Ed Harris

• 1. Introduction

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  On the 21st of March 1999, at the 71st Academy Awards, the actor Ed Harris remained in his seat and did not applaud. The honoree was the director Elia Kazan, who was receiving an Academy Honorary Award. Harris and his wife, the actress Amy Madigan, openly showed their disdain for the moment. Their reason reached back to 1952, when Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He named friends from the Group Theatre as communists, and those friends were blacklisted. Kazan never apologized.

  Ed Harris is an American actor and filmmaker, born in 1950. His career runs through stage, film, television and the director's chair. How does a high school football captain from New Jersey end up playing astronauts, painters and mission controllers? What did the stage teach him that he carried onto the screen? And what happens when he takes charge of the camera himself?

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• 2. Football To Footlights

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  Ed Harris was born on the 28th of November 1950 at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, New Jersey. He grew up nearby in the suburb of Tenafly. His mother, Margaret, worked as a travel agent. His father, Robert L. "Bob" Harris, who lived from 1922 to 2014, sang with the Fred Waring chorus and worked at the bookstore of the Art Institute of Chicago. Both parents came from Oklahoma, and the family was middle-class and Presbyterian. Ed had an older brother named Robert and a younger brother named Paul.

  Tenafly High School graduated Harris in 1969. He played football there and served as team captain in his senior year. Columbia University came next, where he played varsity football and lived in Carman Hall. One of his teammates was Eric Holder, who later became United States Attorney General.

  New Mexico is where the Harris family later moved, and Ed followed. By then he had found an interest in acting through various theater plays. He enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to study drama. Several successful roles in local theaters followed, including at the Jewel Box Theater in Oklahoma City. He then moved to Los Angeles and spent two years at the California Institute of the Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975.

  The next year, 1976, would put him on a Pasadena stage playing an FBI agent.

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• 3. Apprenticeship And Breakthrough

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  In 1976, at the Pasadena Repertory Theatre, Harris played an FBI agent in the world premiere of Thomas Rickman's play Baalam. At the same theatre that year, he played Lot in the West Coast premiere of Tennessee Williams' Kingdom of Earth, also known as The Seven Descents of Myrtle.

  Coleman-free of any starring billing, Harris made his first film appearance in 1978 with a minor part in the suspense film Coma. Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas headed that cast. His first major film role arrived two years later in Borderline, where he starred alongside Charles Bronson. In 1981 he took the lead in Knightriders, directed by George A. Romero. He played the motorcyclist William "Billy" Davis, a role modeled after King Arthur. The following year Romero cast him again, this time as Hank Blaine in Creepshow.

  Television kept Harris working from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, usually in single episodes. He turned up in Gibbsville in 1975, Delvecchio in 1977 and The Rockford Files in 1978. He also appeared in Barnaby Jones, CHiPs, Hart to Hart and Cassie & Co. Two episodes of The Seekers came in 1979, and an episode of American Playhouse followed in 1984.

  Astronaut John Glenn became the role that made Harris well known, in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. In 1984 he co-starred in Places in the Heart, a drama directed by Robert Benton. That same year he appeared in Swing Shift, a World War II drama directed by Jonathan Demme, with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

  In 1985, Harris played the abusive husband Charlie Dick opposite Jessica Lange's Patsy Cline in the HBO film Sweet Dreams. In 1986 he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play, for George Furth's Precious Sons. That performance also won him the Theatre World Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play.

  William Walker, a 19th-century American who appointed himself President of Nicaragua, was the subject of the 1987 film Walker. Harris played him. That same year he played Harry Nash in the HBO television thriller The Last Innocent Man. In 1988 he acted in To Kill a Priest, directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Christopher Lambert. The film drew on Jerzy Popiełuszko and his murder under the Polish communist regime, and critics received it well.

  Jacknife, in 1989, brought Harris his first Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture. He played David "Dave" Flannigan. That year he also played Virgil "Bud" Brigman in James Cameron's science fiction film The Abyss. Three years later, he would step into a David Mamet adaptation.

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• 4. Nineties Heavyweights

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  David Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross reached the screen in 1992, with Harris co-starring as Dave Moss. His performance won the Best Actor award at the Valladolid International Film Festival.

  The year 1993 brought The Firm and Needful Things. In 1994 Harris took the lead role of Kyle Bodine in the neo-noir film China Moon. In 1995 he appeared in the legal thriller Just Cause. That year he also played the Watergate figure E. Howard Hunt in Oliver Stone's biopic Nixon.

  Gene Kranz, NASA's Apollo Mission Control Director, was Harris's character in Apollo 13 in 1995. The performance earned his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor, at the 68th Academy Awards.

  The year 1996 was crowded. Harris starred in and served as executive producer of the television adaptation of Riders of the Purple Sage. He appeared in John Schlesinger's psychological thriller Eye for an Eye and in Michael Bay's action film The Rock. He also returned to Broadway as Major Steve Arnold in Ronald Harwood's play Taking Sides.

  Clint Eastwood's political thriller Absolute Power, in 1997, gave Harris another starring part. In 1998 he co-starred with Jim Carrey in the comedy drama The Truman Show. It earned him a second Best Supporting Actor nomination, at the 71st Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he appeared with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in the family drama Stepmom.

