Theresa Harris
Acting
Biography
Theresa Harris (December 31, 1906 [some sources indicate 1909] – October 8, 1985) was an American film and television actress, singer and dancer. In 1929 Harris traveled to Hollywood, where she embarked on an acting career. She made her film debut in Thunderbolt, singing the song "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home". As she entered the 1930s she found herself playing maids to fictitious Southern belles, socialites and female molls. These parts were sometimes uncredited. She also floated around studios doing bit parts, usually at Warner Bros. or MGM. Aside from maids, she specialized in playing blues singers, waitresses, tribal women, prostitutes, and hatcheck girls. Harris had a featured role as a friend of Jean Harlow in MGM's Hold Your Man (1932). In 1933 she appeared as Chico in the Warner Bros. pre-Code production of Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck. That same year Harris starred in a substantial role opposite Ginger Rogers in Professional Sweetheart. As Rogers' character's maid, Harris' character subs for Rogers' character as a singer on the radio. Despite the fact that Harris' character was a major point for the story's plot development, she was uncredited for the role. Throughout the 1930s, Harris played many uncredited parts in films such as Horse Feathers (1932), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933) and Morning Glory (1933). She also played Bette Davis's maid Zette in the film Jezebel (1938). In 1937 she appeared in the race film Bargain With Bullets opposite Ralph Cooper for Million Dollar Productions. While doing promotion for the film, Harris spoke about her frustration over the difficulty African American actors faced in the film industry, stating, "I never had the chance to rise about 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." Harris continued to lobby for better parts but found few opportunities within Hollywood. In the 1939 movie Tell No Tales she was credited for her part as 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 performed in many radio programs. She was often paired with Eddie Rochester Anderson, who portrayed her on-screen boyfriend. She also appeared in several prominent roles for RKO Pictures as she was a favorite of RKO 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). During the 1950s Harris appeared several times on television shows. She made her last film appearance in an uncredited role in The Gift of Love in 1958. Harris later married a doctor and retired from acting, living comfortably after having carefully invested the money she made during her career in the movies. On October 8, 1985, Harris (then known as Theresa Robinson) died in Inglewood, California. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Known For
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
Letter to Loretta is an American anthology drama series telecast on NBC from September 1953 to June 1961 for a total of 165 episodes. The filmed show was hosted by Loretta Young who also played the lead in various episodes. Letter to Loretta was sponsored by Procter & Gamble from 1953 through 1960. The final season's sponsor was Warner-Lambert's Listerine.
Letter to Loretta
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
The Women
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
Miracle on 34th Street
The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.
Out of the Past
How to Marry a Millionaire is an American sitcom that aired in syndication from September 1957 to August 1959. The series is based on the 1953 film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall. The series stars Lori Nelson, Merry Anders, and Barbara Eden. Lisa Gaye joined the cast in the second season after Lori Nelson left the series. How to Marry a Millionaire was the first series that Barbara Eden was featured in as a regular cast member. Eden would go on to play one of her more notable roles, "Jeannie" in the NBC sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. During the series' first season, Eden was billed third. After Lori Nelson left the series, Eden was billed first.
How to Marry a Millionaire
In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.
Jezebel
Mogador, Morocco. Late 1920s. A complex romance develops between a womanizing Legionnaire and a disillusioned Parisian cabaret singer.
Morocco
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
The Lady from Shanghai
A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.
Baby Face
A Serbian émigré in Manhattan believes that, because of an ancient curse, any physical intimacy with the man she loves will turn her into a feline predator.
Cat People
Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.
Angel Face
As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.
Santa Fe Trail
A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star.
42nd Street
When all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going.
Gold Diggers of 1933
A woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.
Black Moon
Film based on the story of Al Jennings, a former train robber turned attorney.
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
A nurse in the Caribbean turns to voodoo in hopes of curing her patient, a mindless woman whose husband she's fallen in love with.
I Walked with a Zombie
Boxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes...because a Heavenly Messenger, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife?