Rosemary Harris
Harris in 2007
Born
Rosemary Ann Harris

(1927-09-19) 19 September 1927
Ashby, Suffolk, England
OccupationActress
Years active1948–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1967)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1967; died 2018)​
    ChildrenJennifer Ehle

    Rosemary Ann Harris (born 19 September 1927) is an English actress. She is the recipient of such accolades as a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In 1986, Harris was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

    Harris began her stage career in 1948, before making her Broadway debut in 1952. For her New York stage work, she is a four-time Drama Desk Award winner and nine-time Tony Award nominee, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1966 for The Lion in Winter. On television, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for the BBC serial Notorious Woman, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for the miniseries Holocaust (1978). In film, Harris portrayed Aunt May in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007). For her performance in Tom & Viv (1994), Harris received multiple nominations for the role, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

    Early life

    Harris was born on 19 September 1927 in Ashby, Suffolk,[1] the daughter of Enid Maude Frances (née Campion) and Stafford Berkeley Harris.[2][3] One of her grandmothers was from Kronstadt in the Habsburg Empire (today Romania).[4][5] Her father was in the Royal Air Force, and as a result, Harris' family lived in India during her early childhood.[6][7][8] She attended convent schools, and later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1951 to 1952.[9][10]

    Career

    Early in her acting career, she gained experience in English repertory theatre. In 1948, she acted in Kiss and Tell at Eastbourne and Margate with Tilsa Page and John Clark and later with Anthony Cundell's company at Penzance, where she played the mother in Black Chiffon. She went from Penzance to train at RADA.[11] She first appeared in New York City in 1951 in Moss Hart's Climate of Eden,[12] and then returned to Britain for her West End debut in The Seven Year Itch which ran for a year at the Aldwych.[13]

    Harris at the Chichester Festival Theatre, 1962

    Harris then entered a classical acting period in productions with the Bristol Old Vic and then the Old Vic, appearing at the latter as Ophelia in the National Theatre Company's opening production of Hamlet in October 1963, alongside Peter O'Toole in the title role.[14] Writing in UK newspaper The Guardian in 2003 as part of a series on landmark theatre productions, playwright Samantha Ellis noted of the National Theatre's opening night:

    Olivier gloomily anticipated bad reviews. But RB Marriott, in The Stage, found O'Toole to be "a magnificent Prince" and Rosemary Harris "the most real and touching Ophelia". (In contrast, Felix Barker, in the Evening News, called her "an embarrassing deb who has had too much gin".) And Harold Hobson, in The Sunday Times, was overcome.[15]

    Her first film followed, Beau Brummell (1954) with Stewart Granger and Elizabeth Taylor,[11] and then a touring season with the Old Vic brought her back to Broadway in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Troilus and Cressida. She met Ellis Rabb who had plans to start his own producing company on Broadway. By 1959, the Association of Producing Artist (APA) was established, and she and Rabb were married on 4 December of that year.[16][17]

    In 1962, she returned to Britain and Chichester Festival Theatre during its opening season when the director was Laurence Olivier; she appeared as Elena in Olivier's celebrated 1962–63 Chichester production of Uncle Vanya.[18] In 1964, she was Ophelia to Peter O'Toole's Hamlet in the inaugural production of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain.[19]

    Returning to New York, she worked further with the APA, and then was cast as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, a performance that garnered her a Tony Award in 1966.[20] Rabb directed her one last time as Natasha in War and Peace in 1967, the same year they agreed to divorce.[16][17] A little while later, Harris married the American writer John Ehle.[21] The two of them can be heard interviewing prospective candidates, Black public school student candidates for scholarships to all-white private "Segregation academies", on surviving recordings.[22] Ehle was the manager for this Stouffer Foundation program.

