Harris, Jed

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HARRIS, JED

HARRIS, JED (Jacob Horowitz ; 1900–1979), U.S. theatrical producer. Born in Vienna, Harris was taken to the U.S. as a child. His first big success, Broadway (1926), had a three-year run. Other productions included The Front Page (1928), Uncle Vanya (1930), The Inspector General (1930), Our Town (1938), A Doll's House (1938), The Heiress (1948), and The Crucible (1953). At one period he had four successes running on Broadway and was reputed to have amassed and lost more than five million dollars. Regarded as an "irascible genius," Harris was the hero in Ben Hecht's novel A Jew in Love (1931) and Frederic Wakeman's The Saxon Charm (1947). Harris wrote Watchman, What of the Night? (1963) and A Dance on the High Wire: Recollections of a Time and a Temperament (1979).

add. bibliography:

M. Gottfried, Jed Harris: The Curse of Genius (1984)