Danielle Harris Biography

Danielle Andrea Harris (born June 1, 1977) is an American actress and director, best known as a scream queen for her multiple horror film roles, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) as Jamie Lloyd, and in the new versions of Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009) as Annie Brackett. Other such turns include portraying Tosh in Urban Legend (1998), Belle in Stake Land (2010) and taking over the lead role of Marybeth Dunston in the Hatchet series, for Hatchet II (2010) and Hatchet III (2013).

Aside from her scream queen reputation, Harris is known as a former child actor whose career has grown to include various independent films as well as such crowd-pleasers as Marked for Death (1990), The Last Boy Scout (1991), Free Willy (1993), Daylight (1996) and the aforementioned Halloween films. She is also noted for her voice acting, which includes her role of Debbie Thornberry for the complete TV series run of The Wild Thornberrys (1998"2004) and related films The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) and Rugrats Go Wild (2003), and her role of Sierra on the TV series Father of the Pride (2004"2005). Harris' directorial debut, the horror comedy Among Friends, was released in 2013.

Early life

Danielle Harris was born on June 1, 1977 in Queens, New York, and raised by her single mother, Fran. Harris is Jewish and has one sister, Ashley. Her family moved to Port Orange, Florida, when she was two, where she attended Spruce Creek Elementary School. Harris won a beauty contest in elementary school, winning a trip to New York for ten days. While there, she was offered numerous modeling jobs, but turned them down due to the fact they were all far from her home. Her mother was eventually transferred back to New York due to her job and Harris began work as a model. She then began to appear in television commercials as well.

Career

1985"87: Early career

In 1985, Harris was cast in the role of Samantha "Sammi" Garretson in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She stayed on the program for three years, from 1985 through to 1987. Her character was considered a "miracle child", extracted as an embryo from the womb of her recently deceased mother and implanted in a family friend, whom her father later married. Harris was seven upon receiving the role. In 1987, Harris made a one episode appearance in the series Spenser: For Hire, portraying a girl named Tara.

1988"91: Move to film acting with the Halloween franchise

Following her early work on One Life to Live, Harris successfully auditioned for the role of Jamie Lloyd in the fourth edition of the Halloween franchise, beating out several other young actresses, including Melissa Joan Hart. Harris celebrated her eleventh birthday on the set of the film. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was released on October 21, 1988 and enjoyed both critical and commercial success. Shot on a $5 million budget, the film went on to gross over $17 million worldwide. Halloween 4 grossed $6,831,250 in its opening weekend alone, and has become the fifth best performing Halloween series entry as of 2012. On doing this type of film at such a young age, Harris stated:

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Harris returned the following year for the film's immediate sequel, entitled Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. The film was not as well received or as commercially successful as the previous entry. Harris portrayed Jamie Lloyd once again, but her character was mute for the first half of Halloween 5 owing to events in the previous film.

In 1990, Harris appeared in her third film, Marked for Death. The action film, directed by Dwight H. Little, had a $2 million budget and was a box office success, earning $43 million domestically and $57 million worldwide. Despite its popularity, the film received mixed reviews. 1991 saw Harris partake in several film and television projects. She appeared in the made-for-television film Don't Touch My Daughter, as a young girl who is kidnapped and molested. In her second made-for-television film, The Killing Mind, Harris portrayed main character Isobel as a child. Later that year, Harris made an appearance on the sketch-oriented show In Living Color.

Harris' next major role was in the 1991 comedy film Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, in which she portrayed Melissa Crandell, with the story revolving around five siblings whose mother goes to Australia for three months, only to have her children's babysitter die. The young protagonists choose not to tell their mother and attempt to live on their own. The film received mixed to negative reviews, and has a 31% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes. Harris had a guest role in the 1991 series Eerie, Indiana, portraying a central character in the seventh episode. Her character, Melanie, receives a heart transplant and later begins to act like the heart's original owner. She also guest starred as Susie Maxwell in an episode of Growing Pains. Harris had the role of Darian Hallenbeck in the 1991 action film The Last Boy Scout, alongside Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. The film grossed $7,923,669 in its opening weekend, and the total gross was $59,509,925. Reviews were mixed, and some critics cited the Christmastime release for such a violent film as a reason for its somewhat underwhelming box office.

