Jessica Harper
Jessica Harper (born October 10, 1949) is an American actress, producer, and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974), My Favorite Year (1982), as well as a role in Inserts (1975). She is best known for her portrayal of Suzy Bannion, the protagonist of Dario Argento's giallo cult classic Suspiria (1977),[1] and appeared in a supporting role in Luca Guadagnino's 2018 remake.
Jessica Harper | |
|---|---|
 Harper in Little Women (1977) | |
| Born | October 10, 1949 |
| Alma mater | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Occupation | Actress, producer, singer, author |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | John Rothman (brother-in-law) |
Her other films include Stardust Memories (1980), Shock Treatment (1981) (the followup to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in which she replaced Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss), Pennies from Heaven (1981), The Blue Iguana (1988), Safe (1995), and Minority Report (2002). In addition to acting, Harper is also an author of children's music and books.
Early life
Harper was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Eleanor (née Emery), a writer, and Paul Church Harper Jr. (1920—2013), a painter and the former chairman of the Needham Harper Worldwide advertising agency in New York.[2] Her maternal grandfather, Charles Francis Emery, was an Episcopal priest. She attended the North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois, and Sarah Lawrence College in New York.[3] She has two sisters, Lindsay Harper duPont[4]an illustrator and Diana Harper a teacher and three brothers: a twin brother, William Harper, a composer; Sam Harper, a screenwriter and director; and Charles Harper.
Career
Harper has appeared in more than twenty motion pictures, most notably in My Favorite Year, alongside Peter O'Toole and Mark Linn-Baker; and costarring with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in Pennies from Heaven. Woody Allen featured her in his films Stardust Memories and Love and Death. She appeared in the fourth season of It's Garry Shandling's Show and in the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise film Minority Report. She was seen in a 2005 episode ("Forget Me Not") of the television series Crossing Jordan.
She has written eleven books for children, and made seven albums of songs for children. She was named by Parenting magazine as "Parent of the Month" in 2004. In 2000, she sang background vocals on selected tracks on the Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks album Beatin' the Heat.[5]
In December 2010, Harper released a cookbook titled The Crabby Cook Cookbook: Recipes and Rants. In a January 2011 interview[6] Harper said, "I thought it was high time there was a book that acknowledged that not everybody experiences the joy of cooking, that sometimes cooking for a family on a daily basis can be really irritating! This book, with 135 easy recipes, is for those people, crabby cooks like me! It's a collection of humor, survival tips and recipes, for the kitchen-challenged!" In March 2011, she was on tour promoting her book. Stops included Chicago,[7] where she held a "Lunch and Learn with Jessica Harper".
Personal life
Harper married Thomas Edgar Rothman, a top executive at Sony Pictures (formerly of 20th Century Fox) on March 11, 1989 in an ecumenical ceremony.[4] She has two daughters, Elizabeth and Nora, who are featured on her children's albums and books. Harper resides in Los Angeles, California, and New York City.[8]
In a blog post on her official website in 2017, Harper revealed she had suffered from neovascular macular degeneration for the past 15 years, and that she receives injections in her eye every six weeks to treat the condition.[9]
Recordings
- A Wonderful Life (1994)[10]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Taking Off | Herself | Uncredited |
| 1972–1974 | 'Rameau's Nephew' by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen | Unnamed character | experimental film |
| 1973 | The Garden Party | Peggy | Short |
| 1974 | Phantom of the Paradise | Phoenix | |
| 1975 | Inserts | Cathy Cake | |
| 1975 | Love and Death | Natasha | |
| 1977 | Suspiria | Suzy Bannion | |
| 1979 | The Evictors | Ruth Watkins | |
| 1980 | Stardust Memories | Daisy | |
| 1981 | Shock Treatment | Janet Majors | |
| 1981 | Pennies from Heaven | Joan | |
| 1982 | My Favorite Year | K.C. Downing | |
| 1986 | The Imagemaker | Cynthia | |
| 1988 | The Blue Iguana | Cora | |
| 1989 | Big Man on Campus | Dr. Fisk | |
| 1989 | Eat a Bowl of Tea | American prostitute | Uncredited |
| 1993 | Mr. Wonderful | Funny Face | |
| 1995 | Safe | Joyce | |
| 1996 | Boys | Mrs. John Baker | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | Anne Lively | |
| 2018 | Suspiria | Anke Meier |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | NBC Children's Theatre | Elizabeth Tyler | Episode: "Super Plastic Elastic Goggles"[11] |
| 1977 | Hawaii Five-O | Sunny Mandell | Episode: "See How She Runs" |
| 1977 | Aspen | Kit Kendrick | Miniseries |
| 1978 | Little Women | Jo March | Television film |
| 1979 | Studs Lonigan | Loretta Lonigan | Miniseries |
| 1985 | When Dreams Come True | Annie | Television film |
| 1985 | Tales from the Darkside | Prudence | Episode: "The Tear Collector" |
| 1986 | The Equalizer | Kate Parnell | Episode: "Nocturne" |
| 1986 | Moonlighting | Janine Dalton | Episode: "All Creatures Great...and Not So Great" |
| 1987 | Once Again | Carrie | Television film |
| 1987 | Starman | Charlotte | Episode: "The System" |
| 1987 | Trying Times | Sydney | Episode: "Bedtime Story" |
| 1988–90 | It's Garry Shandling's Show | Phoebe Bass | 19 episodes |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Marie | Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" |
| 1996 | The Story First: Behind the Unabomber | Linda | Television film |
| 1997 | On the Edge of Innocence | Alice Walker | Television film |
| 1998 | Ally McBeal | Sister Helen | Episode: "Words Without Love" |
| 1999 | 7th Heaven | Norma Moon | Episode: "Paranoia" |
| 2005 | Crossing Jordan | Dorris Meisner | Episode: "Forget Me Not" |
| 2015 | Proof | Virginia Tyler | Episode: "St. Luke's" |
| 2019 | See | Cora | 3 Episodes |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–72 | Hair | Member of the Tribe | Biltmore Theatre | Replacement | [12] |
References
- Brown, Nic. "An Interview with Jessica Harper". Rogue Cinema. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- Svitek, Patrick (December 15, 2013). "Paul C. Harper Jr., former chairman of Needham Harper Worldwide, 1920–2013". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018.
- Jessica Harper Biography at Yahoo! Movies
- "Jessica Harper, actress, Marries T. E. Rothman". The New York Times. March 12, 1989. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- "Dan Hicks Discography". Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- Mondo-video.com Archived February 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- "Jessica Harper's The Crabby Cook Appearances". Thecrabbycook.com.
- "Board of Directors: Jessica Harper". PXE.org. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- "My Skin in the Game". JessicaHarper.com. 2017. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- McCormick, Moria (December 24, 1994). "Child's Play". Billboard. p. 69.
Probably the most delightful surprise of the year was actress Jessica Harper's debut children's album, "A Wonderful Life," on Alacazam!/Alacazar, label arm of wholesaler Silo Inc. of Waterbury, Vt.
- "Super Plastic Elastic Goggles". PaleyCenter.org. The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved November 13, 2016. Air date was January 30, 1971.
- "Hair – Broadway Musical". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- The Crabby Cook
- Jessica Harper's Winnetka personal memoir (podcast)
- Jessica Harper at IMDb
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