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IMDbPro

Barbara Harris(1935-2018)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Barbara Harris
Respected liberal Senator Joe Tynan is asked to lead the opposition to a Supreme Court appointment. It means losing an old friend and fudging principles to make the necessary deals, as well as further straining his already part-time family life.
Play trailer0:48
The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)
5 Videos
42 Photos
Barbara Harris began acting while still a teenager in Chicago, playing small parts in the Playwrights Theatre Club (whose other players included such youngsters as Edward Asner, Mike Nichols and Elaine May). She was also in "The Compass Players", the first ongoing improvisational theater troupe in America, directed by her then-husband Paul Sills (who founded the theater based on principles created by his mother, Viola Spolin , the author of "Improvisation for the Theatre"). A more polished version of the Compass, called "The Second City", was an enormous hit in Chicago and was moved to Broadway, where she was nominated for a Tony. She starred in a series of notable stage productions, including "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"; "Oh Dad Poor Dad"; "The Apple Tree" (Tony Award, 1967) and "Mother Courage". Her film credits include major roles in A Thousand Clowns (1965), Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967), Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971), The War Between Men and Women (1972), Nashville (1975), Freaky Friday (1976), Family Plot (1976), Plaza Suite (1971), Movie Movie (1978), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), Second-Hand Hearts (1980), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), and TV appearances included episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and Middle Ages (1992).
BornJuly 25, 1935
DiedAugust 21, 2018(83)
BornJuly 25, 1935
DiedAugust 21, 2018(83)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar

Photos42

Barbara Harris in TCM Remembers 2018 (2018)
Wallace Shawn and Barbara Harris in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Barbara Harris in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Michelle Meyrink, Barbara Harris, and William O'Leary in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Barbara Harris and William O'Leary in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Barbara Harris in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Barbara Harris in Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
Hugh Griffith and Barbara Harris in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967)
Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, William Devane, and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)

Known for

Nashville (1975)
Nashville
7.6
  • Albuquerque
  • 1975
John Cusack and Minnie Driver in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Grosse Pointe Blank
7.3
  • Mary Blank
  • 1997
Jodie Foster, John Astin, Barbara Harris, and Vicki Schreck in Freaky Friday (1976)
Freaky Friday
6.3
  • Mrs. Andrews
  • 1976
Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
Family Plot
6.8
  • Blanche Tyler
  • 1976

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • John Cusack and Minnie Driver in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
    Grosse Pointe Blank
  • Middle Ages (1992)
    Middle Ages
  • Days of Our Lives (1965)
    Days of Our Lives
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
    Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
  • Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987)
    Nice Girls Don't Explode
  • Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
    Peggy Sue Got Married
  • Robert Blake, Collin Boone, Amber Rose Gold, Barbara Harris, Erica Stansbury, and Jessica Stansbury in Second-Hand Hearts (1980)
    Second-Hand Hearts
  • The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)
    The Seduction of Joe Tynan
  • Cloris Leachman, Susan Clark, Barbara Harris, Patsy Kelly, and Karen Valentine in The North Avenue Irregulars (1979)
    The North Avenue Irregulars
  • Movie Movie (1978)
    Movie Movie
  • A Doonesbury Special (1977)
    A Doonesbury Special
    • (voice)
  • Jodie Foster, John Astin, Barbara Harris, and Vicki Schreck in Freaky Friday (1976)
    Freaky Friday
  • Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
    Family Plot
  • Nashville (1975)
    Nashville
  • Will Geer, Anjanette Comer, Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, and Joyce Van Patten in The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)
    The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery

Soundtrack

  • You Will Be with Us in Paradise (2019)
    You Will Be with Us in Paradise
  • Todd's Pop Song Reviews (2009)
    Todd's Pop Song Reviews
  • The Making of 'Nashville'
  • Movie Movie (1978)
    Movie Movie
  • Jodie Foster, John Astin, Barbara Harris, and Vicki Schreck in Freaky Friday (1976)
    Freaky Friday
  • Nashville (1975)
    Nashville
  • Dustin Hoffman in Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971)
    Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
    • (uncredited)
  • The 21st Annual Tony Awards (1967)
    The 21st Annual Tony Awards
  • A Thousand Clowns (1965)
    A Thousand Clowns
    • (uncredited)

Videos5

Trailer
Trailer 2:43
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 0:48
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 0:31
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:15
Trailer
Family Plot
Trailer 2:03
Family Plot

Personal details

Edit
    • France's national library catalogue
    • Theatre org.
    • July 25, 1935
    • Evanston, Illinois, USA
    • August 21, 2018
    • Scottsdale, Arizona, USA(lung cancer)
    • Paul SillsJune 21, 1955 - 1958 (divorced)
  • Other works
    She was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever".
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 2 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Along with Elaine May, she is generally acknowledged to be one of the pioneering women in the field of improvisational theatre. Scenes she created with Alan Arkin, Severn Darden, Paul Sand and other celebrated members of the Second City and Compass companies are studied as masterpieces of the form. Most famous scenes: "Museum Piece" (with Arkin) and "First Affair" (with Darden).
  • Quotes
    Performers should be judged only by their work on-stage -- too much is made of their personal lives.

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