Richard Harris 'recovering from cancer'

Richard Harris is "responding very well" to treatment for cancer.

The 72-year-old actor, who has been undergoing chemotherapy, is aiming to recover in time for the third movie in the Harry Potter series.

Harris has been receiving treatment for Hodgkin's disease at University College Hospital, London, after falling ill two months ago.

Harris has become known to a new generation of film fans after starring as Professor Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

He had just completed work on the second movie, Chamber of Secrets, before falling ill this summer.

Harris's agent, Sharon Thomas, said: "He is responding very well to treatment and will be out of hospital very soon."

The actor, who trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, built a reputation for his commanding presence on stage and screen. But he also became notorious for his off-screen antics with a legendary capacity for drinking.

The third movie based on JK Rowling's hugely successful children's books, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is due to start filming early next year.