1992"95: Television films and series

During the next three years, Harris began making guest appearances in various television series and films, with fewer theatrical releases. She appeared in the pilot for the potential CBS series 1775, although it was not picked up. Starting in 1992, Harris had a recurring role on the comedy series Roseanne, portraying Molly Tilden in seven episodes. In 1993, Harris again worked with Roseanne star Roseanne Barr in the made-for-television film The Woman Who Loved Elvis, this time as daughter Priscilla. She appeared in the series Jack's Place the same year, portraying a young woman named Jennifer in the episode titled "True Love Ways". A notable theatrical film role at the time was that of Gwenie in the popular Free Willy, of 1993, which had a domestic gross of $7,868,829 in its opening weekend and went on to make $77,698,625 domestically and $76 million in its foreign release for a total $153,698,625 worldwide. In 1994, she appeared on the drama series The Commish, playing the role of Sheri Fisher for one episode. The same year, Harris portrayed the main character's daughter Jessica in the made-for-television film Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography. The biopic was based upon her former co-star Roseanne Barr. Also in 1994, Harris appeared in an episode of teenage sitcom Boy Meets World.

In 1995, Harris learned that producers of then-upcoming Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers were looking for a new actress to play the role of Jamie Lloyd, which Harris had originally portrayed since the character's introduction. Upon investigating, Harris learned that they wanted someone over the age of 18, and she was only 17 at the time. After talking with the producers, Harris got emancipated in order to appear in the film. Upon reading the script, Harris was not happy with the fate of her character, who was killed early into the proceedings. Harris was also dissatisfied with the salary they offered her, as it did not even cover the cost of her emancipation. She ultimately abstained from reprising her role in this film and was replaced by J. C. Brandy. Harris has since admitted to being glad she did not rejoin the series at this point, believing that her decision allowed her to make her later return in the 2007 remake of the original Halloween. Still, Harris can be seen in versions of Curse that incorporate the previous film's ending.

1996"2006: Various roles and The Wild Thornberrys

In 1996, Harris shared characters with Katherine Heigl for the made-for-television film Wish Upon a Star: Harris plays Hayley Wheaton, a girl who switches bodies with her older, more popular sister Alexia (Heigl) with whom she does not get along well. She also appeared in the film Shattered Image alongside Eric Balfour. She went on to appear in the film Back to Back, which received a television release in the US in 1996. Harris had a supporting role in the Stallone film Daylight, released the same year. Daylight received mixed critical reviews, and only holds a 21% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes. The film did not perform well in the United States and grossed below expectations. While Daylight made $33 million in the US, overseas it took in over $126 million, resulting in gross earnings of $159,212,469 worldwide. In 1997, Harris appeared in two episodes of the medical drama ER as Laura Quentin. Harris had the lead role of Lulu in the 1998 film Dizzyland, in which she portrayed a sexually abused teenager. Harris also appeared in an episode of Diagnosis: Murder in 1998. She then appeared in the popular slasher Urban Legend, her first horror film since her initial Halloween outings. She portrayed Tosh, a goth girl who is murdered while her roommate (protagonist Alicia Witt) is resting on the other side of the room.

Beginning in 1998, Harris made the main cast of Nickelodeon's animated children's series The Wild Thornberrys, chosen to voice Debbie Thornberry, the sister of a girl who can talk to animals. The protagonist, Eliza, travels the world with her family and uses her special ability to help the animals. The series lasted for five seasons, with a total of 92 episodes airing between 1998 and 2004. It proved very popular, and spawned the television film The Origin of Donnie, released in 2001. In 2002, The Wild Thornberrys Movie was released theatrically. It was a commercial success, and ended up grossing $40,108,697 domestically. A second film, Rugrats Go Wild, dealt with the Thornberrys meeting the characters from another popular series, Rugrats. Released in 2003, the film opened at #4 at the box office, and ended up grossing $39 million domestically, about the same amount as The Wild Thornberrys Movie. The last episode of the fifth season and series finale aired in 2004.

Harris continued to make various film and television appearances while doing The Wild Thornberrys. She was in a 1998 episode of the series Charmed, portraying a teenage witch named Aviva. Harris also starred in the film Goosed in 1999, as protagonist Jennifer Tilly's younger self. She also appeared as Justine in the made for television film Hard Time: Hostage Hotel, directed by Hal Needham, had a supporting role in the crime and comedy film Poor White Trash come 2000, and went on to star in the 2001 comedy Killer Bud. Between 2000 and 2002, Harris was a cast member of the series That's Life, which ran for two seasons. Her character, Plum Wilkinson, featured in 28 out of 32 aired episodes and was involved in a romantic relationship with Kevin Dillon. Harris later appeared in an episode of The West Wing, as Kiki. In 2003, she had a supporting role as Leila in the made-for-television film The Partners. 2004 saw Harris in the theatrically released films Debating Robert Lee and Em & Me. From 2004 to 2005, Harris was a main cast member of the computer-animated sitcom Father of the Pride, appearing in all 14 episodes.

