{{short description|American theatre director and producer}} {{about|the theatrical producer and director|the musician|Jet Harris}} {{Infobox person | name = Jed Harris | image = Jed-Harris-1928.jpg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by the blind and visually impaired's speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Jed Harris (1928) | birth_name = Jacob Hirsch Horowitz | birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|02|25}} | birth_place = Vienna, Austria-Hungary | death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|11|15|1900|02|25}} | death_place = New York City, US | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Theatrical producer, director | years_active = 1925–1956 | partner = Ruth Gordon<br/>Margaret Sullavan<br/>Patricia Lynn Burroughs | children = 2 | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Jed Harris''' (born '''Jacob Hirsch Horowitz'''; February 25, 1900 – November 15, 1979) was an Austrian-born American theatrical producer and director. His many successful Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s include ''Broadway'' (1926), ''Coquette'' (1927), ''The Royal Family'' (1927), ''The Front Page'' (1928), ''Uncle Vanya'' (1930), ''The Green Bay Tree'' (1933) and ''Our Town'' (1938). He later directed the original Broadway productions of ''The Heiress'' (1947) and ''The Crucible'' (1953).
==Early life== Jed Harris was born '''Jacob Hirsch Horowitz'''<ref name="Yardley"/> in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, on February 25, 1900, to Meyer and Esther Scherz Horowitz. His family moved to the United States in 1901. He attended school in Monmouth County, New Jersey and entered Yale College at age 17. Although he was studious, he dropped out in 1920, telling a professor "I'm neither rich enough nor dull-witted enough to endure this awful place."<ref name="NYT Obit"/>
===Career=== [[Image:Jed-Harris-TIME-1928.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Producer Jed Harris on the cover of ''Time'' (September 3, 1928) during the run of his Broadway hit, ''The Front Page'']] Harris produced and directed 31 shows between 1925 and 1956. By age 28, he had produced a record four consecutive Broadway hits over the course of 18 months<ref name="Platt Independent">{{cite news |last=Yardley |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Yardley |date=December 28, 1983 |title=Louise Platt |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/12/28/broadways-mean-man/b4e50409-afff-4c8f-9e3b-c82dbd71534f/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref> and was on the cover of ''Time'' magazine. Over the course of his career, his productions gained seven awards, including a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for playwright Thornton Wilder. Harris directed four actors in award-winning roles in ''Child of Fortune'', ''The Crucible'', ''The Traitor'', ''The Heiress'' and ''Our Town''.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
Described by ''The New York Times'' as "a flamboyant man of intermittent charm", Harris was famous for his self-confidence, appeal to women, and sometimes outrageous and abusive behavior. Playwright and director George S. Kaufman, who worked with Harris on ''The Royal Family'' (1927) and ''The Front Page'' (1928), reportedly hated him and once said "When I die, I want to be cremated and have my ashes thrown in Jed Harris's face."<ref name="NYT Obit"/> Although Katharine Hepburn received scathing reviews in the New York production of ''The Lake'' (1933)—an experience she later described as "a slow walk to the gallows"—Harris insisted that she and the show go to Chicago. "My dear, the only interest I have in you is the money I can make out of you," Hepburn recalled Harris saying. She extricated herself from the contract by offering Harris all the money she had, $13,675.75; "I'll take it," he said.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepburn |first=Katharine |author-link=Katharine Hepburn |date=1991 |title=Me: Stories of My Life |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mestoriesofmylifhepb00hepb/page/165 165–169] |isbn=0-679-40051-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/mestoriesofmylifhepb00hepb/page/165 }}</ref> Laurence Olivier, whom Harris had directed on Broadway in ''The Green Bay Tree'' (1933),<ref name="NYT Obit"/> called him "the most loathsome man I'd ever met." In revenge, Olivier used Harris as the basis for his makeup for his 1944 stage (and later screen) portrayal of Richard III.<ref name="On Acting">{{cite book |last=Olivier |first=Laurence |date=1986 |title=On Acting |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster (Touchstone) |isbn=9780671645625 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780671645625 }}</ref>{{Rp|125}}
However despised he may have been in the theatrical community, Harris directed and produced actors including Leo G. Carroll, Laurence Olivier, Lillian Gish, Basil Rathbone, Elaine Stritch, Ruth Gordon, Walter Huston, Osgood Perkins and Katharine Hepburn. Moss Hart wrote that "every aspiring playwright's prayer was: 'Please God, let Jed Harris do my play!'"
