Theresa Harris

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Theresa Harris (born December 31, 1906 , according to other information 1909 or 1911 , in Houston , Texas , † October 8, 1985 in Inglewood , California ) was an American film actress of African American origin.

life and career

Theresa Harris' exact year of birth is controversial, the most common being 1906, but also 1909 and 1911. She was born in Texas, but later moved with her family to Southern California and took singing lessons. She came to Hollywood in 1929 and made her film debut in the detective film They Called It Thunderbolt , in which she performed the song Daddy Won't You Please Come Home .

Between 1929 and 1957 Harris completed over 90 film appearances, in addition to some roles on television in the 1950s. Like many African American actresses of her day, Harris was mostly subscribed to supporting roles as a maid. She completed this with but often with wit and elegance, for example as a servant and confidante of Barbara Stanwyck in the pre-code film Baby Face (1933). With her good looks, she was one of the few black actresses of her time who were allowed to appear glamorous in her roles every now and then. Her nickname was fittingly The Beautiful Maid ("the beautiful maid"). Harris played the maid to stars like Ginger Rogers , Sylvia Sidney , Frances Dee , Myrna Loy , Jean Harlow , Esther Williams , Thelma Todd and Kay Francis . She had two of her better-known maid roles alongside Bette Davis in Jezebel - The Malicious Lady (1938) and Marlene Dietrich in The Adventurer (1941).

In the 1940s it was a favorite of RKO Pictures film producer Val Lewton , who used it in several of his films. She starred as a sarcastic waitress in the Lewton-produced classic Cat Man (1942), directed by Jacques Tourneur . She later appeared in other films by Jacques Tourneur with Ich followed a Zombie (1943) and Goldenes Poison (1947). She also made bigger appearances in the Jack Benny comedies Buck Benny Rides Again and Love Thy Neighbor , in which she played a strange pair of lovers together with the black comedian Eddie Anderson . Overall, however, most of her roles remained of a minor nature and were often not mentioned in the credits. In 1958, she retired to the gift of love from Jean Negulesco back from the film business.

Theresa Harris was married to the doctor George Robinson and, thanks to good investments, was able to lead a financially comfortable retirement. After her death in 1985, she was buried in the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. The title character of Lynn Nottag's play By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2011), which is about an African-American actress in old Hollywood, is based in part on Theresa Harris.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. P. 150. ISBN 0-7864-3790-1 .
  2. ^ Theresa Harris at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ Theresa Harris at Allmovie
  4. ^ Just a Maid in Movies, but Not Forgotten , New York Times, April 21, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Harris, Theresa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas , United States
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1985
Place of death Inglewood , California , United States