Edna Julie Harris is a multifaceted individual who has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry as an actress, writer, director, producer, and stand-up comic. Born on June 26, 1976, in New York City, Harris began her show business career at the tender age of three as a model for print advertisements.
By the time she was six years old, Harris was already performing in local theatre, doing commercials, and lending her voice to numerous voice-overs and jingles for radio and television commercials. In fact, she recorded over 200 voice-overs for radio, television, and animation as a child. Her talent did not go unnoticed, and she landed a role on Broadway at the age of nine in The Marriage of Figaro, starring the legendary Christopher Reeve.
Harris's television appearances began at a young age, with a supporting role in the 1988 made-for-television movie Gryphon, starring Amanda Plummer. The movie was later released on home-video in 1990. Her writing talents also developed early on, with teachers and family members recalling her as a "very prolific" writer. At the age of 13, she became published for the first time, and has since gone on to have various writings published and received numerous writing awards.
As a stand-up comic, Harris began her career at the age of 14, writing and performing a comedy routine around some of Manhattan's top comedy clubs. She was considered one of the youngest comics ever to work the nightclub scene and also began studying and performing comedy improvisation. By the age of 17, she was teaching comedy improvisation and directing it.
After high school, Harris attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she majored in filmmaking and won a four-year merit scholarship based on a student film she had written and directed in high school. In fact, Harris directed her first short movie at the age of 10, using her family's home video camera and auditioning real actors for parts. This early start in filmmaking came as no surprise when she formed her first production company after receiving her BFA in film directing in 1999.
Harris's first independent film project, "Generation Gap", aired on PBS in 2004. She wrote, directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the role of "Julie" in the project, which co-starred Aileen Quinn, former child star of the 1982 classic film "Annie".