In an interview shortly before his death, Harris spoke of the ephemeral nature of the theatre. "The beauty of it is that you can create a whole world in a few weeks of rehearsal. But then the whole thing disappears like a breath of air. Nothing remains after your audience has gone. All it represents is a few moments of escape."<ref name="NYT Obit"/>
While many of his hit plays were translated into film versions, Harris was hesitant to make the jump to working on films. His first foray into motion pictures was when ''Broadway'', one of his theatre productions, was adapted for a 1929 film. However, starting with ''The Light Touch'' (1952), starring George Sanders, Harris wrote the story for a trio of films continuing with ''Night People'' (1954), starring Gregory Peck and Buddy Ebsen, and ''Operation Mad Ball'' (1957), starring Jack Lemmon, Dick York, and Mickey Rooney.<ref name="film">{{Cite web| title=IMDB.com| work=Jed Harris | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364824 | access-date=August 5, 2006}}</ref>
===Personal life=== Harris was married three times: to Anita Green in 1925; to actress Louise Platt, with whom he had a daughter, in 1938; and to actress Bebe Allen briefly in 1957. All of the marriages ended in divorce.<ref name="Yardley">{{cite news |last=Vallance |first=Tom |date=October 1, 2003 |title=Obituary: Louise Platt |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/louise-platt-37203.html |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref> Platt accused him of abusing her during their marriage.
Barbara Barondess recalled her immediate attraction to Harris in her memoirs. Although she was a virgin, she willingly submitted to him, and the two began a brief affair, casual on his part but passionate on hers. She realized she was not an important part of his life when she called him at the office and overheard his talking with Ruth Gordon on the phone. Unfortunately and unknown to her at the time, she was pregnant with his child. Barondess elected to undergo an illegal abortion without telling him about the baby.<ref>Barondess MacLean, Barbara. One Life Is Not Enough. Hippocrene Books: New York, 1986.</ref>
In 1929, Ruth Gordon was starring in Harris's production of ''Serena Blandish'' when she and Harris began a long romance. She became pregnant and their son, Jones Harris, was born in Paris later that year. Although they never married, Gordon and Harris provided their son with a normal upbringing, and his parentage became public knowledge as social conventions changed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wada |first=Karen |date=August 29, 1985 |title=Ruth Gordon Dies; Stage, Film Career Spanned 7 Decades|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-29-mn-23770-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref> In 1932, the family was living discreetly in a small, elegant New York City brownstone.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lanchester |first=Elsa |author-link=Elsa Lanchester |date=1983 |title=Elsa Lanchester Herself |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/elsalanchesterhe00lanc/page/102 102] |isbn=0-312-24376-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/elsalanchesterhe00lanc/page/102 }}</ref> Jones Harris later married the actress and Vanderbilt family heiress Heidi Vanderbilt.<ref name= nytimes>{{cite web | title=Miss Vanderbilt Becomes Bride of Jones Harris (Published 1971) | website=The New York Times | date=28 October 1971 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/28/archives/miss-vanderbilt-becomes-bride-of-jones-harris.html }}</ref>
Harris's other romances included Margaret Sullavan.<ref name="Platt Independent"/> He lived with Patricia Lynn Burroughs for the last three years of his life. She wrote her Ph.D thesis,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3224/ | doi=10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3224 | title=The Theatrical Career of Jed Harris in New York, 1925-1956 | date=1978 | last1=Burroughs | first1=Patricia }}</ref> The Theatrical Career of Jed Harris in New York, 1925–1956, at LSU, completed in 1978. Burroughs assisted Harris in the last years of his life to finish his last book and complete a series of interviews with Dick Cavett.
Harris recalled his life and career in five consecutive 30-minute episodes taped for ''The Dick Cavett Show'', broadcast posthumously,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=April 21, 1980 |title=Review, A Dance on the High Wire by Jed Harris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOYCAAAAMBAJ&q=Dick+Cavett+Jed+Harris&pg=PA85 |magazine=New York |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dickcavettshow.com/index.php/component/zoo/tag/dick-cavett-shows/Jed%20Harris |title=Jed Harris, March 24–28, 1980 |website=The Dick Cavett Show |access-date=2015-12-29 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and in an autobiography, ''Dance on the High Wire'', published a week before his death. He died November 15, 1979, aged 79, at University Hospital in New York City after a long illness.<ref name="NYT Obit">{{cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=November 16, 1979 |title=Jed Harris, Broadway Producer and Director for 30 Years, Dead; 'Broadway' Was His First Hit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/16/archives/jed-harris-broadway-producer-and-director-for-30-years-dead.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref>
==Theatre credits== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Date ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | October 13–November 1925 | ''Weak Sisters'' | Producer | Booth Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by Lynn Starling<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/8364 |title=Weak Sisters |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | February 3–June 1926 | ''Love 'em and Leave 'em'' | Producer | Sam H. Harris Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by George Abbott<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/9992 |title=Love 'em and Leave 'em |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | September 16, 1926 – February 11, 1928 | ''Broadway'' | Producer | Broadhurst Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by Philip Dunning and George Abbott<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10121 |title=Broadway |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref><br>Some ten duplicate productions in the U.S. and abroad supervised by Joseph Calleia<ref name="NYT Across from Malta">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Across from Malta|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/21/archives/across-from-malta.