# Rosemary Harris

Rosemary Ann Harris (born 19 September 1927) was an English actress. She was the recipient of an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Laurence Olivier Awards. Harris was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1986, and she won the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 2017.
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 for portraying Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1966). Her other Tony-nominated roles were in Old Times (1972), The Royal Family (1976), Heartbreak House (1984), Pack of Lies (1985), Hay Fever (1986), A Delicate Balance (1996), Waiting in the Wings (2000), and The Royal Family (2010).
She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayal of George Sand in the BBC serial Notorious Woman (1976), and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for playing Berta Palitz Weiss in the miniseries Holocaust (1978). For her performance in the historical drama film Tom & Viv (1994) she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Harris is also known for her portrayal of May Parker, the paternal aunt of Peter Parker, in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007).

## Early life

Harris was born on 19 September 1927 in Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire , the daughter of Enid Maude Frances (née Campion) and Stafford Berkeley Harris. One of her grandmothers was from Kronstadt in the Habsburg Empire (today Romania). Her father was in the Royal Air Force, and as a result, Harris' family lived in India during her early childhood. She attended convent schools, and later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1951 to 1952.

## Career
### 1948–1965: Rise to prominence

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. She first appeared in New York City in 1951 in Moss Hart's Climate of Eden, and then returned to Britain for her West End debut in The Seven Year Itch which ran for a year at the Aldwych.
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. 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.
Her first film followed, Beau Brummell (1954) with Stewart Granger and Elizabeth Taylor, 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. The following year she portrayed Desdemona in a television production of William Shakespeare's Othello directed by Tony Richardson Harris acted opposite Paul Rogers, Robert Hardy, and Nigel Davenport. In 1957 she appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1958 she acted alongside John Williams, and Maurice Evans in the NBC production of Dial M for Murder. That same year she portrayed Catherine Linton acting alongside Richard Burton who portrayed Heathcliff in the CBS television production of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. By 1959, the Association of Producing Artist (APA) was established, and she and Rabb were married on 4 December of that year.
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. She reprised her role in the 1963 British film adaptation acting opposite Olivier, Michael Redgrave, and Joan Plowright. In 1964, she was Ophelia to Peter O'Toole's Hamlet in the inaugural production of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain. She returned to Broadway portraying Megara in Herakles at the Lyceum Theatre. That same year she portrayed Alice Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You. She also appeared in an off-Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at the Phoenix Theatre.

### 1966–1999: Theatre roles and acclaim

Harris gained acclaim working further with the APA, and was cast as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter opposite Robert Preston's Henry II at the Ambassador Theatre. She received praise for the role as well as the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Rabb directed her one last time as Natasha in War and Peace in 1967, the same year they agreed to divorce. A little while later, Harris married the American writer John Ehle. 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. Ehle was the manager for this Stouffer Foundation program. In 1968 she portrayed Gabrielle Chandebisse in the film A Flea in Her Ear based on the 1907 French farce of the same name by Georges Feydeau. She acted with Rex Harrison and Louis Jourdan. She received Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nominations for her roles as Anna in Harold Pinter's Old Times (1971) and Julie Cavendish in George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's The Royal Family (1975).
During this time she portrayed Blanche DuBois in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire (1973) and Portia in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1973). 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 Primetime 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 and James Woods. Also in 1978 she acted in Franklin J. Schaffner's science-fiction thriller The Boys from Brazil acting with Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, and Denholm Elliott. The film received critical acclaim and earned three Academy Award nominations.
From 1979 to 1980 she starred in the CBS Western miniseries The Chisholms opposite Robert Preston. 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 of 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." She played Ann Barrington in the Richard Eyre directed The Ploughman's Lunch (1983) written by Ian McEwan. She acted with Jonathan Pryce and Tim Curry. The film looks at the media world in Margaret Thatcher's Britain around the time of the Falklands War. Vincent Canby of The New York Times declared, "[the] film's most arresting character is Ann, a beautiful woman whose intelligence is demonstrated both in the writing and in Miss Harris's superlative performance." She also took film roles in Crossing Delancey (1988) and The Delinquents (1989), and The Bridge (1992). She returned to Broadway acting in Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers (1991).
For her role as Rose Haigh-Wood in the historical drama Tom & Viv she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Harris acted with Willem Dafoe and Miranda Richardson. The film was based on the 1984 play of the same name by Michael Hastings. She returned to Broadway in a revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1996) for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. That same year she had a brief role as Player Queen in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Hamlet (1996). Harris and her daughter Jennifer 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). In 1999 she starred in the Hugh Hudson directed film My Life So Far based on the Denis Forman book of the same name. Harris acted with Colin Firth, Irène Jacob, Malcolm McDowell, and Kelly Macdonald.

### 2000–present

Harris had a recurring role 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). These films were critically acclaimed and were commercially successful. Directed by Sam Raimi, the films also starred Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, J. K. Simmons, Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina. Her film roles during this period included the supernatural horror film The Gift (2000) starring Cate Blanchett, the romantic comedy Blow Dry (2001) with Alan Rickman and Natasha Richardson, and the comedy-drama Being Julia starring Annette Bening. Harris appeared in the rotating cast of the Off-Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom. In 2007, she received the North Carolina Award for fine arts. Her husband, John Ehle, won the same award in 1972 for literature. Also in 2007 she acted in Sidney Lumet's crime thriller Before the Devil Knows You're Dead for which she received the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast along with the cast.
Harris took limited film roles in the drama Is Anybody There? with Michael Caine, the romantic comedy This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy, and the musical drama The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music (2015) with Matthew Macfadyen. She had a guest starring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2010). 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. She recently acted in the HBO limited series The Undoing (2020) as a guest actress and had a recurring role in the HBO Max comedy series Search Party (2022).

