Have you ever wondered how Harry Hamlin tolerates Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna? Me too but I think we might be about to find out. Harry was famous long before Rinna started finding rats in the kitchen. This man has a 50 year career in film and television behind him. One of my first memories as a youngster is the classic 1981 hit Clash of the Titans (starring another mother of his children, Urusla Andress). The special effects were high art, IYKYK.
After more film work Harry eventually moved on to an extremely successful stint on an NBC show called LA Law in 1986. It was heavily watched and there was a lot of heavy breathing over ‘ol Harry back in the day. I’m sure all of this makes you wonder how Harry got started in the entertainment industry and what resulted in a marriage to the biggest bully in Hollywood. Thankfully People has the scoop.
Picture it, California, 1971 – two days before college registration. Harry spent the night at a secret compound with treehouses at La Honda, a redwood forest south of San Francisco. It was the 70’s–why not? As Harry and a few friends languished around a warm campfire, they were suddenly approached by a Hells Angel on foot, in search of a wrench. In exchange for the use of such a handy tool, the biker went to his treehouse and retrieved a blue pill for each of his new friends. Disclaimer: please do not put any blue pills strangers give you in your mouth, even if they are a Hells Angel.
That blue pill must have been something pretty insane in the membrane because it knocked Harry the eff out. He said, “I began to see things in a different way and my curiosity was sort of turbo-charged.” But not a lot of curiosity for college registration, because he almost missed it. “By the time I got there, a guy said classes had filled up but if I hot-footed it over to the drama department, I might be able to satisfy my requirements. I ended up in Acting 101. I never got back to the architecture school,” he added. Can you imagine how pleased Harry’s parents were with this news?
Basically kids, don’t do drugs because you will be forced to change your career and wind up with Lisa Rinna. Thankfully Harry did attend U of C at Berkeley and he was even president of his fraternity in 1972. His accolades found him earning dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and psychology from Yale University in 1974. After enrolling in the American Conservatory Theater’s advanced performing training program, he graduated in 1976 with a Master of Fine Arts in acting. This must be how he learned to go to that special place in his mind when Rinna becomes particularly annoying.
Harry is no dummy, though some question a few of his more unsavory life choices. Rinna’s husband is not sitting around listening to her complain about Aspen. He has two new projects ready for release this year. A new AMC series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches and the film 80 for Brady, opening in February. When Harry is not busy being an actor, you can find him escaping holed up in a tent in Muskoka.
TELL US- HAVE YOU FOLLOWED HARRY HAMLIN’S CAREER? DO YOU THINK HARRY WILL SHOW UP ON RHOBH NEXT SEASON? DO YOU THINK OLDER MEN IN THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS GET BETTER ROLES THAN OLDER WOMEN IN THE SAME BUSINESS?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]
