Theresa Harris
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| Theresa Harris | |
|---|---|
 in Professional Sweetheart (1933) |
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| Born | December 31, 1906 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 8, 1985 (aged 78) Inglewood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1929–1958 |
| Spouse | Dr. John Marshall Robinson, Jr. |
Theresa Harris (December 31, 1906 – October 8, 1985) was an American television and film actress.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and career
Harris was born on New Year's Eve, 1906 (some sources indicate 1909)[1] in Houston, Texas to Isaiah (1879–1956) and Mable (1883–1964) Harris, both of whom were former sharecroppers from Louisiana.
In 1929, she traveled to Hollywood and lent her singing voice to the talkie Thunderbolt. This role was uncredited. As she entered the 1930s she found herself playing maids to fictitious Southern belles, socialites and female molls played by such actresses as Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Esther Williams, Thelma Todd, Kay Francis, and Barbara Stanwyck. These parts, however, were sometimes uncredited. She also floated around studios doing bit-parts; preferably Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; aside from maids, she also specialized in playing blues singers, waitresses, tribal women, prostitutes, and hat check girls.
Harris had a featured role as a friend of Jean Harlow in MGM's Hold Your Man (1932), also starring Clark Gable. In 1933, she starred as Chico in the Warner Bros. Pre-code production of Baby Face, which starred Barbara Stanwyck.[2] Between the early 1930s and into the 1950s, Harris played many uncredited parts in films such as Horse Feathers, Cat People, Miracle on 34th Street, Out of the Past, The Big Clock, Gold Diggers of 1933, Mary Stevens, M.D. and Morning Glory. She also played Bette Davis's maid Zette in the film Jezebel (1938).[3]
[edit] Later life and death
During the 1950s, Harris appeared several times on television on such shows as Lux Video Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Letter to Loretta.[4] She made her last film appearance in an uncredited role in The Gift of Love in 1958.
On October 8, 1985, Harris died of natural causes at her home in Inglewood, California. She was buried in Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
[edit] Selected filmography
- Thunderbolt (1929)
- Morocco (1930)
- The Road to Reno (1931)
- Arrowsmith (1931)
- Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
- Week Ends Only (1932)
- Horse Feathers (1932)
- Night After Night (1932)
- The Half-Naked Truth (1932)
- Free Wheeling (1932)
- Grand Slam (1933)
- Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
- Professional Sweetheart (1933)
- Private Detective 62 (1933)
- Hold Your Man (1933)
- Baby Face (1933)
- Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
- Morning Glory (1933)
- Penthouse (1933)
- Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933)
- Blood Money (1933)
- The Worst Woman in Paris? (1933)
- Roman Scandals (1933)
- Success at Any Price (1934)
- A Modern Hero (1934)
- Finishing School (1934)
- Drums O' Voodoo (1934)
- Black Moon (1934)
- Desirable (1934)
- Go Into Your Dance (1935)
- Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
- Fifteen Maiden Lane (1936)
- Banjo On My Knee (1936)
- Gangsters on the Loose (1937)
- Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
- The Lady Escapes (1937)
- Big Town Girl (1937)
- Jezebel (1938)
- The Toy Wife (1938)
- Passport Husband (1938)
- Tell No Tales (1939)
- The Women (1939)
- One Hour to Live (1939)
- City of Chance (1940)
- Buck Benny Rides Again (1940)
- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
- Love Thy Neighbor (1940)
- The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
- Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
- Our Wife (1941)
- Sing Your Worries Away (1942)
- Tough As They Come (1942)
- Cat People (1942)
- I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
- What's Buzzin', Cousin? (1943)
- Phantom Lady (1944)
- Strange Illusion (1945)
- The Dolly Sisters (1945)
- Smooth as Silk (1946)
- Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)
- Hit Parade of 1947 (1947)
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Out of the Past (1947)
- The Big Clock (1948)
- The Velvet Touch (1948)
- Alias Nick Beal (1949)
- Neptune's Daughter (1949)
- Tension (1949)
- And Baby Makes Three (1949)
- The File on Thelma Jordon (1950)
- Grounds for Marriage (1951)
- Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951)
- The Company She Keeps (1951)
- Angel Face (1952)
- Here Come the Girls (1953)
- The French Line (1954)
- Spoilers of the Forest (1957)
- The Gift of Love (1958)
[edit] References
- ^ McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 150. ISBN 0-786-43790-1.
- ^ 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.
- ^ McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 151. ISBN 0-786-43790-1.
