Julie Harris Comes Full Circle
Julie Harris is considered by many to be the first lady of the American stage. With more Tonys than any other actor, and a resume from stage, film and television almost as thick as a phone book, it is no wonder she was one of the five artists celebrated at this year's Kennedy Center Honors. Harris suffered a stroke in 2001, affecting her ability to speak, but not her passion for the craft.
The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen talked with Harris in Washington, D.C., on the weekend of the honors to discuss her latest award.
Harris says this latest award is at the top of the list of other awards she has won over the years. "It's wonderful. I have worked on that stage a lot of times, on that wonderful stage in the Kennedy theater there."
She says it is wonderful having come full circle.
Long before the Kennedy Center Honors, Harris was a shy girl from Michigan. But when she acted in school plays she wasn't shy at all. By the age of 24, that shy little girl was the toast of Broadway.
Her stage portrayals took America by a storm and a career on the big screen soon followed, including a leading role in the cinema classic "East of Eden."
Harris remembers what it was like working with co-star James Dean.
"He was very wonderful. He was a magical young man. He was wonderful," she says. "I loved him. And we worked together very well."
The range of her characters was extraordinary, everyone from Emily Dickenson to Lilimae Clements on the CBS series Knots Landing.
Her agility as an actor is an inspiration to many generations of her peers.
"I speak for the entire community of the theater when I say that we have admired her choices, her determination, her gift, and her dedication to her craft. She has illuminated characters, brought them to life, and shown us ourselves," says actor Kevin Spacey. "For those of us who have chosen a life on the stage, Julie Harris' story is a holy text, a touchstone. Because as surely as she chose the theater, the theater claimed her as its own — we are eternally grateful."
Harris has been called one of the greatest American actors on stage of all time. What does she think makes a good actor?
"A lot of things. It's imagination and a good voice," she says. "And sometimes it's the people, it's small or large. You know, it's everything. Everything."
Harris gave everything to her characters, and in turn she left us all her many gifts.
The 2005 Kennedy Center Honors airs Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 9 p.m. on CBS.