Harris Yulin
- Actor
Another one of those frustratingly nameless but omnipresent and
talented faces of stage, film and TV, chameleon-like player Harris
Yulin has avoided the severe stereotyping lost to many a prolific
actor. Benign, balding and often bearded, Yulin off camera was a stark
contrast to the tough, unsympathetic men he presented on camera. Born
in Los Angeles in 1937, Yulin traveled extensively throughout Europe
and Israel before deciding on an acting career. Attending UCLA, he
studied acting with Jeff Corey before
making his off-Broadway debut in "Next Time I'll Sing for You" in 1963.
From there, Harris continued to forge a respectable name for himself in
the classical arena, particularly in the works of Shakespeare. With
credits including "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1964), "Richard III"
(1966) and "King John" (1967), he proved to be a stellar Hamlet in
1974, and subsequently played the role of Claudius to
Kevin Kline's dour Dane in a 1986
production. Marking his Broadway debut in "Watch on the Rhine" in 1980,
he impressed later that year alongside
James Earl Jones in the contemporary
drama "A Lesson from Aloes" (1980). His classical repertoire over the
years has included "Uncle Vanya" (1981), "Hedda Gabler" (1981) and
(2001), "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1982) "Tartuffe" (1984), "The Seagull"
(1985), and a Broadway return with "The Visit" (1992). More recently,
he won Drama Desk nominations for his superb work in "The Price" (1999)
and "The Diary of Anne Frank" (2001). Keeping his base firmly in Los
Angeles for most his career, he was one of the founders of the Los
Angeles Classic Theater and has kept active on the regional theater
scene over the years. A noted New York stage director, he helmed the
off-Broadway productions "Baba Goya," "This Lime Tree Bower," and "The
Trip to Bountiful".
He is the possessor of an intriguingly solemn, autocratic-looking
mug, and his glowering intensity usually invites suspicion, scorn or
skepticism... or all three. Yulin began appearing in films and TV in
mid-life (1970), and a high percentage of his work earned standout
notices, if not awards and outright stardom. He started impressively
enough in Terry Southern's
thoroughly bizarre film adaptation of
John Barth's novel
End of the Road (1970) amid a
dream ensemble cast that included
Stacy Keach,
James Earl Jones,
Dorothy Tristan, and
James Coco. He then formed a strong acting
bond with Keach, again playing best friend Wyatt Earp to Keach's Doc
Holliday in an offbeat, revisionist version of their OK Corral story in
'Doc' (1971) that also co-starred
Faye Dunaway. While strong supporting turns
in The Midnight Man (1974),
Night Moves (1975),
Scarface (1983),
Woody Allen's
Another Woman (1988),
Narrow Margin (1990), and
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
kept his name alive on the larger screen, his career found a stronger
focus on TV. Over time, he played a number of flashy historical figures
on the quality small screen, including Machine Gun Kelly
(George Kelly),
J. Edgar Hoover, Senator
Joseph McCarthy, Israeli
General Forman, Jesse James, George Marshall, Leonardo DaVinci and even
the Bard himself.
He could always be counted on to play a maniacal genius or the
embodiment of white-collar corruption in a career piled with genuinely
unsympathetic characters. His more mainstream filming has included
lightweight comedies and horrors, such as
Bad Dreams (1988),
Ghostbusters II (1989),
Multiplicity (1996) and
Rush Hour 2 (2001), and the more
familiar heavy drama, including the brutal urban tale
Training Day (2001) starring
Oscar-winner
Denzel Washington, and the
somber biopic
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
with Nicole Kidman.
Though Yulin has been unable to find the one transcending role to
catapult him to the very top of his character ranks, he continues to
enjoy an enviable career broaching age 70. Fresher audiences might
recognize him from episodes of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993),
Law & Order (1990),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997),
24 (2001) and
Frasier (1993), for which he earned a
"guest" Emmy nomination. His late wife
Gwen Welles, who succumbed to cancer at age
42 in 1993, was an actress of note
(Robert Altman's
Nashville (1975), in particular). A
documentary chronicling his wife's illness and untimely death appeared
at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.
