Matinee Classics - Julie Harris Biography & Filmography

Julie Harris ACTOR

JULIE HARRIS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Julie Harris was born on December 2nd, 1925 in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan with the middle name Anne, born to William Pickett Harris and Elsie Stivers Smith. After graduating from Grosse Pointe Country Day School she went on to pursue her career as an actress.

She began as a stage actress and soon broke into the film industry appearing on such features as, "The member of the Wedding" (1952) earning an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Soon roles in such films followed, "I Am a Camera" (1952), "East of Eden" (1955) starring James Dean, "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1962), "Harper" (1966) starring Paul Newman, "The Haunting" (1963) and "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967).

Many of her film roles were reprised from original stage plays that she starred in. Such was the case in 1973 in, "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln". Other Broadway credits she has added to her resume include, "The Playboy of the Western World", "Macbeth", "Forty Carats", "A Shot in the Dark", "The Gin Game", "Glass Menagerie", "A Doll's House" and "The Member of the Wedding".

In addition to stage and film work, Harris is known for her television role as Lilimae Clements on, "Knots Landing" and for her role as Queen Victoria in, "Victoria Regina" for which she won an Emmy.

Harris married three times, first to Jay Julian in 1946 however by 1954 this marriage had come to an end. She then married Manning Gurian in 1954 and they had one child together before this marriage also ended in divorce in 1967. Her third husband was Walter Carroll whom she married in 1977 and again by 1982 another unsuccessful marriage came to an end. She has not re-married nor does she have any other children.

She remains working, mostly narrating documentaries and working as the director of the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater. In 2008, Harris returned to stage work appearing in a production of, "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds". She resides in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and also owns a home near Detroit. She last appeared on the big screen in 2009 in, "The Lightkeepers".

Julie Harris has received a number of honors throughout her career such as earning a total of ten Tony Award nominations, winning five of them. She also received the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors award as well as the American National Medal of the Arts in 1994. In 2002, she was awarded a Special lifetime achievement award. Julie Harris is also a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.