    Ehle and Harris settled in Winston-Salem, North Carolina,[7] where their daughter, Jennifer, was born in 1969. Jennifer Ehle followed in her mother's footsteps by becoming a noted film, television and Broadway actress.[23]

    In 1974, Harris starred in the BBC TV serial Notorious Woman, which aired on PBS in the US as part of Masterpiece Theatre. For this role, she won the 1976 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – TV Drama for the 1978 NBC miniseries Holocaust, which also starred Meryl Streep. Reviewing the BBC's 1983 production of To the Lighthouse, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel of the same name, John J. O'Connor pf The New York Times' wrote: "A luminous, flawless performance by Miss Harris makes Mrs. Ramsay as memorable on film as she is on the printed page."[24] She received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the 1994 film Tom & Viv. Harris and her daughter Ehle, played the young and elderly incarnations, respectively, of the same character in István Szabó's 1999 film Sunshine, about a Hungarian-Jewish family. They previously played the young and old Calypso in the Channel 4 production of The Camomile Lawn (1992).[25]

    Harris appeared in the rotating cast of the Off-Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom.[26] In 2007, she received the North Carolina Award for fine arts. Her husband, John Ehle, won the same award in 1972 for literature.[27]

    In 2002, she appeared as Aunt May Parker in the first film adaptation of Spider-Man, reprising the role in the sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).[28][29]

    On 11 September 2018, a week before her 91st birthday, Harris took over the role of Mrs Higgins in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady from Diana Rigg.[30][31]

    Harris' archive is part of the performing arts collections at the Harry Ransom Center, which include her scripts, photographs, posters, correspondence, playbills, and other ephemera.[32]

    Filmography

    Film

    Year Title Role Notes
    1954 Beau Brummell Mrs. Fitzherbert film debut
    1957 The Shiralee Lily Parker
    1963 Uncle Vanya Yelena
    1968 A Flea in Her Ear Gabrielle Chandebisse
    1978 The Boys from Brazil Mrs. Doring
    1983 The Ploughman's Lunch Ann Barrington
    1988 Crossing Delancey Pauline Swift
    1989 The Delinquents Isobel
    1992 The Bridge Aunt Jude
    1994 Tom & Viv Rose Haigh-Wood
    1996 Hamlet Player Queen
    1999 My Life So Far Gamma
    Sunshine Valerie Sors
    2000 The Gift Annie's Granny
    2001 Blow Dry Daisy
    2002 Spider-Man Aunt May Parker
    2004 Spider-Man 2
    Being Julia Julia's mother
    2007 Spider-Man 3 Aunt May Parker
    Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Nanette
    2008 Is Anybody There? Elsie
    The Monday Before Thanksgiving Lillian Cotlo Short film
    2010 Radio Free Albemuth VALIS (voice role)
    2012 This Means War Nana Foster
    2015 The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music Older Agathe von Trapp

    Television

    Year Title Role Notes
    1952 A Cradle of Wlllow Tansy Clampett Television debut
    Television film
    Studio One in Hollywood Herself Episode: "The Great Lady"
    1955 Othello Desdemona Television film
    1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Louise Rogers / Countess Helen Sorrington-Mattoni
    Dorothy Whitely    		 "I Killed the Count Parts 2 & 3"
    "The Glass Eye"
    Twelfth Night Viola Television film
    1958 Suspicion Sybil Merton Episode: "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"
    Omnibus Cordelia Episode: "Moment of Truth"
    Dial M for Murder Margot Wendice Television film
    Folio Dynamene Episode: "A Phoenix Too Frequent"
    DuPont Show of the Month Cathy Linton Episode: Wuthering Heights
    1959 Encounter Norah Marsh Episode: "The Land of Promise"
    1964 Profiles in Courage Mary S. McDowell Episode: "Mary S. McDowell"
    1966 Blithe Spirit Elvira Condomine Television film
    1967 Uncle Vanya Jelena Andrejewna Television film
    1974 Notorious Woman George Sand Television miniseries; 7 episodes
    1977 The Royal Family Julie Cavendish Television film
    1978 Holocaust Berta Palitz Weiss Television miniseries; 4 episodes
    1979–1980 The Chisholms Minerva Chisholm Television miniseries; 13 episodes
    1983 To the Lighthouse Mrs. Ramsay Television film
    1992 The Camomile Lawn Calypso (older) Television miniseries; 2 episodes
    1994 Under the Hammer Hester Bovington Episode: "The Spectre at the Feast"
    Summer Day's Dream Margaret Dawlish One-off production in the BBC's Performance series
    1996 The Little Riders Grandma Roden Television film
    Death of a Salesman Linda Television film
    2004 Belonging May Television film
    2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Francine Brooks Episode: "Wet"
    2014 The Money Ellen Knox Television film
    2020 The Undoing Janet Fraser Episode: "Trial by Fury"
    2022 Search Party Beatrice 2 episodes

