
In fact, their feud got so bad that Higgins’ star refused to sing the famous catchphrase “I got used to her face” during the play’s run.
Andrews and Hepburn weren’t the only ones to have terrible experiences with Harrison, as Patrick Macnee said, “He was one of the five most unhappy men I’ve ever met.” Charlton Heston described him as “prickly” and Roddy McDowell said: “He was emotionally unstable, like a wild child. You always had to approach him with a firehose. He was an impeccable actor but basically hysterical – and with no regard for the conscience of his fellow actors.”
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