Dumbledore actor Richard Harris' son once found him face down in pound of coke like Scarface scene
Before he landed the role of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film franchise, Richard Harris was known for his wild partying lifestyle.
In his early Hollywood years, the Irish actor developed both a cocaine and alcohol addiction. which he spoke quite openly about over the years.
At one point, Harris's drinking habits were so intense that he was putting away two bottles of vodka and a mix of brand and port every evening.
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has even pointed to Harris as an inspiration behind his own drinking problems.
"Harry Potter put me around people like the actor Richard Harris and I heard all their amazing stories about their drunken nights," he told The Mirror in 2012. "That was what I was desperately trying to pursue."
But when medics warned Harris that he'd have 18 months to live if he didn't give it up, he decided to put down the bottle.
Similarly, he kicked his cocaine habit in the early 1980s after a near-fatal cocaine overdose.
Before he stopped for good, though, the actor had a serious problem with the white stuff, his family has said.
In the new Sky Arts documentary, The Ghost of Richard Harris, the legendary actor is being remembered for his life and career, with contributions from his three sons.
Richard was father to actors Jamie and Jared, and director Damien, who had a complicated relationship with their 'unpredictable' dad.
In the documentary, which airs on Saturday (19 November), youngest son Jamie recalls one of his dad's more shocking moments.
"I walked into his bedroom and it was like a scene from Scarface", he said.
"He’d dropped this pound of cocaine on the carpet and it had burst open and his face was just in the middle of it. He was unpredictable."
In another incident, Jared recalled a brawl his dad got into one day in Covent Garden, telling cameras: "Dad hits the guy with a sucker punch. He pretends to put his Guinness down and then leaps up and knocks the man out.
"The guy's out cold on the floor and his girlfriend's dancing around, saying 'You killed my boyfriend!'
"So Dad throws his Guinness in the guy's face and, when he starts to wake, realises, 'I'm not going to win round two, I have to run out of here quickly.'"
Elsewhere in the documentary, the actor's three sons will look through an archive of the Oscar nominee, including photos and letters documenting his exceptional career.
Before his Harry Potter years, Harris starred in films like This Sporting Life (1963), Camelot (1967) and The Field (1990).
He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in August 2002, and died in University College Hospital in Bloomsbury that October, famously joking 'it was the food!' before he passed.
Topics: Harry Potter, TV and Film
Ali Condon