THE OLD DOG

Hear the name Rex Harrison and you will surely picture an avuncular, patrician figure in a cardigan or top hat and tails, gently soothing a Cockney waif or some peculiar animal or other. Should your film knowledge predate the 1960s Victoriana of and you might envision a very British matinee idol, overcoming an Empire-conquering well of reserve to declare his passion to some lovely girl. Neither of these images, however, come close to the great actor’s true nature. In life, rather than on the screen or stage, he was a bounder and a cad, his undeniable charm and considerable talent barely disguising a misanthropic streak a mile wide. Married six times, with countless affairs and a number of scandals to be taken into consideration, he was vain, cruel and cold, and as unpopular among