Harris Yulin
Who? Who the heck is Harris Yulin? Well, that was my reaction when I read that he had died recently. But if you do what I did- Google him- you will have a mild shock of recognition because we have seen him in dozens of movies and TV shows. And he has a very rich acting resume’. Mr. Movie enjoys paying tribute to the “foot soldiers” of Hollywood. Character actors who show up, do their job, and move on to the next thing.
To say that End Of The Road (1970) is not for all tastes is putting it rather mildly. Harris Yulin portrays Joe Morgan, a really nutty guy who encourages his wife to have sex with a stranger who was just released from a funny farm. And that place is run by Dr D (James Earl Jones) who turns out to be a failed abortionist. My advice on this one is- give it a miss!
Yulin’s role in the gritty Night Moves (1975) is Marty Heller, having an affair with the wife of the main charcter, played by Gene Hackman.
Scarface (1983) stars Al Pacino as drug lord Tony Montana. Harris Yulin is Mel Bernstein, a corrupt Miami police detective who tries to extort Tony. This turns out to be a really bad idea. Both Pacino and Yulin are quite good as total undesirables.
In Clear And Present Danger (1984) Harris Yulin, as National Security Advisor James Cutter, jumps the line by about 40 years by receiving a presidential pardon before he has done anything. Well, what he does is organize his own group of nasties to deal with cartels and profit from the connection. Enter Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) who you know is going to save the day- eventually.
Training Day (2001) garnered Denzel Washington an Oscar for his portrayal of very crooked cop Alonzo Harris. He is supposed to be training rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) and I guess you could say that he does. Well, he trains him in the ways of the mean LA streets, smoking dope and letting snitches go. He also earns lots more money than his salary from drug dealers- either hitting them up for a cut or just stealing their stash. Harris Yulin is Doug Rosselli, one of the few straight cops in this thing. The Academy apparently was so stunned to see Denzel playing a bad guy so well they decided to give him a statue.
Harris Yulin can be seen- briefly- as Al Cross in The Place Beyond The Pines (2012) and he also shows up as Leon Friedman in the boxing biopic The Hurricane (1999). There are many more movies containing brief appearances of Yulin. Also tons of TV shows. While he may not be a household name to you and me, he sure was to casting directors, who frequently said “plug in Harris Yulin there” and they would. And they would get their money’s worth every time.
All of the movies in this article are for adults.