Robert H. Harris (born Robert H. Hurwitz; July 15, 1911 – November 30, 1981) was an American character actor.
Contents
Early years
Harris was born in New York City in 1911, the son of "a well-known rabbi, scholar and author" father. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School. With his father's encouragement, he pursued a career in entertainment.
Stage
Harris completed an operetta when he was 18. A producer rejected it but cast him as a 60-year-old man in a production. That development turned Harris's focus from writing to performing.
A veteran of the Yiddish Art Theater from his teens, Harris made his first Broadway appearance in 1937 in Schoolhouse on the Lot. His other Broadway credits include Xmas in Las Vegas (1965), Minor Miracle (1965), Foxy (1963), Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! (1947) and Brooklyn, U.S.A. (1941).
Harris spent 1949 and 1950 with the Deertrees Theatre in Harrison, Maine, primarily directing but also acting in some productions.
In 1952, Harris was the managing director of the Woodstock Playhouse in Woodstock, New York. Prior to that, he had directed repertory theater in Boston and Hollywood.
Harris created and acted in Raisins and Almonds, which was presented in March 1967 in the Actors Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
Television
From 1950 on, he appeared extensively on television series, specializing in playing shady, if not outright evil characters, roles for which he excelled. From 1953–1956 he played Jake Goldberg in The Goldbergs, one of his few sympathetic roles. (His obituary distributed via United Press International says that he played the role of Jake Goldberg in 1953-1954.) In 1957, Harris played the lead role in The Court of Last Resort.
He also made many guest appearances in many other TV series. These include eight appearances in Alfred Hitchcock Presents between 1956 and 1961 and seven appearances in Perry Mason between 1958 and 1965 including in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Dodging Domino". Among his seven appearances, he played the murderer three times, the murder victim once, and the defendant once. He also appeared in other television series such as Peter Gunn, 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, The Asphalt Jungle, Land of the Giants, and Rawhide. He played the scheming John Sukey in "Have Gun Will Travel" S1 E26 "Birds of a Feather" (1958). Robert H. Harris also appeared in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode titled, "Twenty Million Alibis"(May 6, 1973).
Film
He starred in the 1958 B-movie horror film How to Make a Monster and had notable appearances as a rich cuckold in Elia Kazan's 1963 film America America, and as the obsessive-compulsive consulting psychiatrist in Edward Dmytryk's 1965 film Mirage. His other film credits included roles in Bundle of Joy (1956), The Invisible Boy (1957), Peyton Place (1957), The George Raft Story (1961), Apache Uprising (1965), Valley of the Dolls (1967), How Awful About Allan (1970), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) and The Man in the Glass Booth (1975).
Personal life and death
Harris and his wife, actress Viola Harris, had a son, Steven Lee, and a daughter, Sunny Dee. Harris died November 30, 1981.
Series in detail
Appearances in Alfred Hitchcock Presents
"Mr. Fox" in episode: Shopping for Death, first broadcast on January 29, 1956 (episode # 1.18).
"Laurence Appleby" in episode: The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby, first broadcast on April 15, 1956 (episode # 1.29).
"John Hurley" in episode: The Hidden Thing, first broadcast on May 20, 1956 (episode # 1.34).
"Albert Birch" in episode: Toby, first broadcast on November 4, 1956 (episode # 2.6).
"LaFontaine" in episode: The Dangerous People, first broadcast on June 23, 1957 (episode # 2.39).
"George Piper" in episode: The Safe Place, first broadcast on June 8, 1958 (episode # 3.36).
"Ben Prowdy" in episode: Graduating Class, first broadcast on December 27, 1959 (episode # 5.14).
"Morty Lenton" in episode: The Greatest Monster of Them All, first broadcast on February 14, 1961 (episode # 6.18).
Appearances in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
"Dr. Perrigan" in episode: Consider Her Ways, first broadcast on December 28, 1964 (episode # 3.11).
Appearances in The Virginian
"The doctor" in episode: "Stacey", first broadcast on February 2, 1968 (episode # 6.23).
Appearance in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea