Danielle Andrea Harris (born June 1, 1977) is an American television and film actress, known for her roles in four films of the Halloween series. She is considered a scream queen for her multiple horror film roles.
Biography
Harris was born in Plainview, New York, and was raised by her single mother, Fran. She has a sister, Ashley. Harris is Jewish. In 1995, she was stalked by an obsessed fan, who wrote letters threatening to kill her. He was later arrested after bringing a shotgun and a teddy bear to her home. On January 29, 2007, Harris appeared on an episode of The Dr. Phil Show recounting the terrifying experience. The incident was unrelated to the Halloween franchise; the stalker was obsessed with her character Molly on the TV show Roseanne.
Harris' family moved to Port Orange, Florida when she was two, where she attended Spruce Creek Elementary School. However, her tenure there was short-lived after winning a children's beauty contest which took her to New York. Moving back New York, Harris began her professional career by appearing in television commercials while maintaining an A average at PS 117 and PS 232 in Queens, New York. Her first acting role soon followed in 1985, when she made her debut as Sammi Garretson on ABC's One Life to Live, a role she played for three years.
In 1988, she auditioned for and won the part of Jamie Lloyd (Michael Myers' niece) in the movie Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Just one year later, she would reprise the role in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. The character of Jamie returned in 1995 for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but Danielle did not participate due to disagreements on her fate in the script. Also, Harris requested $5000 to appear in the film (far less than she was paid for Halloween 4), but no agreement could be reached. J.C. Brandy ended up playing Jamie in the film, a decision with which some of the fans of the Halloween series were dissatisfied, since Danielle had become very popular with them. Harris would later return to the franchise in a new role, that of Annie Brackett, in Rob Zombie's Halloween, a 2007 re-imagining of John Carpenter's 1978 original. She reprised her role in Rob Zombie's Halloween II, released on August 28, 2009.
Harris as Jamie Lloyd.
Harris' other film credits include Marked for Death (1990) alongside Steven Seagal, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) alongside Christina Applegate, City Slickers (1991), The Last Boy Scout (1991) alongside Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, Free Willy (1993), Daylight (1996) alongside Sylvester Stallone, Wish Upon a Star (1996) alongside Katherine Heigl, and Urban Legend (1998). She has also appeared frequently on television, with a recurring role on the sitcom Roseanne during the 1992-93 season (as Roseanne's neighbor Molly), and subsequent guest appearances on Boy Meets World, Diagnosis Murder, Charmed, ER and Cold Case. As well, she appeared in a season four promo for American's Funniest Home videos. She also appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn for two years on the CBS drama That's Life, and as the voice of Debbie Thornberry on the animated series The Wild Thornberrys, which ran for five seasons, and as the voice of Sierra, the adolescent lioness in the short-lived animated series Father of the Pride.
Danielle Harris as Annie Brackett
Some of Harris' most recent projects include the films Debating Robert Lee, Race You to the Bottom (an Outfest prizewinner) and the upcoming Left for Dead, as well as an appearance in the music video for the song "The Bleeding", by Five Finger Death Punch. She also stars alongside Lance Henriksen, Bill Moseley, AFI's Davey Havok, and Battlestar Galactica's Nicki Clyne in the "illustrated film" series Godkiller. She hosted Route 666: America's Scariest Home Haunts on FEARnet.
Her films Godkiller and Blood Night will see DVD releases in late 2009. Fear Clinic, a FEARnet.com original webseries, co-starring Danielle and Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and Lisa Wilcox, will debut around Halloween 2009, as well as Danielle's own horror website, horrorgal.com. She can also be seen as Felicia Freeze in Super Capers, and will appear with Robert Patrick in the upcoming The Black Waters of Echo's Pond. She is currently shooting Jim Mickle's second feature film the vampire flick Stake Land, due in 2010 and Night of the Living Dead: Origins who is directed by Zebediah de Soto.
Harris in Hatchet III
Beginning with 2010's Hatchet II, Harris has taken over the leading role of Marybeth in the Hatchet series, after Tamara Feldman declined to reprise her character. Further such credits include Jim Mickle's second feature film, the vampire/post-apocalyptic epic Stake Land, Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer, ChromeSkull and Michael Biehn's The Victim, in addition to providing the voice and basis for a computer-animated Barbara in Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, director Zebediah de Soto's prequel/re-telling of George A. Romero's 1968 original. She is set to star in William Forsythe's directorial debut, the vampire film New Blood. Harris' own directorial debut is the horror comedy Among Friends, in which she also makes an appearance. The film, which was picked up for distribution by Lions Gate Entertainment, was released on August 27, 2013.
Horror filmography
| Film | Character | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | Jamie Lloyd | 1988 |
| Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers | 1989 | |
| Urban Legend | Tosh | 1988 |
| Left for Dead | Nancy | 2007 |
| Halloween | Annie Brackett | |
| Halloween II | 2009 | |
| Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet | Alissa Giordano | |
| The Black Waters of Echo's Pond | Kathy | |
| Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer | Maria Sanchez | 2010 |
| Hatchet II | Marybeth Dunston | |
| The Victim | Mary | 2011 |
| Shiver | Wendy Alden | 2012 |
| Fatal Call | Amy Hannison | |
| Ghost of Goodnight Lane | Chloe | 2013 |
| Hatchet III | Marybeth Dunston | |
| Hallows' Eve | Nicole Bates | |
| Dead.tv | Sheriff Donlyn | 2014 |
| See No Evil 2 | Tammie Allen | |
| Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D | Barbara (voice) | |
| The Farm | Doc |
External links
Template:Imagecat
Danielle Harris at the Internet Movie Database- Danielle Harris at AllMovie
- Danielle Harris at Wikipedia
- Danielle Harris on Twitter
