The famous actor Richard Harris had been receiving treatment for Hodgkin's Disease after being taken ill earlier this year but died last Friday in London's University College Hospital.

In a statement Harris' family said, "With great sadness, Damian, Jarid and Jamie Harris announced the death of their beloved father. He died peacefully at University College Hospital."

The Irish-born actor starred in "This Sporting Life" (1963), Cain in "The Bible" (1966), King Arthur in "Camelot" (1967), "A Man Called Horse" (1970) and Marcus Aurelius in "Gladiator" (2000). He'd become known to a new generation of film fans through his role as Professor Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).

Harris had enjoyed a rock n' roll lifestyle and was down-to-earth with his attitude to fame and was once quoted as saying, "I'm not interested in reputation or immortality or things like that, I genuinely don't care."

Source: Press Release