Broadway Theaters to Dim Lights in Honor of Stage Legend Julie Harris

Broadway theaters will dim their lights for exactly one minute on August 28 at 7:45 PM in memory of five-time Tony winner (and Special Tony recipient) Julie Harris, who died of congestive heart failure on August 24 at the age of 87.

“Julie Harris was an actor’s actor, universally admired and respected. There was always an innate truth in the characters she portrayed,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League. “She was a Broadway virtuoso who touched many lives throughout nearly six decades of extraordinary performances. Julie Harris was the first performer to win five Tony Awards, and later received a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. She was nominated 10 times, the most ever for a performer. Seeing her on stage was always the kind of experience that takes your breath away in the most subtle and satisfying way. Generations of fans discovered her on Broadway and in various mediums, and our thoughts are with them, her friends, and her family.”

Harris’ career spanned six decades and a multitude of wide-ranging roles on stage and screen. The actress, who was born on December 2, 1925 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, made her Broadway debut in 1945 in It’s a Gift and went on to appear in over 30 productions on the Great White Way. Harris won her first Tony Award for playing Sally Bowles in I Am a Camera in 1952. Her four other competitive wins were for her work in The Lark in 1956, Forty Carats in 1969, The Last Mrs. Lincoln in 1973 and The Belle of Amherst in 1977. Since that time, five-time Tony winners Angela Lansbury and Audra McDonald have matched her record. Harris received five additional nominations for her performances in The Au Pair Man, Marathon '33, Skyscraper, Lucifer's Child and her most recent Broadway appearance in The Gin Game in 1997.