"THERESA HARRIS: HOW OLD HOLLYWOOD STOPPED HER STAR FROM RISING" (044)

From Beneath the Hollywood Sign

EPISODE 44 - "THERESA HARRIS: HOW OLD HOLLYWOOD STOPPED HER STAR FROM RISING" - 07/15/2024

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When THERESA HARRIS appears on screen, you cannot take your eyes off of her. Beautiful, talented, and a skilled singer and dancer, she lights up any scene she’s in. Despite appearing in over 100 films, she rarely received screen credit and most often played a maid, waitress, or other types of domestic servant. Her parts were small, but her charisma and presence on screen were enormous! As a black woman in the early days of Hollywood, she was limited in the roles she could perform by the restrictive Hayes Code of 1934 and the horrible Jim Crow laws of the South. Still, she is a welcome presence in so many classic films. This week, we look at the extraordinary life and career of the talented THERESA HARRIS.

SHOW NOTES:

Sources:

“Theresa Harris, Credited and Uncredited in Over 100 Films,” March 28, 2024, by Herb Boyd, New York Amsterdam News;

“Just a Maid in Movies, But Not Forgotten,” April 21, 2011, by Manohla Dargis, The New York Times;

“The Underrated Charms of Theresa Harris,” July 11, 2020, by Constance Cherise, TCM.com;

“Theresa Harris: Television and Film Actress of the 1930s,” August 18, 2023, by Jae Jones, BackThen.com;

“Actress Theresa Harris Hollywood Vixen Turned Servant,”September 2, 2011, by Veronica Wells, Madamenoire;

IMDBPro.com;

Wikipedia.com;

Movies Mentioned:

Thunderbolt (1929), starring Fay Wray and George Brent;

Hold Your Man (1932), starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable;

Baby Face (1933), starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent;

Professional Sweetheart (1933), starring Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, and Zasu Pitts;

Horse Feathers (1932), starring The Marx Brothers and Thelma Todd;

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), starring Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Ginger Rogers;

Morning Glory (1933), starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr;

Flying Down to Rio (1933), starring Delores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Ginger Rogers, and Fred Astaire;

Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), starring Jack Benny and Eleanor Powell;

Banjo On My Knee (1936), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea;

Bargain With Bullets (aka The Gangster’s On The Loose) (1937), starring Ralph Cooper and Theresa Harris;

Jezebel (1938), starring Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, and George Brent;

Tell No Tales (1939), starring Melvyn Douglas and Louise Platt;

Buck Benny Rides Again (1940), starring Jack Benny, Ellen Drew, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, and Theresa Harris;

What’s Buzzin’ Cousin? (1943), starring Jack Benny and Ann Miller;

Blossoms In The Dust (1941), starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Marsha Hunt;

Our Wife (1941), starring Melvyn Douglas, Ruth Hussey, and Ellen Drew;

Cat People (1942), starring Kent Smith, Simone Simon, Jane Randolph, and Tom Conway;

I Walked With A Zombie (1943), starring Frances Dee, Tom Conway, Darby Jones, and Christine Gordon;

The Dolly Sisters (1945), starring Betty Grable, John Payne, and June Haver;

Three Little Girls In Blue (1946), starring George Montgomery, Vera-Ellen, and June Haver;

Miracle on 34th Street (1947), starring Maureen O’Hara, Edmund Gwenn, John Payne, and Natalie Wood;

Out of the Past (1947), staring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas;

Angel Face (1952), starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons;

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