A bittersweet evening with Julie Harris

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/10/05 at 11:46pm

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

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/10/05 at 11:50pm

Oh, bless you for that! It was the next best thing to being there.

[kjklo]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 12:00am

Thank you so much! That was beautiful.

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 12:00am

You're very welcome. It was a wonderful evening.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 1:38am

Beautiful post, Mamie. Thank you.

Posted: 2/11/05 at 1:55am

Mamie - you have single-handedly made me happy that I have stuck around here. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing not only what you heard, but what you felt. She is one of the greats, and you demonstrated precisely why she is willing to 'put out the effort' for an evening such as this. Brava to you - and an extended, screaming and thunderous ovation to the brilliance that is Ms. Harris.

[jim coleman]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 2:30am

Thank you so much for that beautiful post. I met Julie Harris in Washington DC, years ago. I was the conductor of the National Company of SWEENEY TODD which was playing at the Opera House at the Kennedy Center, and Miss Harris was doing MIXED COUPLES, a new comedy by James Prideaux at the Eisenhower Theatre also at the Kennedy Center. We met at the opening night party for our show. She was a guest of Angela Lansbury's, and we were sitting at the same table. We hit it off, and became quite friendly during our respective runs at the Kennedy Center. We shared many lunches and after theatre snacks, and talked about her wonderful life in the theatre, and also her personal life. She is without a doubt, a remarkable woman in every way. Kind, funny, and a wonderful person to know. I lost touch with her about 6 years ago, and I really want to thank you for this lovely post. It is good to know that she is doing well and still has her passion for life and the theatre.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 3:07am

Mamie, I am moved beyond words. She is one of my all-time favorite actresses, and reading this was an absolute gift. Thank you so much.

Posted: 2/11/05 at 10:29am

Mamie - obviously there are some here who very much appreciate your efforts to share your experience. If you find the time, please share some of the other thoughts from your notes. It means so much to those who care for her.

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 12:02pm

Got a chance to see her in Seattle...The most wonderful Theatre experience of my life....I also met her.....devine person...One guestion...Did Miss Harris mention the movie she is filming now?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 12:10pm

Mamie, that was such a wonderful re-cap. Thank you for sharing. She is one of our all time greatest actors. It is a pity that there are those here who do not know who she is.

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 2:56pm

Thank you all for the kind words. I spent about a half hour responding to your last note DG when suddenly my pc hiccupped and lost it all. This time I'm going to try and put it in a Word doc first so I can save it and then copy it here. For that reason I apologize how if the format gets a little screwed up.

I just went through those scribbled notes one more time and pulled out a few things. They're disjointed and out of order, so they may not make much sense. Ask if I'm just confusing you (lol) :

- When Julie and Marshall took the stage the audience stood and gave her a standing O. When they'd finally settled in their seats, Julie said "Good Morning everyone". Of course it was then about 7 pm and as soon as she realized what she'd said, she started laughing at her goof. You could tell this wasn’t planned, but it should have been. The audience started laughing with her and any nervousness went out the window right then. It was a wonderful ice-breaking moment.

- She thanked Marshall for giving her a wonderful evening of theatre the night before at Ford's. She talked about what a wonderful experience it was to see "Member" restaged and acted so well. (I'm not seeing it until next week. The man sitting next to me said he'd seen it and didn't think it was very good. He and I agreed that Ford's is our least favorite theatre in DC and that may have influenced his view.)

- Marshall talked about the original director of the play (Harold Clurman) being a good friend of his and Julie's and that trying to stage his play now was rather intimidating. Julie told him that he needn't have worried. She then said that Carson McCuller was pretty 'cranky'. It took her a long time to get that word out and by the time she did it made McCuller's crankiness even more profound. She mentioned that "Member" was rather autobiographical so she got to play 'cranky' herself.

- Marshall talked about living in Texas and seeing her for the first time on early TV in "The Lark". He said watching her was so inspirational to him at the time. Julie said that while rehearsing "The Lark", a young actress appearing in the play came up to her and asked her for help. Julie was concerned because she felt her own experience on the stage was rather limited at that point. She then said that it turned out that the actress didn't know how to cross herself and wanted to know how Julie did it. (She used this as a lesson in not taking yourself too seriously.)

- She talked about working with Christopher Plummer in The Lark but she then said that she worked with him a few other times. Marshall said he didn't realize that and asked her what plays they had worked in together. She couldn't remember - all she knew was that they had. (As the evening went on, she forgot the titles of plays that she had worked on. She would describe the plot and at times even started citing lines of script in the show! Based on this, Marshall would then try to provide the title for her. I was thinking about this on the way home and realized that I can rarely remember the titles of plays, movies, or books. I can remember the people involved and the plot - just not the title. And I don't have nearly her excuse!)

- Marshall talked about his pride in having received 5 Tony nominations. Then he thought about Julie's record of 10 nominations and 5 wins as best actress and he said it made him very humble again. He asked her about those awards and did an award have much meaning for her anymore?

I think she interpreted his question as being 'did any one of those awards mean anything/more than any other?' She said that each performance is totally different from the one before it and the one after. To compare one role or play with another would be impossible because each was an entity unto itself. She repeated this theme later when asked if she had a favorite role. Marshall said it was a version of the classic response 'my favorite is the one I'm currently working on" She then said that Ethel Waters should have received the best-actress nomination for "Member" and that it was awful that she hadn't.