    Theatre

    Year Title Role Venue
    1952 The Climate of Eden Mabel Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway
    1953–54 The Seven Year Itch The Girl Aldwych Theatre, London
    1954 The Crucible Elizabeth Proctor Bristol Old Vic, London
    1956 Troilus and Cressida Cressida Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway
    1957 The Glass Eye Dorothy Witley ANTA Playhouse, New York
    1958 Interlock Hilde ANTA Playhouse, New York
    The Disenchanted Jere Halliday Coronet Theatre, Broadway
    1960 The Tumbler Lennie Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway
    1963 Uncle Vanya Ilyena Chichester Festival Theatre, London
    Hamlet Ophelia Old Vic Theatre, London
    1965 Judith Judith Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway
    Man and Superman Violet Robinson
    War and Peace Natasha Rostova
    Herakles Megara Lyceum Theatre, Broadway
    1966 The Lion in Winter Eleanor Ambassador Theatre, Broadway
    1966–67 The School for Scandal Lady Teazle Lyceum Theatre, Broadway
    1966 Right You Are If You Think You Are Signora Ponza
    We, Comrades Three Young Woman
    1967 The Wild Duck Gina
    You Can't Take it With You Alice Sycamore
    War and Peace Natasha Rostova
    1971–72 Old Times Anna Billy Rose Theatre, Broadway
    1973 The Merchant of Venice Portia Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway
    A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois
    1975–76 The Royal Family Julie Cavendish Brooklyn Academy of Music
    Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway
    1977The New York IdeaVida PhillimoreBrooklyn Academy of Music
    The Three SistersOlga
    1983 Heartbreak House Hesione Hushabye Circle in the Square Theatre, Off-Broadway
    Theatre Royal, London
    1985 Pack of Lies Barbara Jackson Royale Theatre, Broadway
    1985–86 Hay Fever Judith Bliss Music Box Theatre, Broadway
    1991–93 Lost in Yonkers Grandma Kurnitz Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway
    Royal Strand Theatre, London
    1994–95 An Inspector Calls Sybil Birling Royale Theatre, Broadway
    1996 A Delicate Balance Agnes Plymouth Theatre, Broadway
    1999 Waiting in the Wings May Davenport Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway
    Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway
    2002 All Over The Wife Gramercy Theatre, New York City
    2005 The Other Side Levana Julak Manhattan Theatre Club, Off-Broadway
    2007 Oscar and the Lady in Pink Performer Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
    2008 Florence Gould Hall, New York City
    2009 The Royal Family Fanny Cavendish Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway
    2012 The Road to Mecca Miss Helen American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
    2014 Indian Ink Eleanor Swan Laura Pels Theatre, Off-Broadway
    2018−19 My Fair Lady Mrs. Higgins Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway

    Video games

    Year Title Role Notes
    1998 Dark Side of the Moon Miner Woman (voice role) PC version for Windows 95/98

    Awards and nominations

    Film accolades

    Academy Award

    Year Title Category Results
    1994 Tom & Viv Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated

    BAFTA Awards

    Year Title Category Results
    1984 The Ploughman's Lunch Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated

    Gotham Awards

    Year Title Category Results
    2007 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Best Ensemble Cast Won

    Critics Choice Film Awards

    Year Title Category Results
    2008 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Best Acting Ensemble Nominated

    National Board of Review

    Year Title Category Results
    1994 Tom & Viv Best Supporting Actress Won

    Television accolades

    Primetime Emmy Award

    Year Title Category Results
    1976 Notorious Woman Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series Won
    1978 Holocaust Nominated

    Golden Globe Awards

    Year Title Category Results
    1976 Notorious Woman Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama Nominated
    1978 Holocaust Won

    Theatre accolades

    Tony Awards

    Year Title Category Results
    1966 The Lion in Winter Best Actress in a Play Won[33]
    1972 Old Times Nominated[33]
    1976 The Royal Family Nominated
    1984 Heartbreak House Nominated
    1985 Pack of Lies Nominated
    1986 Hay Fever Nominated
    1996 A Delicate Balance Nominated
    2000 Waiting in the Wings Nominated
    2010 The Royal Family Best Featured Actress in a Play Nominated
    2019 My Fair Lady Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Won

    Drama Desk Award

    Year Title Category Results
    1972 Old Times Best Performance Won[34]
    1973 A Streetcar Named Desire Won[34]
    1973 The Merchant of Venice Won[34]
    1976 The Royal Family Actress in a Play Won
    1984 Heartbreak House Nominated
    1985 Pack of Lies Won
    1996 A Delicate Balance Nominated

