Rosemary Harris — Nominee for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Show:
The Royal Family

Role:
Fanny Cavendish, the patrician matriarch and theatrical grande dame of a famous (and famously dysfunctional) family of Broadway performers.

Bio Brief:
Harris’ Broadway career spans over 50 years and eight Tony Award nominations (including one win). A Theater Hall of Famer, Harris has also had a successful film career, including an Academy Award nomination for Tom & Viv and a high-profile cameo as Aunt Meg in the recent Spiderman movies.

Other Honors for this Role:
—Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Tony History:
1966: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, The Lion in Winter.
1972: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, Old Times
1976: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, The Royal Family
1984: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, Heartbreak House
1985: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, Pack of Lies
1996: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, A Delicate Balance
2000: Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, Waiting in the Wings

Fun Fact:
This is Harris’ second appearace in a Broadway revival of The Royal Family. She played Julie Cavendish, daughter of her 2010 character Fanny, in the 1975 revival of the classic comedy.

Quotable Quote:
“In playing Fanny Cavendish, I think of myself as Eva Le Gallienne’s understudy. All I’m trying to do is reproduce what she did in 1976. We’re not really alike, but she was extraordinary in the part. It’s been fascinating to watch Jan Maxwell play Julie, the role I had in 1976 with Le Gallienne as my mother. Jan looks more like a Broadway star than I ever did.” —Harris in a First Person essay for Broadway.com, 10/13/09