Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) the company the rights to the first four "Harry Potter" books for a reported £1 million (US$1,982,900). A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of Irish actors such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would
Richard Harris films: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002), the latter of which was his final film role. Harris had a number-one hit in Australia and Canada and a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland and United States with his 1968 recording of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park". Harris was born 1 October 1930, in Limerick: his siblings included Patrick Ivan (1929–2008), Noel William Michael (1932–1996), Diarmid (Dermot, 1939–1985), and William George Harris (1942–2007). His niece is actress Annabelle Wallis. He was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College: a