    Laurence Olivier Award

    Year Title Category Results
    1981 All My Sons Actress in a Revival Nominated
    1983 Heartbreak House Nominated
    1993 Lost in Yonkers Supporting Actress Nominated

    Obie Award

    Year Title Category Results
    1962 The Tavern, The School for Scandal, The Seagull Distinguished Performance by an Actress Won
    1965 Judith, Man and Superman, War and Peace Won
    2003 All Over Nominated

    References

    1. ↑ "Harris, Rosemary (1927–)". Encyclopedia.com. Cengage. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
    2. ↑ "anti-aircraft corps | august | smyth pigott | 1919 | 1083 | Flight Archive". Retrieved 5 January 2020.
    3. ↑ "Rosemary Harris". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    4. ↑ Rosemary Harris and the Picture: Madonna of the Slaughtered Jews Archived 15 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Nmia.com. Retrieved on 27 August 2011.
    5. ↑ Hollywood made in Romania (partea a II-a). eroiiromanieichic.ro (8 December). Retrieved on 13 January 2013.
    6. ↑ "Interview with Actor Rosemary Harris". Broadway World. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    7. 1 2 Rosenfeld, Megan (30 March 1986). "Rosemary Harris, Blissfully". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    8. ↑ Welsh, Anne Marie (29 September 2007). "Six decades on, Rosemary Harris's career is still in the 'Pink'". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    9. ↑ Hischak, Thomas S. (2001). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1969–2000. Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-512347-0.
    10. ↑ Gussow, Mel (27 May 1996). "For Rosemary Harris, A Delicate Balance Of Her Art and Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
    11. 1 2 Gerard, Jeremy (27 January 2015). "Rosemary Harris On 'The Holocaust', Tom Stoppard & Liz Taylor: Conversations With Jeremy Gerard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    12. ↑ Bordman, Gerald; Hischak, Thomas S. (2004). The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-19-516986-7.
    13. ↑ Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1950-1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-8108-9307-8.
    14. ↑ "National Theatre actress: 'I wasn't a bit nervous'". BBC Online. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
    15. ↑ Ellis, Samantha (12 March 2003). "Hamlet, National Theatre, October 1963". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
    16. 1 2 "Harris, Rosemary 1927(?)-". encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
    17. 1 2 "Rosemary Harris Biography (1930?-)". filmreference.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
    18. ↑ See the VHS recording of this performance issued by Arthur Cantor Films, New York.
    19. ↑ "VIDEO: Watch Stage and Screen Legend Rosemary Harris Accept 2019 Lifetime Achievement Tony Award". BroadwayWorld. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
    20. ↑ Reich, Ronni (25 February 2014). "Rosemary Harris returns to the New York stage". NJ.com. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    21. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (12 April 2018). "John Ehle, Who Rooted His Novels in Appalachia, Is Dead at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    22. ↑ Glass, Ira; Secret, Mosi (8 September 2017). "Essay B". This American Life. WBEZ. Retrieved 24 January 2021. A transcript is also available.
    23. ↑ Kavanagh, Julie; Avedon, Richard (13 May 1996). "Chameleons". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    24. ↑ O'Connor, John J. (12 October 1984). "TV Weekend; Virginia Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse'". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
    25. ↑ Kehr, Dave (16 June 2000). "AT THE MOVIES; A Resemblance? It's Only Natural". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
    26. ↑ "Synopsis of Wit & Wisdom" at Theater Mania
    27. ↑ North Carolina Award profile Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
    28. ↑ Salfino, Michael (28 June 2017). "Hold On, You're Spider-Man's Aunt May?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    29. ↑ Monahan, Mark (25 January 2008). "The face is familiar: Rosemary Harris". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    30. ↑ Vine, Hannah (28 September 2018). "First Look at Tony Winner Rosemary Harris in My Fair Lady on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
    31. ↑ "Rosemary Harris returns to Broadway in My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center Theater". New York Theater Guide. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
    32. ↑ "Research Guide: Harry Ransom Center". www.hrc.utexas.edu. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
    33. 1 2 "Search Past Tony Award Winners and Nominees". Tony Awards. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
    34. 1 2 3 "Rosemary Harris – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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