Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955)^[1] is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals ofBebe Glazer onFrasier andFelicia Tilman onDesperate Housewives.

Harris won aTony Award in 2002 as a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance inThoroughly Modern Millie. In addition to television and theater, she has made various film appearances, includingMemento,Addams Family Values,Nurse Betty, andPhantom Thread.

Harris was born inFort Worth, Texas, one of three children. On her mother's side, she is a descendant of one of the brothers of Marion Sansom, a 20th-century rancher and civic leader.Sansom Park is named after him. She began acting as a youngster, attendingArlington Heights High School. She attendedFort Worth Country Day School and graduated from there in 1973.^[2] At age 17, she was accepted at theJuilliard School's Drama Division (1973–77,Group 6)^[3] where she earned aBachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[4]

After graduation from Juilliard, she joinedJohn Houseman's touring repertory companyThe Acting Company, where she stayed for three years. During this time, she performed in productions ofShakespeare'sKing Lear andRomeo and Juliet,Antigone, andMother Courage and Her Children.^{[citation needed]}

Harris worked extensively on andOff-Broadway, including a 1989 performance atSecond Stage Theatre inWhat a Man Weighs. One of her breakthrough performances was in the original cast ofPaul Rudnick'sJeffrey, in which she was the sole female cast member.

In 1992, Harris made herBroadway debut inFour Baboons Adoring the Sun. That same year, she was nominated for aDrama Desk Award for her portrayal in the Off-Broadway playBella, Belle of Byelorussia. In 1993, she received a second Drama Desk nomination for her performance inJeffrey. She won both a Drama Desk andTony Award in 2002 as a Featured Actress in a Musical for playing the role of Mrs. Meers inThoroughly Modern Millie.

Since 2005, Harris has appeared in various stage productions across the United States. In summer 2006, she appeared asVera Charles in theKennedy Center's production ofMame oppositeChristine Baranski in the title role. In early 2007, Harris appeared as Amanda Wingfield in the production ofThe Glass Menagerie at theGuthrie Theater. In summer 2007, she appeared on Broadway in therevival of theJohn Van Druten comedyOld Acquaintance as Mildred Watson Drake withMargaret Colin at theAmerican Airlines Theatre.

In 2007, Harris returned to Broadway and joined the cast of the musicalCry-Baby, based on theJohn Watersfilm of the same name. The show previewed on Broadway at theMarquis Theatre on March 15, 2008, and opened on April 24. The production was nominated for Best Musical at the2008 Tony Awards, and closed on June 22, 2008. She returned to Broadway as the Evil Stepmother inCinderella in 2013. In 2015, Harris took on the role as the mother of the groom-to-be (who secretly wishes that her son was gay) in the musical comedyIt Shoulda Been You, sparring withTyne Daly who played the mother of the bride-to-be. Harris played the role of Fanny, head of the Cavendish family, in the musicalThe Royal Family of Broadway at theBarrington Stage Company, Massachusetts, from June to July 2018.^[5]

Harris's work inJeffrey led to numerous television guest appearances, including a recurring role on the sitcomFrasier as Frasier's conniving agentBebe Glazer from 1993 to 2004. Harris co-starred in several short-lived series, includingThe 5 Mrs. Buchanans,Union Square,The Beast, andIt's All Relative, but played notable guest roles on multiple hit series, includingGhost Whisperer,Murphy Brown,Ally McBeal,Six Feet Under, andEllen. Among them was her performance onThe X-Files in the 1993 episode "Eve" as Dr. Sally Kendrick and her "Eve" clones.^[6][7] Series creatorChris Carter andEntertainment Weekly praised her casting and performance.^[6][7] The bandEve 6 was named after the character.^[8]

Harris playedMartha Huber's sisterFelicia Tilman on the ABC drama seriesDesperate Housewives in 2004. The narrative saw Felicia arrive on Wisteria Lane to discover who was behind her sister's murder. She soon came to the conclusion thatPaul Young was responsible, but before she could act out her revenge, she was attacked by his sonZach Young. To finish the story-line, she returned for the second season in 2005, which followed Felicia as she planned her final acts of revenge against Paul. She departed at the end of the second series by faking her own murder, framing Paul, and sending him to prison. She returned toDesperate Housewives for the series' seventh season.^[9] On playing the character Harris commented:

People do find Felicia evil. I think she's just determined. She's a zealot pursuing an objective that no-one wants her to pursue. And it makes her really eccentric. And even though a man she's pursuing is the one who committed murder, he's only considered creepy by people and Felicia is always considered evil. I think that's so interesting because he's really the bad person. She's just trying to get him caught. But she is extreme. I think she doesn't stop when others would. She keeps on, she keeps pursuing and I think that is a scary thing. She just keeps scraping away until she eventually gets what she wants. And if she doesn't get it one way, she'll go around and do it another way. She's completely unapologetic about it. She doesn't care what anybody else thinks.^[10]

In 2006, Harris starred in theSci-Fi Channel miniseriesThe Lost Room as Margaret Milne.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, Harris appeared as Madelyn in theAmerican Horror Story: Apocalypse episode "Sojourn",^[11] and as Adriana in theDynasty episode "Queen of Cups". She appeared as Ingrid Blix in theNetflix drama seriesRatched in 2020.^[12]

In 2024, Harris reprised her role as Bebe inParamount'sFrasier reboot. Later, she starred as Dr. Rachel Blake in the drama seriesThe Agency.^[13]

• Harriet Sansom Harris at theInternet Broadway Database
• Harriet Sansom Harris atIMDb

• 1955 births
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Drama Desk Award winners
• Juilliard School alumni
• Living people
• Actresses from Fort Worth, Texas
• Tony Award winners
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses

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