Rosemary Harris

An Academy Award nominated actress for her role in “Tom and Viv,” Rosemary Harris has enjoyed an extraordinary career on stage, screen and television in the United States and Great Britain. A five-time winner of the Drama Desk Award, she has been nominated for the Tony for Best Actress no less than eight times, earning the prestigious statuette for the role of Eleanor of Aquitane in the original production of “A Lion in Winter.” A Golden Globe winner for her portrayal of survivor Berta Palitz Weiss in the miniseries “Holocaust,” she was honored with an Emmy Award as George Sand in the miniseries, “Notorious Woman.” She is best known to younger audiences for the role of Aunt May in “Spiderman” and “Spiderman 2,” and “Spiderman 3.”

Ms. Harris’ other film credits include “Being Julia,” “Sunshine,” “The Ploughman’s Lunch,” “A Flea in Her Ear,” “Shiralee,” “Beau Brummel” and “The Boys From Brazil” with Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier.

She has appeared on television in “Belonging” with Brenda Blethyn, “Death of A Salesman,” the miniseries “The Chisholms,” “Strange Interlude” and “To The Lighthouse” adapted from Virginia Wolf’s novel. Her earliest television credits include episodes of the classic “Studio One” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Ms. Harris has appeared in countless theatrical productions performing opposite such legendary actors as Peter O’Toole in “Hamlet,” Richard Burton in “Othello,” Rex Harrison in “Hearthbreak House,” and Sir John Gielgud and Ray McNally in “The Best of Friends.” She was a member of the Old Vic and Sir Laurence Olivier’s Chichester Festival Theatre Company as well as Ellis Rabb’s APA, performing the works by Shakespeare, Shaw, Sheridan, Chekhov, Isben, Wilde, Pirandello and Kaufman and Hart at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway.

Among her many celebrated stage credits are the Broadway productions of “Waiting in the Wings,” “A Delicate Balance,” “Hay Fever,” “Pack of Lies,” “The Royal Family,” “The Merchant of Venice,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She also played the title role in “Peter Pan.” In 2002, she starred in a highly acclaimed run of Edward Albee's “All Over” at the Roundabout in New York City.

Born in England but brought up in India, she is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal when she was directed by Mary Duff in “The Heiress.” She had already starred in Moss Hart’s “Climate of Eden” on Broadway when she made her London debut in “The Seven Year Itch.” Ms. Harris still lectures regularly at Oxford University and is married to the novelist John Ehle. Their daughter Jennifer Ehle is also an actress who starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart in Neil LaBute’s Possession.

Unity Productions