I spent four days in Scottsdale, Arizona with the legendary actress before she passed away on August 21, 2018. As an original member of The Second City, she’s a pioneer in the field of improvisational comedy in that, without The Second City, Saturday Night Live would not exist. She inspired the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and won a Tony Award for her jaw-dropping performance in The Apple Tree directed by Mike Nichols. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Awful Things About Me and starred in Robert Altman’s seminal film Nashville.
She elevated life to a work of art and that’s what these four days were.
Thank you to the man who introduced me to her and most of the people I spoke to: Alison Becker, Janet Coleman, Austin Pendleton, Craig Lucas, Paul Sand, Joy Carlin, William Daniels, Bonnie Daniels, Arthur Kopit, Alex Beck, Ed Asner, Bill Goulding, Frank Farrell, Jerry Schatzberg, Bernie Collins, Estelle Parsons, Jeffrey Sweet, Clifford David, David Weisberg, and Sean Logan.
EXCERPT FROM FOUR DAYS WITH BARBARA HARRIS:
DAY II➝
Scene Five Day II: Barbara Harris and I eat sushi and chobani on a sleeping bag on her bed and watch SUV. “The box car basher?!”
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My newsletter about Barbara Harris!
Sutori visual timeline of her career➝
On a Clear Day photos from the Robert Lewis files at Kent State➝
Quotes about improv, the University of Chicago, and the companies➝
