Theresa Harris
77 movies · 4 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 31, 1906
- Died
- Oct 8, 1985 (age 78)
- Place of birth
- Houston, Texas, USA
- Also known as
- Teresa Harris · Theresa Robinson · The Beautiful Maid
Biography
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.
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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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Theresa Harris: movies and TV shows
Acting (81)
- 1958 The Gift of Love
as Dora - Sam's Wife (uncredited)
- 1957
- 1957 Spoilers of the Forest
as Nancy the Maid
- 1956 Back from Eternity
as Mamie (uncredited)
- 1955
- 1954 The French Line
as Clare (uncredited)
- 1953
- 1953 Small Town Girl
as Backstage Maid
- 1953 Angel Face
as Nurse Theresa (uncredited)
- 1951 Al Jennings of Oklahoma
as Terese
- 1951 Grounds for Marriage
as Stella, Ina's Maid
- 1951 The Company She Keeps
as Lilly Johnson (uncredited)
- 1950
- 1949 And Baby Makes Three
as Maid
- 1949 Tension
as Woman in Drugstore (uncredited)
- 1949 The File on Thelma Jordon
as Esther
- 1949 Neptune's Daughter
as Matilda (uncredited)
- 1949 Alias Nick Beal
as Opal
- 1948 The Velvet Touch
as Nancy
- 1948 The Big Clock
as Daisy (uncredited)
- 1947 The Lady from Shanghai
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- 1947 Out of the Past
as Eunice Leonard (uncredited)
- 1947 The Trespasser
as Julia, the maid
- 1947 Miracle on 34th Street
as Cleo (uncredited)
- 1946 Miss Susie Slagle's
as Maid (uncredited)
- 1946 Smooth as Silk
as Louise (Maid)
- 1945 Strange Illusion
as Maid (uncredited)
- 1943 I Walked with a Zombie
as Alma
- 1942 Cat People
as Minnie (uncredited)
- 1942 The Outskirts of Town
as Wife
- 1942 Tough as They Come
as Bessie Mae
- 1942 Sing Your Worries Away
as Hat Check Girl
- 1941 Our Wife
as Hattie
- 1941 Blossoms in the Dust
as Cleo
- 1941 Here Comes Mr. Jordan
as Mother Listening to Hurdy-gurdy (uncredited)
- 1941 The Flame of New Orleans
as Clémentine
- 1940 Love Thy Neighbor
as Josephine
- 1940 Santa Fe Trail
as Maid (uncredited)
- 1940 Buck Benny Rides Again
as Josephine
- 1940 City of Chance
as Beulah - Powder Room Attendant
- 1939 One Hour to Live
as High Yaller girl
- 1939 The Women
as Olive (uncredited)
- 1939 Tell No Tales
as Ruby
- 1938 The Toy Wife
as 'Pick'
- 1938 Jezebel
as Zette
- 1937 Big Town Girl
as Maid
- 1937 Bargain with Bullets
as Grace Foster
- 1937 The Lady Escapes
as Maid (uncredited)
- 1937 Charlie Chan at the Olympics
as Athlete
- 1936 Banjo on My Knee
as Black Blues Singer (uncredited)
- 1936 The Green Pastures
as Angel (uncredited)
- 1935 Go Into Your Dance
as Dressing Room Maid / Luana's Maid
- 1934 Desirable
as Ladies Room Maid at Party
- 1934 Black Moon
as Sacrificed Girl (uncredited)
- 1934 Finishing School
as Evelyn (uncredited)
- 1934 Success at Any Price
as Marie
- 1933 The Worst Woman in Paris?
as Lily - the Maid
- 1933 Blood Money
as Jessica (uncredited)
- 1933 Broadway Thru a Keyhole
as Joan's Maid
- 1933 Penthouse
as Lili (uncredited)
- 1933 Mary Stevens, M.D.
as Andrews' Maid Alice (uncredited)
- 1933 Baby Face
as Chico
- 1933 Hold Your Man
as Lily Mae Crippen (uncredited)
- 1933 Private Detective 62
as Janet's Maid (Uncredited)
- 1933 Professional Sweetheart
as Vera (uncredited)
- 1933 Gold Diggers of 1933
as Black Woman in "Pettin' in the Park" Number (uncredited)
- 1933 42nd Street
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
- 1933 Grand Slam
as Ladies' Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1932 The Half-Naked Truth
as Emily (uncredited)
- 1932 The Sport Parade
as Nightclub Dancer (uncredited)
- 1932 Night After Night
as Ladies' Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1932 Faithless
as Amanda
- 1932 Free Wheeling
as Maid (uncredited)
- 1932 Horse Feathers
as Laura (uncredited)
- 1932 Week Ends Only
as Chloe (uncredited)
- 1932 Merrily We Go to Hell
as Powder Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1932 Union Depot
as Black Woman (uncredited)
- 1931 Arrowsmith
as Native Mother (uncredited)
- 1931 The Road to Reno
as Maid at Dude Ranch
- 1930 Morocco
as Camp Follower (uncredited)
- 1929 Thunderbolt
as Singer
Talk shows and appearances (2)
- 1946
- 1930