A bittersweet evening with Julie Harris

This evening I had the pleasure of attending an interview-style chat with Ms. Julie Harris. The host was the acclaimed director (and co-founder of the Circle Repertory Company) Marshall Mason. The Smithsonian Institution arranged the event around the opening of the new production of "The Member of the Wedding" at Ford's Theatre and directed by Mr. Mason.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Mason were on stage for about an hour and discussed her health, her background in the theatre and film, various people she knew and worked with, highlights of her career, her MULTIPLE Tony nominations and wins, etc.

- She spoke a little about the stroke, mentioning that it was 4 years ago (! is that possible?) that she was in Chicago and was alone when she was stricken. She said she lay there for almost 6 hours before she realized that it was a stroke and was able to get help.

- The reason she spoke of the stroke first was as a way of explaining to anyone who didn't know about her trouble speaking. She said that she has a wonderful teacher and she is much better than she used to be, but she knows she needs to get much, much better still. (She had a little difficulty finding the words she wanted and then pronouncing them at the beginning. Still you felt that it was only her ability to form the words that was injured. As the hour progressed you could see that it was becoming harder and harder for her to find the words she wanted and then say them.) MM mentioned their mutual friend Patricia Neal and the fact that Ms. Neal was able to fully recover from her stroke, but that it took a lot of work. Then he said 'of course - you're no stranger to hard work, are you?' JH said not at all and that she was sure she would recover also.

- I don't know how religious she was before the stroke but she is very religious now. She showed a bracelet that she wears all the time that has the words of the Lord's Prayer written on it. She said that she practices saying it (with the bracelet's help) every day. She then said the prayer without looking at the bracelet and, despite a few lapses in pronunciation, she proudly finished it.

- They spoke of the original cast production of "The Member of the Wedding" and she couldn't say enough about star Ethel Waters. She said EW was her mother for 2 years. She said she remembered one time walking into the theatre and EW told her that she had a cold and she should go to bed. JH said that she felt just fine and told EW so. Then she said that the next morning she woke up and sure enough - was sick with a cold. In fact, I believe she said that EW did this on more than one occasion. She also mentioned Branden de Wilde and how adorable he was. They used a dirt box for the two of them and apparently had a time of it getting the dirt off afterwards. When BdeW went away on vacation he wrote to JH and told her all about the fact that his feet were clean every day!

- She said someone had asked her if it felt good or scary when audiences applauded. She said that at the end of "The Member of the Wedding", she and EW and BdeW would stand in the middle of the stage holding hands and she said it sounded just like thunder. She said when the show went to NY they had no box office (no pre-sales) but after the first night there were lines going all the way down the street. MM said that sadly that just doesn't happen with plays anymore.

- They talked a little about Sally Bowles and she mentioned being so scared when playing it on the road that she literally got sick. Then she said "Actors are strange people. They are...." She wasn't able to find the words to finish her thought. MM said "they are in the present moment - and aware of everything around them". Julie agreed enthusiastically.

It should be noted that about this time it was becoming harder and harder for her to finish her thoughts. It was obvious that she knew exactly what she wanted to say, but wasn't able to find the words to say it. MM would try to finish her sentences for her. When he said exactly what her thoughts were, she would say "Yes! yes, yes." But if his words were NOT what she wanted, she would shake her head no and make him keep trying until he got it right. It's because of this that I'm convinced that even if the words didn't come directly from her mouth, the things being said were definitely hers.

- At MM's urgings,she spent more time talking about people she worked with in the theatre and in film. Particularly James Dean. All she could say then was that he was a very tormented young man.

- She did say that regarding the theatre, the greatest performance she ever saw in her life was from her heroine, Laurette Taylor, in the Glass Menagerie. She said when the final curtain came down, she was unable to leave the theatre because she was crying so hard.

- she repeated over and over again about how important theatre was to her. She kept saying that she found God in the theatre. It meant everything to her - community, joy of ensemble, etc.

- when asked if she had any regrets, she laughed and said 'nothing that I'm able to talk about'.

I have about 16 pages of hastily written notes. This is just a spot check of a few things that stood out for me.

Mr. Mason ended the evening by mentioning that Julie's first appearance off-Broadway was with Circle Rep and that her appearance there acted like a tonic on everyone and helped keep them going when things weren't looking so good. He then said that while she is busy coping with the stroke, she is sharing herself in so many ways. One mentioned was her helping with her memories for a new production of The Lark.

Ms Harris then had the final word. She said "All of us have things to overcome and I thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!, for coming to me tonight. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Of course her second standing ovation for the evening followed this.

As I was leaving a man in the packed audience said "Why in the world would she do this? Why would she subject herself to this?" (He was referring to the tremendous effort she was putting forth at the end to say everything she wanted). I told him that I thought that MM said it best when he said that JH is doing everything she can to 'share herself'. The bitter part of the evening is seeing that magnificent actress sidelined by this stroke and wondering if we'll ever see her ACTING A ROLE in a play again. The sweet part is watching her play the role of a lifetime right now. She's playing herself and doing it beautifully. It wouldn't surprise me if she doesn't appear on stage again in a similar interview format. Keep your fingers crossed! (By the way - she looks wonderful. I got a pic from way back. Poor lady didn't know and so there's no smile. Trust me - the smile comes OFTEN and she looks just as adorable as ever when it does! Those nasty looking lines on her face are just the shadow of the frames of her glasses - from the overhead light.)

Updated On: 2/12/05 at 11:46 PM