Profile Text
Harris in 2013, photo by s_bukley /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Edward Allen Harris
Place of Birth: Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of Birth: November 28, 1950
Ethnicity: English, with some German, Scottish, and Welsh
Ed Harris is an American actor and filmmaker. His roles include the films Knightriders , Creepshow (1982), The Right Stuff , Under Fire (1983), Swing Shift (1984), Places in the Heart , Alamo Bay , Sweet Dreams (1985), Jacknife , The Abyss (1989), State of Grace (1990), Paris Trout , Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), The Firm , Stephen King’s Needful Things , China Moon , Milk Money , Just Cause , Apollo 13 , Nixon (1995), Eye for an Eye , The Rock (1996), Absolute Power , The Truman Show , Stepmom (1998), The Third Miracle , Waking the Dead , The Prime Gig , Pollock , which he directed; Enemy at the Gates , Buffalo Soldiers , A Beautiful Mind , The Hours (2002), Masked and Anonymous , Radio (2003), The Human Stain , Winter Passing , A History of Violence , Two Tickets to Paradise , Copying Beethoven , Gone Baby Gone , Cleaner (2007), National Treasure: Book of Secrets , Touching Home , Appaloosa , which he directed and co-wrote; The Way Back (2010), Man on a Ledge , Phantom , Pain & Gain , Snowpiercer , Gravity (2013), Cymbeline , Run All Night , The Adderall Diaries , In Dubious Battle , Rules Don’t Apply , mother! (2017), Kodachrome , Geostorm , The Last Full Measure , Resistance (2020), The Lost Daughter , Top Gun: Maverick , Love Lies Bleeding , My Dead Friend Zoe , Riff Raff (2024), Long Day’s Journey into Night (2025), and How to Make a Killing ; the made-for-tv movie Game Change ; and the series Westworld .
Ed is the son of Margaret, a travel agent, and Bob Harris, who sang with the Fred Waring chorus, and worked at a bookstore. His parents were Oklahoma natives. He was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, later moving to New Mexico. He is married to actress, producer, and singer Amy Madigan , with whom he has a daughter.
Ed’s paternal grandfather was Robert Lee Harris (the son of William Samuel Harris and Frances M. “Fanny” Jolly). Robert was born in Georgia. William was the son of Benjamin J. Harris and Martha Elizabeth Sharp.
Ed’s paternal grandmother was Annie/Anne Aymett Abernathy (the daughter of Robert Allen/Alan Abernathy and Pink Elizabeth Aymett). Annie was born in Tennessee. Robert was the son of John Calvin O. Abernathy and Mary Catherine Tarpley. Pink was the daughter of Hance Hamilton Aymett and Frances Ann Maclin.
Ed’s maternal grandfather was William Nace Sholl (the son of Edward Henry Sholl and Helen Raymond Stillman). William was born in Alabama. Edward was the son of William Nace Sholl and Henrietta Wampler. Helen was the daughter of Charles Allen Stillman and Martha Hannah Hammond.
Ed’s maternal grandmother was Lily Bell Spencer (the daughter of Sam S. Creglimore and Louisa Barrett). Lily was born in Tennessee. Sam was born in Yorkshire, England. Louisa was the daughter of Samuel Barrett and Vy Hannah.
Source: Genealogy of Ed Harris – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com