Viola Harris (July 5, 1920 – August 23, 2017) was an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

known for roles in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

and

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 atmosphere ...

from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Career

Harris appeared in a number of films including

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's ''

Deconstructing Harry ''Deconstructing Harry'' is a 1997 American black comedy film written, directed by, and co-starring Woody Allen, alongside Caroline Aaron, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Billy Crystal, Judy Davis and others. The film ...

'' in 1997, '' Choke'' in 2008, ''

The Other Guys ''The Other Guys'' is a 2010 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote it with Chris Henchy. It stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg with Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samuel L. Jac ...

'' in 2010, and ''

Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City'', based on the 1998–2004 television series. Sarah Jessica Parker, ...

'' in 2010. In 2010, she starred in the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, ''

The Secret Friend ''The Secret Friend'' is a 2010 comedy-drama film based on the 1997 short story of the same name by Brazilian writer João Silvério Trevisan. The film, directed by Flavio Alves, features Viola Harris and Siobhan Fallon in the major roles. The fi ...

'', directed by

Flavio Alves Flavio Pimenta Alves (born 30 November 1969) is a Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director resident in America since 1998. His movies consistently feature elderly characters as protagonists. He is best known for the film ''The Garden Lef ...

. Harris received positive reviews for her role in the film. Phil Hall of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

'', who gave the film a positive score for example, argued that Harris "truly deserves to be in the center of the spotlight." On stage, Harris worked in

summer stock theatre In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...

for a number of years. She also was a standby for the Broadway production of ''Zelda'' (1969).

Family

She was married to actor

Robert H. Harris Robert H. Harris (born Robert H. Hurwitz; July 15, 1911 – November 30, 1981) was an American character actor. Stage A veteran of the Yiddish Art Theater from his teens, Harris made his first Broadway appearance in 1937 in ''Schoolhouse on the ...

until his death in 1981 at 70. They have one son, Steven Lee.

Death

Harris died August 23, 2017, in New York City at age 97. She was interred at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey. Her funeral was held at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in New York, New York, where she was a member.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1920 births 2017 deaths American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Northwestern University alumni Hunter College alumni Jewish American actresses Actresses from New York City 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women {{US-tv-actor-1920s-stub