Julie Harris 1925-2013

Julie Harris, one of Broadway's most honored performers, whose roles ranged from the flamboyant Sally Bowles in "I Am a Camera" to the reclusive Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst," and whose film appearances included the classic "East of Eden," died Saturday, August 24, 2013. She was 87.

Harris won five Tony Awards for best actress in a play, displaying a virtuosity that enabled her to portray an astonishing gallery of women during a theater career that spanned almost 60 years and included such plays as "The Member of the Wedding" (1950), "The Lark" (1955), "Forty Carats" (1968) and "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" (1972).

Left: The actress in 1965.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

From left: Brandon De Wilde, Ethel Waters and Julie Harris in the 1952 film version of the Carson McCullers play, "The Member of the Wedding." Harris recreated her Broadway role as "Frankie" Addams, a young tomboy coping with adolescence and the changes in her family as the oldest son prepares to marry.

Critics had raved about Harris' stage performance (she was 24 when the play debuted), and she and other Broadway co-stars recreated their roles in the film, for which Harris received an Academy Award nomination.

"That play was really the beginning of everything big for me," Harris had said.

Julie Harris with director Fred Zinnemann on the set of "The Member of the Wedding."

Julie Harris starred opposite James Dean (right) and Richard Davalos in the 1955 film of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden."

Julie Harris and James Dean in a promotional photo for "East of Eden."

Julie Harris and James Dean in "East of Eden."

Despite her plum roles in the 1950s and early '60s, Harris' biggest successes and most satisfying moments were on stage. "The theater has been my church," the actress once said. "I don't hesitate to say that I found God in the theater."

Julie Harris poses with director Elia Kazan (left) and actors Marlon Brando and James Dean on the set of "East of Eden."

Harris had won her first Tony Award for playing Sally Bowles, the confirmed hedonist, in the play, "I Am a Camera," adapted by John van Druten from Christopher Isherwood's "Berlin Stories." Harris recreated her performance in the 1955 film opposite Laurence Harvey.

The play later became the stage and screen musical "Cabaret."

Julie Harris and Anthony Quinn in the 1962 film version of the Rod Serling teleplay, "Requiem for a Heavyweight," about a washed-up boxer.

Claire Bloom and Julie Harris in "The Haunting" (1962), a classic horror tale about an investigation into the paranormal happenings at a particularly spooky house.

Jim Brown and Julie Harris played masterminds of a robbery whose $1.5 million take goes missing in the 1968 caper "The Split," based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake.

Juli Harris and Eli Wallach play the parents of disturbed teenager Deborah Winters in "The People Next Door" (1970).

Julie Harris starred in "The Hiding Place" (1975), the true story of Dutch woman Corrie ten Boom, whose family hid Jews from the Nazis during World War II, only to face imprisonment in a concentration camp herself.

in 1980 Julie Harris joined the cast of the prime time soap "Knots Landing," playing the free-spirited Lilimae Clements.

She made numerous guest-starring television appearances on dramas and was a regular on two quickly-canceled series - "Thicker Than Water" in 1973 and "The Family Holvak" in 1975.

Harris won three Emmys, for performances in "Little Moon of Alban" in 1958 and "Victoria Regina" in 1961, and for her voice-over performance in "Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony" (1999).

Julie Harris starred opposite Sigourney Weaver in the 1988 drama "Gorillas in the Mist," about primate scientist Dian Fossey.

Julie Harris joins Dana Delany, Donald Moffat, Richard B. Shull and Laurel Cronin in witnessing the antics of Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in the 1992 comedy "Housesitter."

Julie Harris starred opposite Jena Malone in the 1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie, "Ellen Foster," based on the novel by Kaye Gibbons.

Julie Harris speaks at the memorial for Tony Randall at the Majestic Theater, October 5, 2004 in New York City.

Harris won her last two Tonys for playing historical figures - Mary Todd Lincoln in "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" and poet Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst" by William Luce. The latter, a one-woman show, became something of an annuity for Harris, a play she would take around the country at various times in her career.

The actress liked to tour, even going out on the road in such plays as "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Lettice & Lovage" after they had been done in New York with other stars.

Harris' last Broadway appearances were in revivals, playing the domineering mother in a Roundabout Theatre Company production of "The Glass Menagerie" (1994), and then "The Gin Game" with Charles Durning for the National Actors Theatre in 1997.

Tony Bennett (left), Suzanne Farrell (2nd left), Julie Harris (3rd left), Robert Redford (4th left) and Tina Turner (center), stand as honorees during the 28th annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, December 4, 2005 in Washington, D.C.

Singer Tony Bennett closes his eyes as actress and fellow Kennedy Center honoree, actress Julie Harris, takes his hand while on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center December 4, 2005 in Washington, D.C. Bennett and Harris were two of five awardees of the 28th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, along with fellow entertainers Robert Redford, Suzanne Farrell and Tina Turner.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Julie Harris had suffered a stroke in 2001 while she was in Chicago appearing in a production of Claudia Allen's "Fossils." She suffered another stroke in 2010.

She died at her West Chatham, Mass., home of congestive heart failure, a family friend told The Associated Press.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
The Associated Press contributed to this report.