Edward Allen Harris was born November 28, 1950, in Tenafly, New Jersey. He discovered his knack and love for acting while attending Columbia University, where he also played football. Harris followed his family to Oklahoma in 1971 and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma to study drama. He had some success in local theater before graduating and subsequently moving to Los Angeles, where he attended California Institute of the Arts, and pursued his acting career.

In California, Harris found work in theater and guest spots on television shows including Chips, The Rockford Files, and Barnaby Jones. He landed his first leading role in the 1981 film Knightriders, also starring Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, and Patricia Tallman. The turning point of his career came with a starring role as astronaut John Glenn in the 1983 film The Right Stuff.

Harris earned his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Apollo 13 in 1996. Though Kevin Spacey procured the Oscar, Ed Harris was in good company with nominees including James Cromwell, Tim Roth, and Brad Pitt. Afterwards, he had roles in moderately successful films including Nixon, Absolute Power, and The Rock. The elusive Oscar escaped Ed Harris in three subsequent nominations including Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey. He was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Pollock, the 2000 film that Harris also directed. Again in 2003, the Oscar escaped Harris when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in The Hours, which also starred Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep.

Ed Harris’s successful Hollywood career remains in full swing with or without an Oscar. Harris’s recognition doesn’t stop with the Academy, as he has been nominated for a Tony Award and won an Obie for Outstanding Actor for his stage performance in Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love. He continues to land regular roles in films, averaging more than one each year. Harris’s wife, Amy Madigan, also acts professionally. They were married while working on the set of Places in the Heart in 1983 and They worked most recently together in the 2005 film Winter Passing. The couple has one daughter, Lily, who was born in 1993.

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