Mel Harris
Acting • Born 1956-07-12
Biography
Mel Harris is an American actress, writer and director, best known for her portrayal of Hope Steadman on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning series Thirtysomething (1987), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as best Actress in a Drama Series. She starred in the NBC comedy Something So Right (1996) and the My Network drama series Saints and Sinners (2014). Her most recent role has been as Nadine Davies on Hulu's new series Shut Eye (2016) Mary Ellen Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and raised in New Jersey. Her mother was a high school science teacher and her father a football coach at Princeton University. She spent 12 years in the modeling world living in New York and Europe before stumbling into the acting business. She starred in numerous miniseries and telefilms including Cross Fire (1989), The Burden of Proof (1992) and Grass Roots (1992), as well as appearances on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and as Senator Rafferty on The West Wing (1999). Among her feature film credits are Brian De Palma's Raising Cain (1992) , K-9 (1989) (opposite Jim Belushi), Suture (1993), The Pagemaster (1994), and Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986). She made her New York stage debut at the Circle Repertory Company in the world premiere of John Bishop's Empty Hearts, for which she received a 1992 Theater World Award. In addition to her acting, in the last few years, she has focused on writing with her partner and husband, Emmy Award winning writer/producer, Bob Brush, under their shingle Topanga Moon Productions. - IMDb mini biography by: mel harris
Filmography
66 credits
Firetrap
Movie • 2001
Cordella Calloway
K-9
Movie • 1989
Tracy
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Movie • 1987
Terry
The Pagemaster
Movie • 1994
Claire Tyler
The Lodger
Movie • 2009
Margaret
Hangman's Curse
Movie • 2003
Sarah Springfield
The Mumbo Jumbo
Movie • 2000
Dolly Bird
Out of the Woods
Movie • 2005
Beth Fleming
The Retrievers
Movie • 2001
Karen Lowry
Purple Heart
Movie • 2005
Dr. Harrison
Cameron's Closet
Movie • 1988
Dr. Nora Haley
Child of Rage
Movie • 1992
Jill Tyler
Suture
Movie • 1993
Dr. Renee Descartes
Sonic Impact
Movie • 2000
Co-Pilot Jennifer Blake
The Secretary
Movie • 1995
Ellen Bradford
Broken Lullaby
Movie • 1994
Jordan Kirkland
Harry's Hong Kong
Movie • 1987
Fay Salerno
The Spider and the Fly
Movie • 1994
Dianna Taylor
Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest
Movie • 1997
Sarah McLeish
Distant Cousins
Movie • 1993
Katherine June Sullivan
Dynamite
Movie • 2004
Faye Baxter
Arthur's Whisky
Movie • 2024
Dr. Deborah Wingard
Grass Roots
Movie • 1992
Kate Rule
Sharon's Secret
Movie • 1995
Laurel O'Connor
Ultimate Betrayal
Movie • 1994
Susan Rodgers
Queen of Knives
Movie • 2023
Kathy
Another pretty face
Movie • 2002
Raising Cain
Movie • 1992
Sarah
Out of Time
Movie • 2000
Annie Epson
Wind Dancer
Movie • 1993
Susan Allen
Desperate Journey: The Allison Wilcox Story
Movie • 1993
Allison Wilcox
The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie
Movie • 2005
Mel Harris
A Case for Life
Movie • 1996
LIz Hemmitt
My Brother's Wife
Movie • 1989
Eleanor Goldberg-Rusher
Welcome to Paradise
Movie • 1995
Claire
What Kind of Mother Are You?
Movie • 1996
Laura Hyler
King of Knives
Movie • 2020
Kathy
With Hostile Intent
Movie • 1993
Kathy Arnold
Imagine That
Movie • 2009
Maggie Johnson (uncredited)
M*A*S*H
TV • 1972
House
TV • 2004
Barbara Bardach
thirtysomething
TV • 1987
Hope Steadman
E-Ring
TV • 2005
Dawson's Creek
TV • 1998
Helen Lindley
Cold Case
TV • 2003
Grace Anderson
CSI: NY
TV • 2004
Julie Rollins
Saints & Sinners
TV • 2007
Criminal Minds
TV • 2005
Stargate SG-1
TV • 1997
Oma Desala
Close to Home
TV • 2005
Beth Murphy
Madigan Men
TV • 2000
Heart of the City
TV • 1986
Anne
Something So Right
TV • 1996
Carly Davis
The Outer Limits
TV • 1995
Dr. Christina Markham
The West Wing
TV • 1999
Ricky Rafferty
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV • 1999
Eileen Switzer
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
TV • 2015
Shawna
The Burden of Proof
TV • 1992
Sonia Klonsky
Imposters
TV • 2017
Margaret Jonson
Criminal Minds
TV • 2005
Congressman Steyer
Strong Medicine
TV • 2000
Biddy Hightower
Cross of Fire
TV • 1989
Madge Oberholtzer
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Kelly Rockhill
If...
TV • 2004
Cane
TV • 2007
Constance Hughes
Shut Eye
TV • 2016
Nadine Davies