Claim: This Sporting Life was Richard Harris's first starring role.

This Sporting Life is a 1963 British feature film based on the 1960 novel of the same name by David Storey , which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award . It recounts the story of a rugby league footballer , Frank Machin , in Wakefield , a mining area of Yorkshire , whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting life . Storey , a former professional rugby league footballer , also wrote the screenplay .   The film stars Richard Harris , Rachel Roberts , William Hartnell and Alan Badel . It was directed by Lindsay Anderson . The film was Richard Harris 's first starring role , and won him a Best Actor Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival . He was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role . Rachel Roberts won her second BAFTA award for This Sporting Life and an Oscar nomination for best actress . Harris was nominated for the BAFTA that year as well . The film opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London 's West End on 7 February 1963 .