## Personal life

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

## Acting credits
### 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 | |
| 1999 | Sunshine | Valerie Sors | |
| 2000 | The Gift | Annie's Granny | |
| 2001 | Blow Dry | Daisy | |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | Aunt May Parker | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Aunt May Parker | |
| 2004 | Being Julia | Julia's mother | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Aunt May Parker | |
| 2007 | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Nanette | |
| 2008 | Is Anybody There? | Elsie | |
| 2008 | 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 |
| 1952 | Studio One in Hollywood | Herself | Episode: "The Great Lady" |
| 1955 | Othello | Desdemona | Television film |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Louise Rogers / Countess Helen Sorrington-Mattoni | Season 2 Episodes 26,27: "I Killed the Count Parts 2 & 3" |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Dorothy Whitely | Season 3 Episode 1: "The Glass Eye" |
| 1957 | Twelfth Night | Viola | Television film |
| 1958 | Suspicion | Sybil Merton | Episode: "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" |
| 1958 | Omnibus | Cordelia | Episode: "Moment of Truth" |
| 1958 | Dial M for Murder | Margot Wendice | Television film |
| 1958 | Folio | Dynamene | Episode: "A Phoenix Too Frequent" |
| 1958 | 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" |
| 1994 | Summer Day's Dream | Margaret Dawlish | One-off production in the BBC's Performance series |
| 1996 | The Little Riders | Grandma Roden | Television film |
| 1996 | 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 |
| 1958 | The Disenchanted | Jere Halliday | Coronet Theatre, Broadway |
| 1960 | The Tumbler | Lennie | Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway |
| 1963 | Uncle Vanya | Ilyena | Chichester Festival Theatre, London |
| 1963 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Old Vic Theatre, London |
| 1965 | Judith | Judith | Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 1965 | Man and Superman | Violet Robinson | Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 1965 | War and Peace | Natasha Rostova | Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 1965 | 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 | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1966 | We, Comrades Three | Young Woman | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1967 | The Wild Duck | Gina | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1967 | You Can't Take it With You | Alice Sycamore | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1967 | War and Peace | Natasha Rostova | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1971–72 | Old Times | Anna | Billy Rose Theatre, Broadway |
| 1973 | The Merchant of Venice | Portia | Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway |
| 1973 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche DuBois | Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway |
| 1975–76 | The Royal Family | Julie Cavendish | Brooklyn Academy of Music Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway |
| 1977 | The New York Idea | Vida Phillimore | Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| 1977 | The Three Sisters | Olga | Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| 1983 | Heartbreak House | Hesione Hushabye | Circle in the Square Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 1983 | Heartbreak House | Hesione Hushabye | 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 | Oscar and the Lady in Pink | Performer | 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 and television
| Year | Association | Category | Title | Results |
| 1976 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series | Notorious Woman | Won |
| 1976 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama | Notorious Woman | Nominated |
| 1978 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series | Holocaust | Nominated |
| 1978 | Golden Globe Award | Best actress in a Television Series - Drama | Holocaust | Won |
| 1984 | BAFTA Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | The Ploughman's Lunch | Nominated |
| 1994 | Academy Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Tom & Viv | Nominated |
| 1994 | National Board of Review | Best Supporting Actress | Tom & Viv | Won |
| 2007 | Critics' Choice Movie Award | Best Acting Ensemble | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Nominated |
| 2007 | Gotham Award | Best Ensemble Cast | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Won |
Theatre accolades
| Year | Association | Category | Title | Results |
| 1966 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | The Lion in Winter | Won |
| 1972 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Old Times | Nominated |
| 1976 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | The Royal Family | Nominated |
| 1984 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Heartbreak House | Nominated |
| 1985 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Pack of Lies | Nominated |
| 1986 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Hay Fever | Nominated |
| 1996 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | A Delicate Balance | Nominated |
| 2000 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Waiting in the Wings | Nominated |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | The Royal Family | Nominated |
| 2019 | Tony Awards | Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre | Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre | Won |
| 1972 | Drama Desk Award | Best Performance | Old Times | Won |
| 1973 | Drama Desk Award | Best Performance | A Streetcar Named Desire | Won |
| 1973 | Drama Desk Award | Best Performance | The Merchant of Venice | Won |
| 1976 | Drama Desk Award | Actress in a Play | The Royal Family | Won |
| 1984 | Drama Desk Award | Actress in a Play | Heartbreak House | Nominated |
| 1985 | Drama Desk Award | Actress in a Play | Pack of Lies | Won |
| 1996 | Drama Desk Award | Actress in a Play | A Delicate Balance | Nominated |
| 1981 | Laurence Olivier Award | Actress in a Revival | All My Sons | Nominated |
| 1983 | Laurence Olivier Award | Actress in a Revival | Heartbreak House | Nominated |
| 1993 | Laurence Olivier Award | Supporting Actress | Lost in Yonkers | Nominated |
| 1962 | Obie Award | Distinguished Performance by an Actress | The Tavern, The School for Scandal, The Seagull | Won |
| 1965 | Obie Award | Distinguished Performance by an Actress | Judith, Man and Superman, War and Peace | Won |
| 2003 | Obie Award | Distinguished Performance by an Actress | All Over | Nominated |