---
name: "Lionel Harris"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lionel-harris"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "16 August 1922"
died: "11 April 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:23:11.248567+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Lionel Harris

Director. Born 16 August 1922. Died 11 April 1984.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 16 August 1922
- **Died:** 11 April 1984

## Biography

Lionel Harris (1922–1984) was a British television director, producer and actor. He began his career in the theatre after the Second World War, with seasons at the Bristol Old Vic and directing work including a production of *King Lear* in 1949. He moved into television in the early 1950s, directing live drama for the BBC before joining the newly formed ITV in 1955.

Harris directed numerous adaptations of West End plays for ITV anthology series such as *ITV Play of the Week* and *ITV Television Playhouse* in the 1950s and 1960s. He later worked mainly at the BBC, directing early Dennis Potter plays including *Where the Buffalo Roam* (1966), *A Message for Posterity* (1967) and *A Beast with Two Backs* (1968). His later credits include episodes of *The Gold Robbers* (1969), *Upstairs, Downstairs* (1973) and *Funny Man* (1981).

*Sources: imdb.com, forgottentelevisiondrama.wordpress.com, austlit.edu.au.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Upstairs, Downstairs* (1971), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/upstairs-downstairs.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/lionel-harris