2007"present: Return to Halloween, further horror films, directorial debut

In January 2007, it was confirmed that Harris would be cast as Annie Brackett in the then-upcoming remake of the 1978 classic Halloween. This marked Harris' first appearance in the Halloween franchise since her performance in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers eighteen years prior. The remake, also called Halloween and directed by Rob Zombie, featured actors such as Scout Taylor-Compton and Malcolm McDowell. Harris has revealed that Zombie wanted no one from previous Halloweens to appear in the film but, after she auditioned, he changed his mind. Despite mostly negative reviews, the film, which cost $15 million to make, went on to gross $80,253,908 worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in the Halloween franchise in unadjusted U.S. dollars. Unlike in the original version, Harris' character of Annie survives after being brutally attacked. The corresponding scenes required her to be partly nude, a career first. She stated "[It] is something that I wanted to do because everyone's like, 'Oh, she's little Jamie. She's 14.' And it's like, no, actually, I'm 30. It's something that I've never done before." According to Harris, she remained undressed even while the cameras were not rolling as it helped her render Annie more vulnerable. On facing off against Michael Myers once again and at the same time having her first nude scene, Harris also commented:

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Harris reprised her role as Annie in the 2009 sequel Halloween II. Halloween II was officially released on August 28, 2009 in North America, and was met with negative reception from most critics. On October 30, 2009 it was re-released in North America to coincide with the Halloween holiday weekend. The original opening of the film grossed less than that of the 2007 remake, with approximately $7 million. The film would go on to earn $33,392,973 in North America and $5,925,616 in foreign countries, giving Halloween II a worldwide total of $39,318,589.

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Beyond her return to Halloween, Harris has continued to ascertain a scream queen identity with growing genre credits. She starred alongside Lance Henriksen, Bill Moseley, AFI's Davey Havok, and Battlestar Galactica's Nicki Clyne in the Illustrated Film series Godkiller. For Fearnet, she hosted Route 666: America's Scariest Home Haunts. Her films Godkiller and Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet saw DVD release by the time Fear Clinic, a Fearnet original web series featuring Harris as well as Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and Lisa Wilcox, made its debut the week of Halloween 2009, and her own upcoming horror resources website, horrorgal.com, was announced. She can also be seen as Felicia Freeze in the comedic superhero film Super Capers, and alongside Robert Patrick in The Black Waters of Echo's Pond. Beginning with 2010's Hatchet II, Harris has taken over the leading role of Marybeth in the Hatchet series, after Tamara Feldman declined to reprise her character. Further such credits include Jim Mickle's second feature film, the vampire/post-apocalyptic epic Stake Land, Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer, ChromeSkull and Michael Biehn's The Victim, in addition to providing the voice and basis for a computer-animated Barbara in Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, director Zebediah de Soto's prequel/re-telling of George A. Romero's 1968 original. She is set to star in William Forsythe's directorial debut, the vampire film New Blood. Harris' own directorial debut is the horror comedy Among Friends, in which she also makes an appearance. The film, which was picked up for distribution by Lions Gate Entertainment, was released on August 27, 2013.

Recognition

Harris is considered by various outlets to be 'horror's reigning scream queen'. She has provided the cover feature for such horror/glamour publications as Girls and Corpses and Gorezone magazine, as well as a subject for the photo-book The Bloody Best Project, a collection of artistic pictures showcasing the celebrities of the horror film industry. In 2011, Harris won the Best Actress Award at the Shockfest Film Festival for her starring role in the short Nice Guys Finish Last. The 2012 Burbank International Film Festival gave Harris its Best Actress Award for her portrayal of literary heroine Wendy Alden in Shiver.

