Harris was born on New Year's Eve 1906 (some sources indicate 1909)[1] in Houston, Texas, to Isaiah and Mable Harris, both of whom were former sharecroppers from Louisiana.[citation needed]
Harris' family relocated to Southern California when she was 11 years old. After graduating Jefferson High School, she studied at the UCLA Conservatory of Music and the Zoellner Conservatory of Music. She then joined the Lafayette Players, an African American musical comedy theatre troupe.[2]
Harris had a featured role as a friend of star Jean Harlow in MGM's Hold Your Man (1933), co-starring Clark Gable. In 1933, she appeared as Chico in the Warner Bros. pre-Code production of Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck.[4] That same year, Harris starred in a substantial role opposite Ginger Rogers in Professional Sweetheart. As Rogers's character's maid, Harris's character subs for Rogers's character as a singer on the radio. Despite the fact that Harris's character was a major point for the story's plot development, she was uncredited for the role.[5]
I never had the chance to rise above the role of maid in Hollywood movies. My color was against me anyway you looked at it. The fact that I was not "hot" stamped me either as uppity or relegated me to the eternal role of stooge or servant. [...] My ambition is to be an actress. Hollywood had no parts for me.[7]
She also praised Ralph Cooper for starting a production company that produced films starring African American actors. She said,
We have nothing to lose in the development of an all-colored motion picture company. The competition will make Hollywood perk up and produce better films with our people in a variety of roles.[7]
Harris continued to lobby for better parts within Hollywood but found few opportunities. In the 1939 movie Tell No Tales she was credited for playing Ruby, the wife of a murdered man. Harris played an emotional scene with Melvin Douglas at the funeral. She appears in a small but vivid role as Kathie Moffat's ex-maid Eunice Leonard in Jacques Tourneur 1947 Out of the Past.
In addition to films, Harris also performed in many radio programs, including Hollywood Hotel.[8] Harris was often paired with Eddie Rochester Anderson, who portrayed her on-screen boyfriend. They appeared together in Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) and What's Buzzin' Cousin (1943). In Buck Benny Rides Again, Harris and Anderson performed the musical number "My, My," where they sing and dance tap, classical, Spanish, and swing. She also appeared in several prominent roles for RKO Pictures as she was a favorite of producer Val Lewton who routinely cast African American actors in non-stereotypical roles. In 1942, Lewton cast Harris as a sarcastic waitress in Cat People, followed by roles in I Walked with a Zombie (1943), Phantom Lady (1944), and Strange Illusion (1945).[1]
Harris married George Robinson, a doctor, in 1933. She retired from acting in the late 1950s, living comfortably off careful investments made during her career.
On October 8, 1985, Harris died of undisclosed causes in Inglewood, California. She was buried in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.[12]
The Gift of Love (1958) as Dora, Sam's Wife (uncredited) (final film role)
Referencesedit
^ abcMcCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7864-3790-0.
^Slide, Anthony (2012). Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 203–204. ISBN 978-1-617-03474-9.
^"Daddy Won't You Please Come Home - 1929". www.youtube.com. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
^Bogle, Donald (2006). Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 126. ISBN 0-345-45419-7.
^Schatz, Thomas (2004). Hollywood: Cultural Dimensions: Ideology, Identity and Cultural Industry Studies. Taylor & Francis. p. 237. ISBN 0-415-28135-0.
^ abJackson, Fay M. (August 28, 1937). "Dainty Theresa in Gang Film". The Afro American. p. 22. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
^"Theresa Harris On "Hollywood Hotel"". The Afro American. August 28, 1937. p. 11. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
^McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7864-3790-0.
^Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
^Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
^Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. ABC-CLIO. p. 393. ISBN 978-0-313-34424-4.
^Dargis, Manohla (April 21, 2011). "Just a Maid in Movies, but Not Forgotten". The New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
External linksedit
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