Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

s for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wishes of her mother, who wanted her to be a society debutante. Harris was acclaimed for her performance as an isolated 12-year-old girl in the 1950 play ''

The Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Marga ...

'', a role she reprised in the 1952 film of the same name, for which she was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

. In 1951, her range was demonstrated as Sally Bowles in the original production of ''

I Am a Camera ''I Am a Camera'' is a 1951 Broadway play by John Van Druten adapted from Christopher Isherwood's 1939 novel '' Goodbye to Berlin'', which is part of ''The Berlin Stories''. The title is a quotation taken from the novel's first page: "I am a ca ...

'', for which she won her first Tony award. She subsequently appeared in the 1955 film version. Harris gave acclaimed performances in films including '' The Haunting'' (1963), and '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), in which she played opposite

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

. In addition to her Tony award for ''I Am a Camera'' (1951), she won Tonys for '' The Lark'' (1956), '' Forty Carats'' (1969), '' The Last of Mrs. Lincoln'' (1973), and '' The Belle of Amherst'' (1977). She was also a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner and a three time

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winner. Harris was inducted into the

American Theatre Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

in 1979, received the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons ...

in 1994, and the 2002 Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.

Early life and education

Julia Ann Harris was born in

Grosse Pointe, Michigan Grosse Pointe is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,421. Grosse Pointe is an eastern suburb of Metro Detroit along Lake St. Clair. It is located along East Jefferson ...

, the daughter of Elsie L. (née Smith), a nurse, and William Pickett Harris, an investment banker and authority on zoology. She had an older brother, William, and a younger brother, Richard. She graduated from Grosse Pointe Country Day School, which later merged with two others to form the University Liggett School. In New York City, she attended The Hewitt School. As a teenager, she also trained at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp in Colorado with

Charlotte Perry Charlotte Louise Perry (December 21, 1889 – October 28, 1983) was an American educator. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004. The daughter of Samuel Perry and Louise Manson, she was born in Denver, Colorado. From a ...

, a mentor who encouraged Harris to apply to the Yale School of Drama, which she soon attended for a year. In 2007, Yale bestowed an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree upon Harris. As a founding member of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, Harris studied method acting, which emphasized psychology and emotions, and was able to successfully employ its techniques, although it was strongly associated with male actors.

Career

Stage roles

In 1952, Harris won her first Best Actress Tony Award for originating the role of insouciant Sally Bowles in ''

'', the stage version of

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include ''Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

's ''

Goodbye to Berlin ''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Ado ...

'' (later adapted as the Broadway musical ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

'' (1966) and as the 1972

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

, with

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

as Sally). Harris repeated her stage role in the film version of ''

'' (1955). Of particular note is her Tony-winning performance in '' The Belle of Amherst'', a one-woman play (written by

William Luce William Aubert Luce (October 16, 1931 – December 9, 2019) was an American writer, primarily for the stage and television.Barnes, Mik"William Luce, 'Belle of Amherst' and 'Barrymore' Playwright, Dies at 88"''The Hollywood Reporter'' December 9, ...

and directed by Charles Nelson Reilly) based on the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson. She received a

for Best Spoken Word Recording for the audio recording of the play. She first performed the play in 1976 and subsequently appeared in other solo shows, including Luce's ''Brontë''. Other Broadway credits include '' The Playboy of the Western World'', ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', ''

'', '' A Shot in the Dark'', ''

Skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

'', '' And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little'', '' Forty Carats'', '' The Glass Menagerie'', ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'', '' The Gin Game'', and a North American tour in 1992 of '' Lettice and Lovage'' in the lead part originated by

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...

on Broadway. In 1983, Harris became a company member of The Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company. She became a mentor to the company, having urged Founding Artistic Director Sabra Jones to create the company from 1976 forward, when Jones married John Strasberg. Harris and Jones met at a performance of ''The Belle of Amherst'', a revival of which The Mirror Theater Ltd recently performed in their summer home in Vermont. Julie Harris - 1963

Harris ties with

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

with five Tony Award wins (

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...

has since passed them both, with six wins). However, she holds the record (alongside

Chita Rivera Chita Rivera (born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson; January 23, 1933), is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in ''West Side Story'', Velma Kelly in ''Chic ...

) for the most individual

nominations, with 10. In 1966, Harris won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

Film roles

Harris's screen debut was in 1952, repeating her Broadway success as the lonely teenaged girl Frankie in Carson McCullers's ''

'', for which she was nominated for the

Director

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

cast her in '' East of Eden'' (1955) opposite

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, '' Rebel Without a Caus ...

in his first major screen role. She played the ethereal Eleanor Lance in '' The Haunting'' (1963), director Robert Wise's screen adaptation of a novel by

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two m ...

. Another cast member recalled Harris refusing to socialize with the other actors while not on set, later explaining that she had done so as a method of emphasizing the alienation from the other characters experienced by her character in the film. Other notable films Harris appeared in during the 1960s include ''

Requiem for a Heavyweight "Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...

