Arka Evren

ACTOR

Julie Harris

Known for
East of Eden (1955), Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988), Housesitter (1992), Harper (1966)

20 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

Julie Harris is an actor best known for East of Eden, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey and Housesitter.

11 Interesting Facts About Julie Harris

  1. #001

    In his autobiography "A Life," Elia Kazan said he was grateful that Julie Harris was on the set of East of Eden (1955) because she had a calming effect on James Dean. Kazan praised Harris both as an actress and as a person.

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  2. #004

    Before becoming one of the first members of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, Harris studied for a year at the New York School of Drama.

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  3. #006

    Her family sent her to a finishing school in Providence, Rhode Island, but she persuaded them to transfer her to a girls' preparatory school in Manhattan, then known as Miss Hewitt's Classes, that offered drama training. Harris also attended a summer acting camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where she was mentored by Charlotte Perry, who encouraged her to attend the Yale School of Drama for a year.

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  4. #007

    Harris suffered a stroke in 2001 and a second stroke in 2010.

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  5. #009

    Harris said that as a young girl she watched Gone with the Wind (1939) thirteen times and also read biographies of great actresses.

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  6. #013

    She never retired from acting before her death.

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  7. #014

    Her friends included Angela Lansbury, Norman Lloyd, Shirley MacLaine, Jo Anne Worley, Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Michele Lee, Charles Nelson Reilly, Charles Durning, June Havoc, Patricia Neal, Christopher Plummer, Derek Jacobi, Arthur Miller, Adam Arkin, Lee Grant, Joyce Van Patten, Joel Grey, Liza Minnelli, Steven Hill, Shelley Winters, Philip Bosco, Jason Robards, Anne Jeffreys, Piper Laurie, Ruby Dee, Nanette Fabray, Barbara Barrie, Marlon Brando, Gena Rowlands, James Dean, Jack Lemmon, Ken Burns, Stephen Root, Irene Worth, Cherry Jones, Calista Flockhart, Eli Wallach, Tony Randall, Kevin Spacey, Robert Brustein, Robert Redford, Tyne Daly, Mary-Louise Parker, Alec Baldwin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mickey Rooney, Lauren Bacall, Rex Harrison, James Mason, Carson McCullers, Ethel Waters, Clint Eastwood, William Shatner, Sally Field, Celeste Holm, Dana Ivey, Hal Holbrook, Cicely Tyson, Nora Ephron, Joan Van Ark, Zoe Caldwell, Roberta Maxwell, David Merrick, Rosemary Harris, Roddy McDowall and Leonard Nimoy.

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  8. #016

    Her acting coach and lifelong friend was Joan Van Ark.

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  9. #017

    She was the daughter of investment banker William Pickett Harris, Jr. and nurse Elsie L. (Smith).

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  10. #019

    She is best remembered by the public for her role as Lilimae Clements on Knots Landing (1979).

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  11. #020

    Julie Harris's birthplace, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, lies 12 kilometres east of Detroit, Michigan.

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