Harry Schell was born in Paris in June 1921 to a French father, Laury Schell (who raced for Delahaye prior to the war) and his American wife Lucy O'Reilly Schell (who won the Coupe des Dames on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1929). Harry was brought up in France, where his father ran Ecurie Bleu until his death in a car accident when his mother took over the team, taking Rene Dreyfus to Indianapolis in 1940.

Harry went with the team and began competing himself, after the war, in Coopers, usually in 1 litre Formula 2. He made his Grand Prix debut at Monaco in 1950. He won at Mons on the 14th May and in the Monaco Formula 3 race of that year, he won his heat and finished second to Moss in the final and won again at Aix les Bains a week later. He won again at Grenoble in June  In the following years he raced in Formula 2 for HWM and Gordini, while enjoying a playboy lifestyle.

In the mid 50s he drove for Maserati and finished second in the Rome GP and third at Aintree. In 1956, Schell drove a Vanwall in the French Grand Prix at Reims, where he battled for the lead against the Lancia-Ferrari D50s.

In 1957 he drove a works Maserati, finishing third in the Pescara Grand Prix, and took second place in the 1958 Dutch Grand Prix in a BRM. He stayed with BRM through 1959 before switching to the Yeoman Credit team for 1960. Harry crashed during practice for the Silverstone International Trophy race and died.