Voting Station

Jed Harris

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Producer

The Resume

    (February 25, 1900-November 15, 1979)
    Born in Liv (then in Austria-Hungary)
    Birth name was Jacob Hirsch Horowitz
    Became one of Broadway's most successful producers by the age of 25
    Produced and directed 31 shows between 1925 and 1956
    Best known productions include 'Broadway' (1925), 'The Royal Family' (1928), 'Front Page' (1928), 'Wonder Boy' (1932), 'The Green Bay Tree' (1933), 'Our Town' (1938), 'The Heiress' (1945), and 'The Crucible' (1953)

Why he might be annoying:

    He had an illegitimate son with Ruth Gordon.
    He directed Katharine Hepburn's most notorious theatrical flop, 'The Lake.'
    Laurence Olivier called him 'the most loathsome man I'd ever met.'
    He would meet with his clients, male or female, completely naked to insure he had the upper hand in negotiations.
    He had Svengali-style affairs with Katharine Hepburn and Margaret Sullavan (who was married to Henry Fonda at the time).
    He bragged about having sexual relations with Cary Grant and Jimmy Cagney, carried out under the false pretense that they would get parts in his plays, and then humiliating them.
    He had a reputation for being an abrasive towards his performers, especially the actresses.
    George S. Kaufman hated him so much that he and asked that, when he died, he be cremated and have his ashes thrown in Harris's face.
    Ina Claire became so fed up with his behavior that pummeled him to the ground with a right-hook, kicked him in the balls with her stiletto heel, and stormed out of the theater crying 'sadistic son of a bitch!'
    Legend has it that his town-car was once illegally parked outside of Sardis. As a policeman was in the process of writing out a ticket, Harris emerged from the restaurant exclaiming 'do you know who I am? I'm Mr. Broadway himself, no one gives Jed Harris a ticket.,' tearing the ticket up as he spoke.
    He proceeded to strike the officer after he threatened to arrest him and engaged in a struggle with two other policemen. He would later brag that the officer ended up with a lonely beat in the Bronx, claiming that he had taught him 'not to mess with Jed Harris.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the inspiration for John Barrymore's character in 'Twentieth Century.'
    He was posthumously inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.
    By age 28, he had produced a record four consecutive Broadway hits, over the course of eighteen months.
    His productions gained 7 awards, including a Tony award and a Pulitzer Prize.
    He directed Arthur Kennedy, Richard Derr, Basil Rathbone, and Beatrice Straight in award-winning performances.
    Katharine Hepburn passed up an opportunity to work with Katharine Cornell in 'The Barretts of Wimpole Street,' to play in Harris' summer stock company.
    He was the basis for the physical mannerisms of both Disney's Big Bad Wolf and Olivier's sociopathic tyrant in Shakespeare's Richard III (Olivier was unaware of this during filming, and wouldn't know until years later).
    A contemporary described him as follows: 'he had the grin of a sorcerer, he purred when he spoke. His skinny jaw jutted. His eyes were dark and slightly up-turned as if listening to some inner music.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying