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Theresa Harris

Theresa Harris

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.

Personal information

Birthday

1906-12-31

Birth Place

Houston, Texas, USA

Movies and TV shows :

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

1951

5.0

Movie
poster

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955

7.7

TV
Alias Nick Beal

Alias Nick Beal

1949

6.9

Movie
And Baby Makes Three

And Baby Makes Three

1949

4.9

Movie
Angel Face

Angel Face

1953

7.1

Movie
Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith

1931

6.5

Movie
Baby Face

Baby Face

1933

7.3

Movie
Back from Eternity

Back from Eternity

1956

6.6

Movie
Bargain with Bullets

Bargain with Bullets

1937

0.0

Movie
Big Town Girl

Big Town Girl

1937

6.0

Movie
Black Moon

Black Moon

1934

5.1

Movie
Blood Money

Blood Money

1933

7.0

Movie
Blossoms in the Dust

Blossoms in the Dust

1941

6.5

Movie
Broadway Thru a Keyhole

Broadway Thru a Keyhole

1933

5.7

Movie
Buck Benny Rides Again

Buck Benny Rides Again

1940

0.0

Movie
Cat People

Cat People

1942

6.9

Movie
Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Charlie Chan at the Olympics

1937

6.7

Movie
City of Chance

City of Chance

1940

5.2

Movie
Desirable

Desirable

1934

7.3

Movie
Faithless

Faithless

1932

6.8

Movie
Finishing School

Finishing School

1934

6.2

Movie
Go Into Your Dance

Go Into Your Dance

1935

7.0

Movie
Gold Diggers of 1933

Gold Diggers of 1933

1933

7.2

Movie
Grand Slam

Grand Slam

1933

3.7

Movie
Grounds for Marriage

Grounds for Marriage

1951

4.3

Movie
Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

1941

6.9

Movie
Hold Your Man

Hold Your Man

1933

6.1

Movie
Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers

1932

6.8

Movie
poster

How to Marry a Millionaire

1957

6.0

TV
I Walked with a Zombie

I Walked with a Zombie

1943

6.8

Movie
Jezebel

Jezebel

1938

7.0

Movie
poster

Letter to Loretta

1953

6.2

TV
Love Thy Neighbor

Love Thy Neighbor

1940

6.5

Movie
poster

Lux Video Theatre

1950

6.0

TV
Mary Stevens, M.D.

Mary Stevens, M.D.

1933

6.0

Movie
Merrily We Go to Hell

Merrily We Go to Hell

1932

6.4

Movie
Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street

1947

7.4

Movie
Morning Glory

Morning Glory

1933

6.1

Movie
Morocco

Morocco

1930

6.3

Movie
Neptune's Daughter

Neptune's Daughter

1949

5.8

Movie
Night After Night

Night After Night

1932

6.2

Movie
One Hour To Live

One Hour To Live

1939

0.0

Movie
Our Wife

Our Wife

1941

5.7

Movie
Out of the Past

Out of the Past

1947

7.6

Movie
Penthouse

Penthouse

1933

6.7

Movie
Private Detective 62

Private Detective 62

1933

5.9

Movie
Professional Sweetheart

Professional Sweetheart

1933

5.0

Movie
Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Trail

1940

5.6

Movie
Sing Your Worries Away

Sing Your Worries Away

1942

5.5

Movie
Small Town Girl

Small Town Girl

1953

5.7

Movie
Smooth as Silk

Smooth as Silk

1946

4.8

Movie
Spoilers of the Forest

Spoilers of the Forest

1957

0.0

Movie
Strange Illusion

Strange Illusion

1945

5.5

Movie
Success at Any Price

Success at Any Price

1934

3.9

Movie
Swingtime Jamboree

Swingtime Jamboree

1946

0.0

Movie
Tell No Tales

Tell No Tales

1939

5.3

Movie
Tension

Tension

1949

6.8

Movie
The Big Clock

The Big Clock

1948

7.3

Movie
The Company She Keeps

The Company She Keeps

1951

5.9

Movie
The File on Thelma Jordon

The File on Thelma Jordon

1949

6.5

Movie
The Flame of New Orleans

The Flame of New Orleans

1941

6.0

Movie
The French Line

The French Line

1954

4.2

Movie
The Gift of Love

The Gift of Love

1958

7.2

Movie
The Green Pastures

The Green Pastures

1936

6.3

Movie
The Half-Naked Truth

The Half-Naked Truth

1932

5.1

Movie
The Lady Escapes

The Lady Escapes

1937

0.0

Movie
The Lady from Shanghai

The Lady from Shanghai

1947

7.3

Movie
The Outskirts of Town

The Outskirts of Town

1942

0.0

Movie
The Road to Reno

The Road to Reno

1931

4.0

Movie
The Toy Wife

The Toy Wife

1938

4.8

Movie
The Trespasser

The Trespasser

1947

5.0

Movie
The Velvet Touch

The Velvet Touch

1948

6.1

Movie
The Women

The Women

1939

7.1

Movie
The Worst Woman in Paris?

The Worst Woman in Paris?

1933

0.0

Movie
Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt

1929

5.8

Movie
Tough as They Come

Tough as They Come

1942

0.0

Movie
Union Depot

Union Depot

1932

6.1

Movie