# Harry Northup

Harry E. Northup (born September 2, 1940) is an American actor and poet. As an actor, he made frequent appearances in the films of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and Jonathan Kaplan.

## Personal life and career

Northup was born in Amarillo, Texas. He lived in 17 places by age 17, but mostly in Sidney, Nebraska, where he graduated from high school in 1958. From 1958 to 1961 he served in the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Second Class Radioman. From 1963 to 1968, he studied Method acting with Frank Corsaro in New York City.
Northup received his B.A. in English from California State University, Northridge, where he studied poetry with Ann Stanford. He has made a living as an actor for over 30 years and has been in 37 films, including Martin Scorsese's first six feature films: Who's That Knocking at My Door, Boxcar Bertha, Mean Streets, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver and New York, New York. He was Mr. Bimmel in Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs and starred in Over the Edge and Fighting Mad.
Northup has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976. His second wife, poet and novelist Holly Prado, died on June 14, 2019. He has a son, Dylan, by his first marriage. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Leland Hickman, Paul Blackburn, Ann Stanford, William Carlos Williams, and Holly Prado have influenced Northup's poetry. He conceived and coordinated the weekly poetry reading series "Poetry on Melrose" at Gasoline Alley in Los Angeles, from 1986 to 1988. Poets who read at the venue include Robert Peters, Jack Hirschman and Lewis MacAdams.

## Awards and honors

The City of Los Angeles, as represented by the L.A. City Council, awarded Northup a Certificate of Recognition on November 15, 2006.

## Poetry

* Amarillo Born, Victor Jiminez Press, 1966
* The Jon Voight Poems, Mt. Averno Press, 1973
* Eros Ash, Momentum Press, 1976
* Enough The Great Running Chapel, Momentum Press, 1982
* The Images We Possess Kill The Capturing, Jesse Press, 1988
* The Ragged Vertical, Cahuenga Press, 1996
* Reunions, Cahuenga Press, 2001
* Greatest Hits, 1966–2001, Pudding House Press, 2002
* Red Snow Fence, Cahuenga Press, 2006
* Where Bodies Again Recline, Cahuenga Press, 2011
* East Hollywood: Memorial To Reason, Cahuenga Press, 2015
* Love Poem to MPTF, Cahuenga Press, 2020

## Anthologies

* Venice Thirteen, Bayrock Press, 1971
* The Streets Inside: Ten Los Angeles Poets, Momentum Press, 1978
* Foreign Exchange, Biographics, 1979
* Poetry Loves Poetry, An Anthology of Los Angeles Poets, Momentum Press, 1985
* Gridlock: An anthology of Poetry About Southern California, Applezaba Press, 1990
* Grand Passion, The Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, Red Wind Books, 1995
* Corners of the Mouth, A Celebration of Thirty Years at the Annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival, Deer Tree Press, 2014
* Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, Pacific Coast Poetry Series/Beyond Baroque Books, 2015
* Coiled Serpent, Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts of Los Angeles, Tia Chucha Press, 2016
* Beat Not Beat anthology, Moon Tide Press, 2022

## Audio

* Personal Crime, New Alliance Records, 1993
* Homes, New Alliance Records, 1995
* As Long As I Tell The Truth What Difference Does It Make To You – An Interview with Harry Northup, Alright, Dude Productions, 2010

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Who's That Knocking at My Door | Harry | |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones | Hank | TV Episode |
| 1972 | Boxcar Bertha | Deputy Sheriff Harvey Hall | |
| 1973 | Mean Streets | Soldier | |
| 1973 | The All-American Boy | Parker | |
| 1974 | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Joe & Jim's Bartender | |
| 1974 | Crazy Mama | FBI Agent | |
| 1976 | Fighting Mad | Sheriff Skerritt | starring role |
| 1976 | Two-Minute Warning | Lieber (The S.W.A.T. Team) | |
| 1976 | Taxi Driver | 'Doughboy' | 1976 Palme d'Or winner at Cannes |
| 1977 | New York, New York | 'Alabama' | |
| 1977 | Handle With Care | The Red Baron | |
| 1977 | Which Way Is Up? | Chief Goon | |
| 1978 | Blue Collar | Hank | |
| 1979 | Over the Edge | Sergeant Doberman | starring role |
| 1979 | 11th Victim | Officer Thorpe | |
| 1980 | Tom Horn | Thomas Burke | |
| 1980 | Used Cars | Carmine | |
| 1982 | The Day the Bubble Burst | Andrew Arvay | TV movie |
| 1982 | Knots Landing | Wayne Harkness | TV, recurring role |
| 1984 | Nickel Mountain | Frank | |
| 1986 | The Deliberate Stranger | Tom Hargreaves | TV MiniSeries |
| 1986 | North and South: Book II | Major | TV miniseries |
| 1987 | Project X | Congressman | |
| 1988 | Kansas | Governor Dellit | |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Mr. Bimmel | 1991 Oscar winner for Best Picture |
| 1992 | Unlawful Entry | McMurtry, Desk Sergeant | |
| 1992 | Hero | Mr. Fletcher | |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | Juror No. 6 | |
| 1994 | Bad Girls | Preacher Sloan | |
| 1994 | Reform School Girl | Uncle Charlie | |
| 1996 | In Cold Blood | Minister | TV MiniSeries |
| 1998 | Beloved | Sheriff | |
| 1998 | Four Corners | Tom Brothers | TV series |
| 1999 | Brokedown Palace | Leon Smith | |
| 2001 | ER | Competency Evaluator | TV Episode |
| 2002 | The Court | Justice Fitzsimmons | TV, recurring role |
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate | Congressman Flores | |
| 2014 | That Guy Dick Miller | Himself | |
| 2018 | Carry Tiger to Mountain | Isaac Solomon | |