Saturdays with the Stars: Barbara Harris

Each month of 2021 we will be taking a look at the leading ladies of some of Alfred Hitchcock's many celebrated classics; we'll be doing this series chronologically to when they first entered Hitchcock's filmography.  Last month we focused on Tippi Hedren, whose offscreen relationship with Hitchcock has overshadowed the two classic films they made together in the early 1960's.  This month, we will conclude our series looking at the leading ladies of Alfred Hitchcock's career with one final leading lady, and as would be appropriate, we will focus on the actress who got top billing on Alfred Hitchcock's final film.  This month, our star is Barbara Harris.

The daughter of a pianist & an arborist, Barbara Harris grew up in Evanston, Illinois, before she eventually ventured to Chicago for college.  While she was there, she got involved with the Playwrights Theatre (where she'd work alongside Elaine May & Mike Nichols), and would eventually be the first headliner for Second City, Chicago's legendary improvisational company.  She'd venture from Chicago to New York in the early 1960's, where she'd spend the decade being the toast of Broadway, debuting the role of Daisy in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and winning the Tony for Best Actress for her work in The Apple Tree.  Throughout this time, Harris was making a number of TV appearances, including on Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Harris is not the traditional Hitchcock leading lady, and to be totally honest (since I haven't seen Family Plot), I don't know how significant her part is in the movie.  She gets above-the-line billing, but not top billing (that goes to Karen Black), so she may not be an appropriate choice for this series when we get to the movie (in my defense, she was nominated for Best Lead Actress at the Globes for this performance).  But Harris is a fascinating performer.  She was Oscar-nominated in 1971 for the loquaciously titled Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying These Terrible Things About Me? and while Family Plot didn't get her there, she still starred in an all-American classic, Nashville (one of the best movies I've ever seen).  This month, we're going to look at her brief but intriguing filmography, as well as with Family Plot bid adieu to Alfred Hitchcock, our official casting director for Season 3 of Saturdays with the Stars.