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 21, 1934 |access-date=2015-11-11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 18, 1927 |title=A Solid Year of Broadway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/09/18/archives/a-solid-year-of-broadway-broadway.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=March 22, 1927 |title=Plan 10 Companies to Act 'Broadway' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/22/archives/plan-10-companies-to-act-broadway-jed-harris-to-have-six-in-this.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref> |- | April 4–June 1927 | ''Spread Eagle'' | Producer | Martin Beck Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by George Abbott<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10270 |title=Spread Eagle |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | November 8, 1927–September 1928 | ''Coquette'' | Producer | Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by George Abbott<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10484 |title=Coquette |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 28, 1927–October 1928 | ''The Royal Family'' | Producer | Selwyn Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by David Burton<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10540 |title=The Royal Family |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | August 14, 1928 – April 13, 1929 | ''The Front Page'' | Producer | Times Square Theater, New York City<br>Directed by George S. Kaufman<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10656 |title=The Front Page |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | January 23–April 1929 | ''Serena Blandish'' | Producer | Morosco Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10839 |title=Serena Blandish |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | April 15–July 1930 | ''Uncle Vanya'' | Producer, director | Cort Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11102 |title=Uncle Vanya |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | September 22–October 1930 | ''Uncle Vanya'' | Producer, director | Booth Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/9441 |title=Uncle Vanya |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | September 30–October 1930 | ''Mr. Gilhooley'' | Producer, director | Broadhurst Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11152 |title=Mr. Gilhooley |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 23–December 1930 | ''The Inspector General'' | Producer, director | Hudson Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11286 |title=The Inspector General |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | April 6–May 1931 | ''The Wiser They Are'' | Producer, director | Plymouth Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11346 |title=The Wiser They Are |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | October 22–November 1931 | ''Wonder Boy'' | Producer, director | Alvin Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11431 |title=Wonder Boy |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | February 9–27, 1932 | ''The Fatal Alibi'' | Producer | Booth Theatre, New York City<br>Directed by Charles Laughton<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/Production/View/7904 |title=The Fatal Alibi |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/1829/The-Fatal-Alibi |title=The Fatal Alibi |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-12-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=27 February 1932 |title=7 Plays End Runs Tonight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/02/27/archives/irving-berlin-finds-east-side-changed-impressed-by-visit-to-boys.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-12-30 }}</ref> |- | October 20, 1933–March 1934 | ''The Green Bay Tree'' | Producer, director | Cort Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11772 |title=The Green Bay Tree |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 26, 1933–February 1934 | ''The Lake'' | Producer, director | Martin Beck Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11807 |title=The Lake |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | September 20–September 1935 | ''Life's Too Short'' | Producer, director | Broadhurst Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/11986 |title=Life's Too Short |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | August 25–September 1936 | ''Spring Dance'' | Producer, director | Empire Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/12144 |title=Spring Dance |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 27, 1937–May 1938 | ''A Doll's House'' | Producer, director | Morosco Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/12335 |title=A Doll's House |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | February 4–November 19, 1938 | ''Our Town'' | Producer, director | Henry Miller's Theatre through February 12<br>Morosco Theatre from February 14<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/10441 |title=Our Town |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | January 14–31, 1943 | ''Dark Eyes'' | Producer, director | Belasco Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1265 |title=Dark Eyes |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 6–12, 1943 | ''The World's Full of Girls'' | Producer | Royale Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1367 |title=The World's Full of Girls |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | February 8–March 10, 1945 | ''One-Man Show'' | Producer, director | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1673 |title=One-Man Show |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | February 5–May 18, 1946 | ''Apple of His Eye'' | Producer, director | Biltmore Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1770 |title=Apple of His Eye|publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | October 16–November 16, 1946 | ''Loco'' | Producer, director | Biltmore Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1467 |title=Loco |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | September 29, 1947 – September 18, 1948 | ''The Heiress'' | Director | Biltmore Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1566 |title=The Heiress |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | December 4, 1948 – March 12, 1949 | ''Red Gloves'' | Director | Mansfield Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/2043 |title=Red Gloves |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | March 31–May 28, 1949 | ''The Traitor'' | Producer, director | 48th Street Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1828 |title=The Traitor |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | January 22–July 11, 1953 | ''The Crucible'' | Director | Martin Beck Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/2211 |title=The Crucible |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref><br>Tony Award for Best Play |- | November 13–December 1, 1956 | ''Child of Fortune'' | Producer, director | Royale Theatre, New York City<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/2583 |title=Child of Fortune |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |}