Into the millennium, Harris has added sturdy support to such films as The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Perfume (2001), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Training Day (2001), King of the Corner (2004), My Soul to Take (2010), The Family Fang (2015), Norman (2016) and Wanderland (2018). TV appearances included "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Mister Sterling," "Third Watch," "Law & Order," "Encourage," "Rubicon," "Pan Am," "Nikita," "Veep" and the revamped "Murphy Brown." Inclusive were offbeat recurring roles in 24 (2001), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015) and Ozark (2017).
talented faces of stage, film and TV, chameleon-like player Harris
Yulin has avoided the severe stereotyping lost to many a prolific
actor. Benign, balding and often bearded, Yulin off camera was a stark
contrast to the tough, unsympathetic men he presented on camera. Born
in Los Angeles in 1937, Yulin traveled extensively throughout Europe
and Israel before deciding on an acting career. Attending UCLA, he
studied acting with Jeff Corey before
making his off-Broadway debut in "Next Time I'll Sing for You" in 1963.
From there, Harris continued to forge a respectable name for himself in
the classical arena, particularly in the works of Shakespeare. With
credits including "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1964), "Richard III"
(1966) and "King John" (1967), he proved to be a stellar Hamlet in
1974, and subsequently played the role of Claudius to
Kevin Kline's dour Dane in a 1986
production. Marking his Broadway debut in "Watch on the Rhine" in 1980,
he impressed later that year alongside
James Earl Jones in the contemporary
drama "A Lesson from Aloes" (1980). His classical repertoire over the
years has included "Uncle Vanya" (1981), "Hedda Gabler" (1981) and
(2001), "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1982) "Tartuffe" (1984), "The Seagull"
(1985), and a Broadway return with "The Visit" (1992). More recently,
he won Drama Desk nominations for his superb work in "The Price" (1999)
and "The Diary of Anne Frank" (2001). Keeping his base firmly in Los
Angeles for most his career, he was one of the founders of the Los
Angeles Classic Theater and has kept active on the regional theater
scene over the years. A noted New York stage director, he helmed the
off-Broadway productions "Baba Goya," "This Lime Tree Bower," and "The
Trip to Bountiful".
He is the possessor of an intriguingly solemn, autocratic-looking
mug, and his glowering intensity usually invites suspicion, scorn or
skepticism... or all three. Yulin began appearing in films and TV in
mid-life (1970), and a high percentage of his work earned standout
notices, if not awards and outright stardom. He started impressively
enough in Terry Southern's
thoroughly bizarre film adaptation of
John Barth's novel
End of the Road (1970) amid a
dream ensemble cast that included
Stacy Keach,
James Earl Jones,
Dorothy Tristan, and
James Coco. He then formed a strong acting
bond with Keach, again playing best friend Wyatt Earp to Keach's Doc
Holliday in an offbeat, revisionist version of their OK Corral story in
'Doc' (1971) that also co-starred
Faye Dunaway. While strong supporting turns
in The Midnight Man (1974),
Night Moves (1975),
Scarface (1983),
Woody Allen's
Another Woman (1988),
Narrow Margin (1990), and
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
kept his name alive on the larger screen, his career found a stronger
focus on TV. Over time, he played a number of flashy historical figures
on the quality small screen, including Machine Gun Kelly
(George Kelly),
J. Edgar Hoover, Senator
Joseph McCarthy, Israeli
General Forman, Jesse James, George Marshall, Leonardo DaVinci and even
the Bard himself.
He could always be counted on to play a maniacal genius or the
embodiment of white-collar corruption in a career piled with genuinely
unsympathetic characters. His more mainstream filming has included
lightweight comedies and horrors, such as
Bad Dreams (1988),
Ghostbusters II (1989),
Multiplicity (1996) and
Rush Hour 2 (2001), and the more
familiar heavy drama, including the brutal urban tale
Training Day (2001) starring
Oscar-winner
Denzel Washington, and the
somber biopic
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
with Nicole Kidman.
Though Yulin has been unable to find the one transcending role to
catapult him to the very top of his character ranks, he continues to
enjoy an enviable career broaching age 70. Fresher audiences might
recognize him from episodes of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993),
Law & Order (1990),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997),
24 (2001) and
Frasier (1993), for which he earned a
"guest" Emmy nomination. His late wife
Gwen Welles, who succumbed to cancer at age
42 in 1993, was an actress of note
(Robert Altman's
Nashville (1975), in particular). A
documentary chronicling his wife's illness and untimely death appeared
at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.
Into the millennium, Harris has added sturdy support to such films as The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Perfume (2001), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Training Day (2001), King of the Corner (2004), My Soul to Take (2010), The Family Fang (2015), Norman (2016) and Wanderland (2018). TV appearances included "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Mister Sterling," "Third Watch," "Law & Order," "Encourage," "Rubicon," "Pan Am," "Nikita," "Veep" and the revamped "Murphy Brown." Inclusive were offbeat recurring roles in 24 (2001), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015) and Ozark (2017).