- She spoke many times of her great, undying love of the theatre. She said she goes all the time. Someone had asked her if it ever hurt to go and see a show she had done earlier and wasn't able to do now. She said that could never happen because just going to the theatre and experiencing the play was everything. She said "I LIVE for the theatre. I found God in the theatre."

- back on the subject of forgetfulness, Marshall mentioned the long run Julie had in the TV show "Knott's Landing". He said that in the limo on the way over that night Julie said to him "that TV show I was on….. what was it?" That brought out more laughter from everyone. At that point, after hearing so much about all of the plays and movies she had done, forgetting the name of a TV show seemed perfectly natural.

- she was also asked later about all the one-woman shows she had done. Since she mentioned the joy of community and the comraderie of the troupe, did she miss it in the one-woman shows? She said "Oh no - there's still a troupe. There's still a cohesive group of us putting on the play. (then the funny part) "I liked all the people around me in those shows - even when they're gross". LOL. Marshall added the fact that "you're never alone in the theatre".

- On the 'any regrets' topic, Marshall mentioned his '8 terrible years away from theatre' when he tried to make a career in Hollywood. He said he supposed he learned something from it, but he'd never leave theatre again. This served as a good transitioning point for him to ask her about working with Eliah Kazan. She said "he was absolutely wonderful. He was my teacher. A powerful, wonderful, man."

- When she talked about Laurette Taylor, Marshall mentioned "Broadway - the Golden Age" and the fact that not only was Julie a welcome presence on the DVD, but you could actually see a short segment of film with Laurette Taylor on it. This prompted me to ask her if she had any strong feelings about capturing theatre performances on film for the future. I mentioned that I never had the opportunity to see Laurette Taylor and that all her work on stage was lost forever.
All Julie would say on the subject was that some of her performances (particularly "Member") were on film so you could see them. Marshall was more enthusiastic about the subject. He said that he also never had the opportunity or priviledge to see Ms. Taylor and his views of capturing performances on film had changed. He said that in a film the camera takes the place of your eyes and you can only go where the camera goes. In a theatre, your eyes dart around the stage and take everything in. Not just the speaker, but the expressions on the faces of the supporting characters. You move in and out of the scene and actually feel a part of it. The problem is that once a particular performance is done, it's lost forever and he too would like the opportunity of seeing Ms. Taylor and others. He would let his imagination fill in the blanks.

- When it was over, the audience pretty much crowded up around Ms. Harris. I tried to get closer if only for an opportunity to shake her hand and thank her for all she's given to her audiences over the years. Unfortunately when I had only one person in front of me, she was bundled out of the theatre. A lost opportunity but one I completely understood. It had to have been an exhausting evening for her.

Updated On: 2/12/05 at 02:56 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 3:04pm

Thanks so much for posting this. Ms. Harris is one of the great actresses of this generation. I'm very hard put to think of a current actress with her talent.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 3:06pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
What an incredible evening, and you tell about it beautifully- makes me feel as if I was right there with you!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 4:18pm

one of my most cherished memories was a reading i did as an intern at circle rep. i sat there onstage. me, julie harris, cherry jones and john dossett and tried not to fall off my stool. i don't remember the play, just being there for one glorious afternoon.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 4:33pm

Count me as another who lost touch with Julie - not long before her stroke. I stupidly never found time to respond to her last letter to me.

I worked with her the year before her stroke. Every minute spent with her was delightful. I have never been as in awe of anyone - not just as the brilliant actress, but as the embodiment of serenity and calm that she is. She is an extraordinary woman, completely aside from her magnificent talent.

As difficult as your notes were to read, Mamie, they were also comforting in the fact that she obviously has a good sense of humor about and acceptance of her life as it is now.

Updated On: 2/11/05 at 04:33 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 6:44pm

Kristie -
I'm sorry - I just saw your question. The only thing I can specifically remember them talking about was a version of "The Lark" that she was assisting them with. I can't honestly tell you if it was a film or a play but they did say that she was acting as an advisor. They never actually said she was IN it.

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 8:17pm

According to IMDB, Miss Harris has just finished a movie called "The Way Back Home"......She plays a grandmother who has just had a stroke.......I am looking forward on seeing her in this movie!!!!

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 11:30pm

Someone sitting in a reserved seat in the first row said something to Marshall about all the different things Julie was working on. He mentioned a couple of them but I honestly don't remember this. She might have said it but you couldn't hear her at all. She was obviously in Julie's party and was there to help out if help was needed.

[cturtle]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 11:54pm

as a huge fan of julie, i thank you for this fantastic post :)

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/11/05 at 11:57pm

You are all, really, very welcome. It was a pleasure to do.

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:29am

Just want to send you another big *MWAH* kiss for the follow-up post.

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:58am

Thanks sweetie!

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 10:59am

That was wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Mamie]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 10:34pm

I just wanted to add this for any fans of Julie's. It was an interview with her that appeared in the Washington Post.

I saw that his notes on one of her comments differed with mine. It doesn't surprise me since mine consisted of a few scratched out words and a lot of memory. (And I wouldn't place any heavy bets on his having gotten it exactly right either.)

My primary point of interest in this article was with his beginning words - when he talked about the 'old' and 'frail' woman sitting on the bed.

For years and years Julie Harris has proven that she truly is the greatest actress on the American stage. When we see her on the stage she IS Emily Dickinson, or Mary Lincoln, or Joan of Arc.... On Thursday night she chose not to show us an old and frail woman and she didn't! Though she tired as the evening went on, I would never use adjectives like 'old' and 'fragile' to describe her thus proving that she STILL is the greatest actress on the American stage!
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