Born in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, the daughter of an investment banker, she was educated at a finishing school and received her stage training at the Yale School of Drama and at the Actors Studio. She made her Broadway debut in 1945 and almost immediately won recognition for her sensitive and subtle portrayal of complex roles. She established herself as a star in 1950 in The Member of the Wedding, a role she would later repeat in her 1952 screen debut. Miss Harris went on to make many distinguished stage and TV appearances, winning several Tony and Emmy awards in the process. Her sporadic film appearances include memorable roles in EAST OF EDEN (1955), I AM A CAMERA (1955), REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962), THE HAUNTING (1963), and HARPER (1966). During much of the 80s (1981-88) she played a regular supporting role in the TV series "Knots Landing." In 1988 she returned to the screen after a decade's absense in GORILLAS IN THE MIST. She subsequently appeared in HOUSESITTER (1992), THE DARK HALF (1993), CARRIED AWAY (1996), BAD MANNERS (1997), PASSAGGIO PER IL PARADISO (1998), THE FIRST OF MAY (1999), THE WAY BACK HOME (2006), CHATHAM (2008) and several made-for-TV movies. Harris is the most honored performer in Tony® history with ten nominations and five awards. She received the award as Best Actress in a Play for the following: I Am A Camera (1952); The Lark (1956); Forty Carats (1969); The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1973); and The Belle of Amherst (1977). Her five additional nominations were for Marathon '33 (1964); Skyscraper (1966, Musical category); The Au Pair Man (1974); Lucifer's Child (1991); and the 1997 revival of The Gin Game. In May, 2002, she was named a recipient of a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater. It was Harris's sixth Tony award. Other honors include the American National Medal of the Arts in 1994 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C. And, she was the recipient of the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors. (Other recipients that year were Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, and Suzanne Farrell.) (Another Julie Harris is a costume designer with numerous major films to her credit.)  Nominated for Actress 1952: THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING 1 nomination