'' (1962), ''

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada *Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Illi ...

'' (with

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

) (1966), and '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967). Another noteworthy film appearance was the World War II drama '' The Hiding Place'' (1975).

Television roles

Harris was nominated for 11

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for her television work, winning three. She starred as Nora Helmer opposite Christopher Plummer in ''

'' (1959), a 90-minute television adaptation of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's play. She made more appearances in leading roles on the Hallmark program than any other actress, also appearing in two different adaptations of the play '' Little Moon of Alban'', her performance in the 1958 TV movie of the same name earning her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. Her second Emmy win came for her role as

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in the 1961 ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in ...

'' production of

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...

's '' Victoria Regina''. She received further Emmy nominations for a range of roles including ''Anastasia'' (1967), '' The Last of Mrs. Lincoln'' (1976)—where she reprised her Tony-winning role as

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...

from the 1973 play of the same name—and '' The Woman He Loved'' (1988). She won her third Emmy award in 2000 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for her voice role of Susan B. Anthony in ''

Not for Ourselves Alone ''Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony'' is a 1999 documentary by Ken Burns produced for National Public Radio and WETA. The documentary explores the movement for women's suffrage in the United States ...

''. In 1980, Harris guest starred in the series ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives ...

'' as country singer Lilimae Clements, the eccentric and protective mother of Valene Ewing ( Joan Van Ark); she returned to the series as a regular character from 1981 to 1987. The role earned Harris a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and two

Soap Opera Digest Award ''The Soap Opera Digest Awards'', originally known as ''The Soapy Awards'' when introduced in 1977, is an awards show held by the daytime television magazine ''Soap Opera Digest''. History 1977 until 1983 The Soapy Awards were an award presen ...

nominations.

Audio and voiceover work

Harris made two recordings of narrations of E. B. White's children's book '' Stuart Little'' for the Pathways of Sound record label: the last six chapters for a single

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...

in 1965, and the entire book for a two-record set in 1979. She also recorded narrations of many children's books for Caedmon Records. Harris also did extensive voiceover work for documentary maker

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or th ...

: the voices of Emily Warren Roebling in ''

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East Rive ...

'' (1981),

Ann Lee Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or the Shakers. After nearly two decades of participation in a r ...

in '' The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God'' (1984), and most notably Southern diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut for Burns' 1990 series '' The Civil War''.

Later years

In the summer of 2008, she appeared on stage again in

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeast tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by the English in 1664, the township was originally called Mo ...

, as "Nanny" in a Monomoy Theater production of '' The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds''. Harris continued to work until 2009, well into her eighties, narrating five historical documentaries by Christopher Seufert and Mooncusser Films, as well as being active as a director on the board of the independent Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT). In 2007, when the company built a new, additional theater, also in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Ms Harris declined to have the building named for her. However, she consented to their naming "a piece of it after me"; WHAT named their stage the "Julie Harris Stage".

Personal life

Harris lived in Chatham, Massachusetts, West Chatham, Cape Cod, for many years until her death. Three times divorced, she had one son, Peter Gurian. A breast cancer survivor, she suffered a severe fall requiring surgery in 1999, a stroke in 2001, and a second stroke in 2010. Harris died on August 24, 2013, of congestive heart failure at her home in West Chatham, Massachusetts. Harris was cremated after her death.

Legacy

On December 5, 2005, Harris was named a Kennedy Center Honors, Kennedy Center Honoree. At a White House ceremony, President George W. Bush remarked: "It's hard to imagine the American stage without the face, the voice, and the limitless talent of Julie Harris. She has found happiness in her life's work, and we thank her for sharing that happiness with the whole world." Ben Brantley, theater critic for ''The New York Times'', considered her "the actress who towered most luminously ... rather like a Statue of Liberty for Broadway." Alec Baldwin, who played Harris's son on ''

'', praised her in a tribute in the ''Huffington Post'': "Her voice was like rainfall. Her eyes connected directly to and channeled the depths of her powerful and tender heart. Her talent, a gift from God." On August 28, 2013, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights for one minute in honor of Harris. On December 3, 2013, Joan Van Ark announced at a Broadway memorial service the creation of the Julie Harris Scholarship, which provides annual support to an actor studying at the Yale School of Drama. Alec Baldwin made the first contribution. In 2021, Yale Drama became tuition-free and was rebranded the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.

Credits

Stage

Films

Television

References

External links

* * *
TonyAwards.com Interview with Julie Harris

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Julie 1925 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Massachusetts Actresses from Michigan Actresses from New York City American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses Caedmon Records artists Donaldson Award winners Grammy Award winners Method actors Hewitt School alumni Kennedy Center honorees People from Chatham, Massachusetts People from Grosse Pointe, Michigan People from Manhattan Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners Special Tony Award recipients Tony Award winners United States National Medal of Arts recipients Yale University alumni Yale School of Drama alumni Deaths from congestive heart failure