Personal life

Stalking incident

Harris was stalked in 1995 by an obsessed fan, Christopher Small, who wrote letters threatening to kill her. Small was later arrested after bringing a shotgun and a teddy bear to her home. On January 29, 2007, Harris appeared on an episode of The Dr. Phil Show, sharing her experience with other equally affected people. The stalker was obsessed with Molly, her character on the TV show Roseanne. In October 2009, Harris was granted a restraining order against Small, who began sending her messages on Twitter.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers	Jamie Lloyd
1989	Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers	Jamie Lloyd
1990	Marked for Death	Tracey
1991	Don't Touch My Daughter	Dana Hemmings	TV film; also known as Nightmare
	The Killing Mind	Young Isobel Neiman	TV film
	City Slickers	Classroom student
	Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead	Melissa Crandell
	The Last Boy Scout	Darian Hallenbeck
1993	The Woman Who Loved Elvis	Priscilla "Cilla" Jackson	Based on Laura Kalpakian's novel Graced Land
	Free Willy	Gwenie
1994	Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography	Jessica Pentland
1995	Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer's Cut)	Young Jamie Lloyd	Scene reproduced from Halloween 5
1996	Wish Upon a Star	Hayley Wheaton/Alexia Wheaton	TV film
	Shattered Image	Susan
	Back to Back	Chelsea Malone	TV film
	Daylight	Ashley Crighton
1998	Dizzyland	Lulu
	Urban Legend	Tosh
1999	Goosed	Young Charlene Silver
	Hard Time: Hostage Hotel	Justine Sinclair	TV film
2000	Poor White Trash	Suzi
2001	Killer Bud	Barbie
	The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie	Debbie Thornberry (voice)	TV film
2002	The Wild Thornberrys Movie	Debbie Thornberry (voice)
2003	The Partners	Leila	TV film
	Rugrats Go Wild	Debbie Thornberry (voice)
2004	Debating Robert Lee	Liz Bronner
	Em & Me	Emily
2005	Race You to the Bottom	Carla
2007	Halloween	Annie Brackett
	Left for Dead	Nancy	Also known as Devil's Night
2008	Burying the Ex	Olivia	Short film
	Prank	Sarah	Also segment director
2009	Super Capers	Felicia Freeze
	Halloween II	Annie Brackett
	Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet	Alissa Giordano
	The Black Waters of Echo's Pond	Kathy
2010	Godkiller	Halfpipe (voice)
	Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer	Maria Sanchez
	Godkiller: Walk Among Us	Halfpipe (voice)
	Hatchet II	Marybeth Dunston
	Stake Land	Belle
	The Day I Told My Boyfriend	Belle	Stake Land companion short film
	Underground Entertainment: The Movie	Herself
2011	Nice Guys Finish Last	Kori	Short film
	The Victim	Mary
	ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2	Spann
	The Trouble with the Truth	Jenny
	Cornered	April Brant
2012	Fade Into You	Woman	Short film
	Shiver	Wendy Alden	Based on Brian Harper's first novel
	Among Friends		Also director
	Hallows' Eve	Nicole Bates
	Fatal Call	Amy Hannison	Also known as Call Me on Tuesday
2013	Ghost of Goodnight Lane	Chloe
	Hatchet III	Marybeth Dunston
	Crazy Turks Action	Ruth
	Dead.tv	Sheriff Donlyn Eldridge	In post-production
2014	The Farm	Doc	In pre-production
	Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D	Barbara (voice)	In production
	See No Evil 2		In production

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985"1987	One Life to Live	Samantha "Sammi" Garretson	First role
1987	Spenser: For Hire	Tara	Episode: "Thanksgiving"
1991	In Living Color	Drug addict	Episode: "The Jackson Bunch"
	Eerie, Indiana	Melanie Monroe	Episode: "Heart on a Chain"
	Growing Pains	Susie Maxwell	Episode: "The Big Fix"
1992	1775	Abby Proctor	Television pilot
1992"1993	Roseanne	Molly Tilden	7 episodes
1993	Jack's Place	Jennifer	Episode: "True Love Ways"
1994	The Commish	Sheri Fisher	Episode: "Romeo and Juliet"
	Boy Meets World	Theresa "T.K." Keiner	Episode: "Sister Theresa"
1997	High Incident		Episode: "Camino High"
	ER	Laura Quentin	Episode: "Something New" Episode: "Friendly Fire"
1997"1998	Brooklyn South	Willow Mortner	Episode: "Clown Without Pity" Episode: "Tears on My Willow"
1998	Diagnosis: Murder	Noelle Andrew	Episode: "An Education in Murder"
	Charmed	Aviva	Episode: "The Fourth Sister"
2000"2002	That's Life	Plum Wilkinson	28 episodes
2002	The West Wing	Kiki	Episode: "20 Hours in America"
1998"2004	The Wild Thornberrys	Debbie Thornberry (voice)	92 episodes
2005	Cold Case	Gina Carroll	Episode: "Yo, Adrian"
2004"2005	Father of the Pride	Sierra (voice)	14 episodes
2007	Route 666: America's Scariest Home Haunts	Herself (host)	31-episode web series
2009	Fear Clinic	Susan	5-episode web series
2010	Psych	Tonya	Episode: "Feet, Don't Kill Me Now"
2011	Paranormal Challenge	Herself (guest judge)	Episode: "USS Hornet"
2012	Nuclear Family	Zoe	20-episode web series
	Twisted Tales		Short: To Hell with You
2012"2013	Holliston	Herself	Episode: "Weekend of Horrors: Part 1" Episode: "Halloween Girl"
2013	Bones	Rebecca Pearce	Episode: "The Maiden in the Mushrooms"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Wild Thornberrys: Animal Adventures	Debbie Thornberry (voice)
2001	The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler	Debbie Thornberry (voice)
2003	Rugrats Go Wild	Debbie Thornberry (voice)

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	"The Bleeding"	Girlfriend	Song by Five Finger Death Punch