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.
Photos
Films (79)
The Gift of Love
1958 · Dora - Sam's Wife (uncredited)
Spoilers of the Forest
1957 · Nancy the Maid
Back from Eternity
1956 · Mamie (uncredited)
The French Line
1954 · Clare (uncredited)
Small Town Girl
1953 · Backstage Maid
Angel Face
1953 · Nurse Theresa (uncredited)
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951 · Terese
Grounds for Marriage
1951 · Stella, Ina's Maid
The Company She Keeps
1951 · Lilly Johnson (uncredited)
And Baby Makes Three
1949 · Maid
Tension
1949 · Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)
The File on Thelma Jordon
1949 · Esther
Neptune's Daughter
1949 · Matilda (uncredited)
Alias Nick Beal
1949 · Opal
The Velvet Touch
1948 · Nancy
The Big Clock
1948 · Daisy (uncredited)
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 · Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Out of the Past
1947 · Eunice Leonard (uncredited)
The Trespasser
1947 · Julia, the maid
Miracle on 34th Street
1947 · Cleo (uncredited)
Miss Susie Slagle's
1946 · Maid (uncredited)
Smooth as Silk
1946 · Louise (Maid)
Swingtime Jamboree
1946 · Herself
Strange Illusion
1945 · Maid (uncredited)
I Walked with a Zombie
1943 · Alma
Cat People
1942 · Minnie (uncredited)
The Outskirts of Town
1942 · Wife
Tough as They Come
1942 · Bessie Mae
Sing Your Worries Away
1942 · Hat Check Girl
Our Wife
1941 · Hattie
Blossoms in the Dust
1941 · Cleo
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941 · Mother Listening to Hurdy-gurdy (uncredited)
The Flame of New Orleans
1941 · Clémentine
Love Thy Neighbor
1940 · Josephine
Santa Fe Trail
1940 · Maid (uncredited)
Buck Benny Rides Again
1940 · Josephine
City of Chance
1940 · Beulah - Powder Room Attendant
One Hour to Live
1939 · High Yaller girl
The Women
1939 · Olive (uncredited)
Tell No Tales
1939 · Ruby
The Toy Wife
1938 · 'Pick'
Jezebel
1938 · Zette
Big Town Girl
1937 · Maid
Bargain with Bullets
1937 · Grace Foster
The Lady Escapes
1937 · Maid (uncredited)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics
1937 · Athlete
Banjo on My Knee
1936 · Black Blues Singer (uncredited)
The Green Pastures
1936 · Angel (uncredited)
Go Into Your Dance
1935 · Dressing Room Maid, Luana's Maid
Desirable
1934 · Ladies Room Maid at Party
Black Moon
1934 · Sacrificed Girl (uncredited)
Finishing School
1934 · Evelyn (uncredited)
Success at Any Price
1934 · Marie
The Worst Woman in Paris?
1933 · Lily - the Maid
Blood Money
1933 · Jessica (uncredited)
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
1933 · Joan's Maid
Penthouse
1933 · Lili (uncredited)
Mary Stevens, M.D.
1933 · Andrews' Maid Alice (uncredited)
Baby Face
1933 · Chico
Hold Your Man
1933 · Lily Mae Crippen (uncredited)
Private Detective 62
1933 · Janet's Maid (Uncredited)
Professional Sweetheart
1933 · Vera (uncredited)
Gold Diggers of 1933
1933 · Black Woman in "Pettin' in the Park" Number (uncredited)
42nd Street
1933 · Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Grand Slam
1933 · Ladies' Room Attendant (uncredited)
The Half-Naked Truth
1932 · Emily (uncredited)
The Sport Parade
1932 · Nightclub Dancer (uncredited)
Night After Night
1932 · Ladies' Room Attendant (uncredited)
Faithless
1932 · Amanda
Free Wheeling
1932 · Maid (uncredited)
Horse Feathers
1932 · Laura (uncredited)
Week Ends Only
1932 · Chloe (uncredited)
Merrily We Go to Hell
1932 · Powder Room Attendant (uncredited)
Union Depot
1932 · Black Woman (uncredited)
Arrowsmith
1931 · Native Mother (uncredited)
The Road to Reno
1931 · Maid at Dude Ranch
Morocco
1930 · Camp Follower (uncredited)
Someday Sweetheart
1930 · Tessie Maize (Self)
Thunderbolt
1929 · Singer
