In 1987, when Richard Harris - the legendary star of This Sporting Life,
The Field and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - was interviewed
for the first time by Joe Jackson, they almost came to blows. Jackson
was determined to unearth deeper truths about the actor than he usually
disclosed during interviews. Harris had manipulated the media all his
life, largely to keep people from getting to really know him. However,
by the time that interview ended, they had become firm friends. It was
only then that Jackson told Harris, ' I want to show the public that
there is far more to you than your superficial image as a boozing,
brawling womaniser.' Harris loved this idea and two years later he asked
Jackson to write his biography. Richard Harris: Raising Hell and
Reaching for Heaven is that biography. But it is much more besides.
Based on a searingly honest series of interviews Jackson recorded with
Harris between 1987 and 2001, plus the author's journal entries and
extensive notes, this book is also a part-memoir that tells a highly
personal and moving back story about why it was inevitable that Jackson
and Harris would connect at the deepest possible level.
