ROSEMARY HARRIS

A faithful reader asked me recently: “Have you ever considered doing a column on Rosemary Harris”. He met her at an event in Winston-Salem. My answer: “Well, I have now”.

    She was born in England and began her storied career there, both on the stage and on film. But 97-year-old Rosemary Harris has been a Tar Heel for a while. She lives in Winston-Salem. She married NC author John Ehle in 1967 and they were together until his death in 2018.  Their daughter Jennifer is also an actress. She and her Mom acted together several times. Rosemary was nominated for a Tony seven times and won three. She had one Oscar nomination - in 1994 for Tom And Viv, but she lost to Diane Wiest for Bullets Over Broadway. Digging out her best movies from over 70 is not easy, but Mr. Movie is up for it. 

Let’s start at the place you are most likely to have encountered her. Although there are seemingly unlimited Spider-Man movies, Rosemary Harris is in the three Sam Raimi-directed versions which were the most popular. These appeared in 2002, 2004 and 2007.   In all three she portrays May Parker, wife and widow of Peter’s Uncle Ben. When Ben dies, May is left to raise Peter as best she can. Since he becomes an ace crime-fighter, she seems to have done a very good job of it. At one point in the trilogy, she admits she was something of a rebel as a young person. Her advice to Peter:” With great power comes great responsibility." Okay, not really original but unarguable anyway. 

The one Oscar nomination Rosemary scored sort ot underlines her acting ability. That’s because Tom and Viv (1994) just isn’t very good. Willem Dafore portrays the young T.S. Eliot and Miranda Richardson  plays his first wife,.Vivien.  They married in 1915 and although they separated in 1933 they never divorced. Most of the film is taken up with the early life of the famous poet.   Rosemary plays Viv’s mother, Rose, and does a good enough job to be nominated for Oscar. 

Rosemary Harris’ first film appearance of note was in 1963 as Yelena in Uncle Vanya. Critic Harold Hobson called this filmed version of the stage play “probably the Best Vanya we will ever see”. No argument here. This version was directed and acted by Sir Lawrence Olivier. Sir Michael Redgrave, Joan Plowright and Sybil Thorndike also appear in key roles. 

The Ploughman’s Lunch (1983) is one of those grim British multi-character films without anyone to root for. Rosemary Harris has the part of Ann Barrington, mother of Susan and poacher of her boyfriend James. James is a reporter who drifts from event to event without really connecting with anything, including Susan. But he and Susan and their friend Jeremy go off together and Susan chooses, badly, to be with Jeremy. Rosemary is convincing as the seductive high-end woman who gets dumped along with the story. 

Rosemeary Harris can also be seen to good advantage in Sunshine (1999) and as a minor player in Crossing Delancey (1988) and Being Julia (2004). 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All except the Spider-Man trilogy are for adults.