  Two years later, Harris would try something he had not done before, which was to direct.

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• 5. Behind The Camera

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  Pollock, in 2000, marked the directorial debut of Ed Harris, and he also starred in it as the artist Jackson Pollock. To prepare, he built a small studio where he copied the painter's techniques. The performance earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and his third nomination overall.

  Appaloosa arrived in 2008. Harris co-wrote and directed the western, and he starred in it alongside Viggo Mortensen.

  On the 13th of May 2024, Harris was set to write and direct a feature adaptation of Kim Zupan's neo-noir crime thriller novel The Ploughman. The announced cast included Owen Teague, Nick Nolte and Bill Murray. It also included Amy Madigan and their daughter, Lily Harris, which gives the project a family stake.

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• 6. Television And Voice

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  The CBS drama series Lou Grant, from 1979 to 1981, gave Harris the role of Warren. It was one of his earliest regular television credits.

  In 2006, Harris starred as the American diplomat Leslie Davis in the television documentary film The Armenian Genocide. A year earlier, the HBO miniseries Empire Falls had cast him as Miles Roby. That lead role earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. It also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a miniseries or television film.

  In 2012, the HBO television drama Game Change cast Harris as Senator John McCain. He won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a series, miniseries or television film. He was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

  His voice has been used as well. In 2010 he portrayed Jason Hudson in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops. In 2013 he voiced Mission Control in Alfonso Cuarón's space epic Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. In 2014 he voiced Blade Ranger in the animated film Planes: Fire & Rescue.

  Westworld, HBO's dystopian sci-fi western, ran from 2016 to 2022. Harris starred as William, also known as the villainous Man in Black. The series began in the same year that he returned to the stage in Buried Child.

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• 7. Ensemble Years

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  In 2001, Harris appeared in A Beautiful Mind. That same year he played the German sniper Major Erwin König in the war thriller Enemy at the Gates. The Hours followed in 2002, and his role as Richard Brown in the British-American drama brought his fourth Academy Award nomination, his third in the Best Supporting Actor category. In 2002 he also appeared in adverts for the Vauxhall Vectra in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he played Coach Harold Jones in the football drama Radio.

  David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, in 2005, cast Harris as a vengeful mobster, with Viggo Mortensen starring. In 2006 he played the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in Copying Beethoven. In 2007 he appeared alongside Casey Affleck and Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone, a neo-noir mystery directed by Ben Affleck. That year he also played the antagonist Mitch Wilkinson in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, alongside Nicolas Cage.

  In 2010, Harris and Amy Madigan appeared together in Ash Adams' independent crime drama Once Fallen. Later that year he starred as Mr. Smith in the survival drama The Way Back. His performance received much critical praise, and critics suggested he should receive a fifth Oscar nomination. In 2012 he co-starred with Sam Worthington in the thriller Man on a Ledge.

  The year 2013 was busy. Harris reunited with director Michael Bay in the true crime film Pain & Gain. He appeared in the post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer and the western thriller Sweetwater. He also starred opposite Annette Bening in the romantic drama The Face of Love. In 2015 he portrayed the title character in the film version of Shakespeare's tragedy Cymbeline. He also starred with Liam Neeson in the action thriller Run All Night.

  Buried Child, Sam Shepard's play, was revived by The New Group in 2016. Harris appeared in it alongside Madigan and Taissa Farmiga. The role earned him a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play. That year he also joined the ensemble of Warren Beatty's romantic comedy drama Rules Don't Apply, with Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich.

  In 2017, Harris appeared in Dean Devlin's sci-fi film Geostorm, with Gerard Butler and Andy Garcia. He had previously been set to star in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Starz drama series The One Percent, with Hilary Swank and Ed Helms. He co-starred in Darren Aronofsky's horror film Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer and Domhnall Gleeson. He also starred in Kodachrome, where his performance was widely regarded as one of the film's highlights.

  Broadway welcomed Harris in 2019, when he took over the role of Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. The original cast member Jeff Daniels had played the part before him. In 2021 he starred in Maggie Gyllenhaal's psychological drama The Lost Daughter. In 2022 he played Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain in the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. In 2024 he appeared as Lou Sr. in Love Lies Bleeding.

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• 8. Marriage, Causes, Honors

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  On the 21st of November 1983, Harris married the actress Amy Madigan while the two were filming Places in the Heart together. They have one daughter, Lily, born in 1993. In January 2025, Harris and Madigan lost their Malibu home in the Palisades Fire.

  In March 2012, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists merged to form SAG-AFTRA. Harris was among a group of actors who opposed the merger. The group included Edward Asner, Martin Sheen, Valerie Harper, Michael Bell and Wendy Schaal. They sued SAG President Ken Howard and several SAG Vice Presidents, seeking to have the merger undone. They claimed that the election was improper. The effort was unsuccessful, and the lawsuit was dismissed on the 22nd of May 2012.

  On the 13th of March 2015, Harris was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, for his work in motion pictures. On the 17th of May 2015, Muhlenberg College gave him an honorary degree.

  Across his career, Harris has won two Actor Awards and two Golden Globes. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

  New York magazine has described Harris as being referred to as a "thinking woman's sex symbol," a label set against a record of those four Academy Award nominations.

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