Ed Harris
- Category : Actor
- Type : MGE
- Profile : 6/3 - Role Model / Martyr
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : LAX Duality 2
Categories
Biography
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, known for his performances in The Rock, The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, Pollock, and The Truman Show, among many others.
Early life
Harris was born in Tenafly, New Jersey to Margaret, a travel agent, and Robert L. Harris, who sang with the Fred Waring chorus and worked at the bookstore of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has an older brother, Robert, and a younger brother, Spencer.
Harris graduated from Tenafly High School in 1969, where he played on the football team, serving as the team's captain in his senior year. He was a star athlete in high school and competed in athletics at Columbia University in 1969. Two years later his family moved to Oklahoma and he followed after having discovered his interest in acting in various theater plays.
He enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to study drama. After several successful roles in the local theater, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts.
Career
Harris's first important film role was in Borderline with Charles Bronson. In Knightriders he played a motorcycle stunt rider in a role modeled after that of King Arthur. In 1983, he became a star, playing NASA astronaut John Glenn in The Right Stuff; in 1995 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of NASA mission director Gene Kranz, in the film Apollo 13. Further Oscar nominations arrived in 1999, 2001 and 2003, for The Truman Show, Pollock and The Hours, respectively. More recently, he appeared as a vengeful mobster in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. He also had a role alongside Casey Affleck and Morgan Freeman in Gone, Baby, Gone, directed by actor Ben Affleck.
Harris has shown interest in directing. He made his debut in 2000 with Pollock, as well as directing various plays. Harris has also starred in television adaptations of Riders of the Purple Sage (1996) and Empire Falls (2005).
Harris also has an active stage acting career. Most notibly, he starred in the production of Neil LaBute's one-man play Wrecks at the Public Theater in New York City.Wrecks premiered at the Everyman Theater in Cork, Ireland and then in the US at the Public Theater in New York. Harris has been nominated for several major awards for this role.
Personal life
Harris has been married to actress Amy Madigan since 1983. They have a daughter named Lily.
Awards and nominations
Academy Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, Apollo 13 (1995)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, The Truman Show (1998)
Nominated: Best Actor, Pollock (2000)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, The Hours (2002)
BAFTA Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, The Truman Show (1999)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, The Hours (2003)
Primetime Emmy Award
Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Empire Falls (2005)
Golden Globe
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Jacknife (1990)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Apollo 13 (1996)
Won: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, The Truman Show (1999)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, The Hours (2003)
Nominated: Best Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, Empire Falls (2006)
Other Awards
2006 - At the San Francisco International Film Festival, Harris received the Peter J. Owens Award, which honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity. A Flash of Green was screened at the festival in his honor.