- Mel Harris
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Mel Harris Born Mary Ellen Harris
July 12, 1956
Bethlehem, PennsylvaniaOccupation Actress Spouse David Silbergeld (1978–79)
Brian Kilcommons (1980–82)
David Hume Kennerly (1983–88)
Cotter Smith (1988–96)
Michael Toomey (2001–06)Mel Harris (Mary Ellen Harris) (born July 12, 1956) is an American actress.
Contents
Biography
Personal life
Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the daughter to Mary Michael "Mike", a high school science teacher, and Warren Harris, a university football coach.[1] Harris attended high school in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Harris has been married five times: to David Silbergeld (1978–79), Brian Kilcommons (1980–82), photographer David Hume Kennerly (1983–88) (with whom she had son Byron in 1984), actor Cotter Smith (1988–96) (with whom she had daughter Madeline in April 1990) and investment banker Michael Toomey. Harris and Toomey were married May 26, 2001, but he filed for divorce on October 3, 2006.
Career
Harris is perhaps best known for her role as Hope Murdoch Steadman on the popular 1980s television show thirtysomething (1987–1991). In 1989, Harper's Bazaar named her one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women". She also had a starring role in the 1988 horror film Cameron's Closet. From 1996 to 1998, she starred with Jere Burns on the NBC sitcom Something So Right.
In addition, Harris has appeared in a number of other television programs including The West Wing, Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest, Dawson's Creek, Touched by an Angel, and House. She played real-life victim Madge Oberholtzer in the TV mini-series Cross of Fire (1989) and starred in the Scott Turow legal thriller The Burden of Proof in 1992. She had a recurring role on Stargate SG-1 as Oma Desala.
Before finding success as an actress, Harris had appeared as a contestant on the game show Pyramid on two separate occasions: in 1979 on the ABC-TV daytime version known as The $20,000 Pyramid, and in 1985 on the syndicated version known as The $100,000 Pyramid, both versions hosted by Dick Clark. She later appeared as a celebrity on the third week of the The $100,000 Pyramid hosted by John Davidson in 1991, with a clip of her big win in 1985 as shown in a flashback clip.
Harris guest-starred on the Close to Home episode "Maternal Instinct" that aired April 6, 2007 on CBS. She played Beth Murphy, mother of Eric Murphy, who was convicted of killing his father (Beth's husband) and attempting to kill her as well. Harris played Sylvia Capshaw on the MyNetworkTV limited-run serial Saints & Sinners.
References
External links
- Mel Harris at the Internet Movie Database
- Mel Harris at the Notable Names Database
Categories:- 1956 births
- Living people
- American film actors
- American television actors
- People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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