==Film and television credits== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1950–51 | ''{{sortname|The|Billy Rose Show}}'' | Producer | TV series<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/BillyRoseShow.htm |title=The Billy Rose Show |publisher=Classic TV Archive |access-date=2015-12-29}}</ref> |- | 1951 | ''{{sortname|The|Light Touch}}'' | Writer | Story, with Tom Reed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=50182 |title=The Light Touch |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2015-12-30}}</ref> |- | 1954 | ''Night People'' | Writer | Story, with Tom Reed<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=51285Movie=51951 |title=Night People |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2015-12-30 }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><br>Nominee, Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story |- | 1956 | ''Patterns'' | Co-producer | Uncredited<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=51951 |title=Patterns |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2015-12-30}}</ref> |- | 1957 | ''Operation Mad Ball'' | Producer, writer | Writers Guild of America Award nominee<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=52313 |title=Operation Mad Ball |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2015-12-30}}</ref> |}
==Accolades== Jed Harris and screenwriter Tom Reed were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, for the 1954 film, ''Night People''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp |title=Search |website=Academy Awards Database |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=2015-12-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208011732/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp |archive-date=2009-02-08 }}</ref>
Harris, Arthur Carter and Blake Edwards were nominated for a 1958 Writers Guild of America Award for the screenplay for ''Operation Mad Ball'' (1957).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/home/index.ashx |title=Search |website=Writers Guild Foundation Library |publisher=Writers Guild of America |access-date=2015-12-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227003802/http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/home/index.ashx |archive-date=2015-12-27 }}</ref>
Harris was posthumously inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 3, 1981 |title=26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/03/theater/26-elected-theater-hall-fame-26-broadway-voted-into-theater-hall-fame.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-12-30 }}</ref>
==Cultural references== The central character in Ben Hecht's 1931 novel ''A Jew in Love'' is modeled in part on Harris.<ref name="NYT Obit"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2014/01/how-a-brilliant-writer-got-in-his-own-way.html |title=How a Brilliant Writer Got in His Own Way|last1=Herman |first1=Jan |date=January 2, 2014 |website=Straight Up |access-date=2015-12-29 }}</ref> John Houseman wrote "Ben Hecht in ''A Jew in Love'' has described the mixture of deadly cruelty and ineffable charm of which Harris was capable; when he really wanted something or somebody — and even when he did not — no effort was too great, no means too elaborate or circuitous if it helped to satisfy his craving for personal power."<ref name="Houseman RT">{{cite book |last=Houseman |first=John |author-link=John Houseman |title=Run-Through: A Memoir |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/runthroughmemoir00hous/page/79 79] |date=1972 |isbn=0-671-21034-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/runthroughmemoir00hous/page/79 }}</ref>
Laurence Olivier believed that the physical features of the Big Bad Wolf in Disney's 1933 animated film ''The Three Little Pigs'' were based on Harris,<ref name="On Acting"/>{{Rp|125}} whom Olivier called "the most loathsome man I'd ever met".<ref name="r3.org">{{cite web | author=Margaret Gurowitz | title=Me, drunk? Ha! You should see Buckingham! | publisher=Richard III Society, American Branch | url=http://www.r3.org/onstage/drunk.html | access-date=8 July 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060722145234/http://www.r3.org/onstage/drunk.html | archive-date=22 July 2006 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Harold Clurman agreed with Olivier: "That's Harris's face. I mean made into an animal...There was venom in the man."<ref>{{cite book |last=Clurman |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Clurman |editor1-last=Loggia |editor1-first=Marjorie |editor2-last=Young |editor2-first=Glenn |date=1994 |title=The Collected Works of Harold Clurman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=flNO8VQJ1REC&q=Big+Bad+Wolf+Jed+Harris&pg=PA966 |location=New York |publisher=Applause Books |page=966 |isbn=9781557831323 }}</ref> Years later Olivier discovered that Walt Disney indeed had used Harris as his basis for the Big Bad Wolf.<ref name="olivierbook">{{cite book | last = Coleman | first = Terry | year = 2005 | title = Olivier | publisher = Henry Hilt and Co | isbn = 0-8050-7536-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/olivier00cole }}, Chapter 20</ref> Alexander Korda, who had given Olivier his initial roles on film, provided financial support for ''The Three Little Pigs''.<ref name="olivierbook" />
One of the major characters in Ed Ifkovic's ''Downtown Strut: an Edna Ferber Mystery'' is Jed Harris, based on him as the director of the Broadway play ''The Royal Family''<ref>{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714101131/http://www.poisonedpenpress.com/downtown-strut/ |date=2016-07-14 }}</ref>.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *''The Curse of Genius'' by Martin Gottfried, published by Little, Brown and Company, 1984
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0364824|name=Jed Harris}} * {{IBDB name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jed}} Category:1900 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American male screenwriters Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:Austrian Jews Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Category:Jewish American screenwriters Category:Yale College alumni Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters