Theresa Harris

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  • group Other Names:
    Teresa Harris, Theresa Robinson, The Beautiful Maid

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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.

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  • wc Gender: Female
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1906-12-31
  • event Death Date 1985-10-08
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 2.2
  • info Birth Place Houston, Texas, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by Theresa Harris

7

Jezebel

1938-03-26

7.4

Miracle on 34th Street

1947-06-04

6.7

I Walked with a Zombie

1943-04-21

7.3

Baby Face

1933-07-13

6.5

The File on Thelma Jordon

1949-11-04

6.1

The Velvet Touch

1948-07-13

6

The Flame of New Orleans

1941-07-07

5.8

Neptune's Daughter

1949-06-10

5

The Trespasser

1947-07-03

0

Bargain with Bullets

1937-09-17

6.5

Blossoms in the Dust

1941-08-15

5.7

Our Wife

1941-08-20

0

Buck Benny Rides Again

1940-05-31

6.2

Night After Night

1932-10-29

4.8

Smooth as Silk

1946-02-01

6.5

Arrowsmith

1931-12-07

4.9

And Baby Makes Three

1949-12-02

6.5

Love Thy Neighbor

1940-12-27

6

Mary Stevens, M.D.

1933-07-22

3.9

Success at Any Price

1934-03-16

4.8

The Toy Wife

1938-06-10

5

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

1951-01-17

6.9

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

1941-08-07

7

Blood Money

1933-11-17

6.7

Charlie Chan at the Olympics

1937-05-21

4.3

Grounds for Marriage

1951-01-12

5.3

Tell No Tales

1939-06-12

7.3

Desirable

1934-09-08

6.8

Tension

1949-11-25

7.1

The Women

1939-09-01

0

The Lady Escapes

1937-07-22

5.7

Broadway Thru a Keyhole

1933-11-02

7.2

The Gift of Love

1958-02-11

0

Spoilers of the Forest

1957-04-04

6.6

Back from Eternity

1956-09-07

5.5

Strange Illusion

1945-03-31

5.7

Thunderbolt

1929-06-20

6.4

Morocco

1930-11-14

6.9

Horse Feathers

1932-08-19

6.3

The Green Pastures

1936-08-01

5.1

The Half-Naked Truth

1932-12-16

7.6

Out of the Past

1947-11-25

7.4

The Lady from Shanghai

1947-12-24

5.6

Santa Fe Trail

1940-12-20

7.1

Angel Face

1953-01-02

0

Swingtime Jamboree

1946-01-01

5.2

City of Chance

1940-01-13

5.1

Black Moon

1934-06-15

0

The Outskirts of Town

1942-10-19

0

Tough as They Come

1942-06-05

3

The Road to Reno

1931-09-25

3.7

Grand Slam

1933-02-22

7.2

Gold Diggers of 1933

1933-05-27

6

Morning Glory

1933-08-18

6.9

Cat People

1942-12-05

5

Professional Sweetheart

1933-06-09

5.5

Sing Your Worries Away

1942-03-06

6

Big Town Girl

1937-12-03

6.1

Hold Your Man

1933-06-30

7.3

The Big Clock

1948-03-18

6.8

Alias Nick Beal

1949-03-04

5.9

Finishing School

1934-05-04

6.8

Faithless

1932-10-15

0

The Worst Woman in Paris?

1933-12-03

7.5

Go Into Your Dance

1935-04-20

0

One Hour To Live

1939-11-10

5.7

Small Town Girl

1953-04-10

7.5

Go Into Your Dance

1935-04-20

4.2

The French Line

1954-02-08

6.7

Penthouse

1933-09-08

6.1

Union Depot

1932-01-14

6.4

Merrily We Go to Hell

1932-06-10

5.9

The Company She Keeps

1951-01-27

5.9

Private Detective 62

1933-06-10

7.7

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955-10-02

5.8

Letter to Loretta

1953-09-20

6

How to Marry a Millionaire

1957-10-07

5.5

Lux Video Theatre

1950-10-02