Jessica Harper Biography

Birdlike, wide-eyed, brunette American actress Jessica Harper headed for New York after graduation from Sarah Lawrence college; her first professional gig was an understudy in the "tribal love rock musical" Hair. It would be one of the few major financial successes that Harper would ever be associated with. The actress is considered the uncrowned queen of "cult" films, among them such esoterica as Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Inserts (1977), and The Blue Iguana (1988), in which she played a female Castro! Even when selecting a "mainstream" role, Harper's choices have been somewhat offbeat: as Steve Martin's put-upon wife in Pennies from Heaven (1981), she has a musical number in which he imagines hacking her husband to death with a knife! Harper was at her most normal, and most appealing, in the nostalgic comedy My Favorite Year (1982), in which she played the girlfriend of "Mel Brooks-ish" comedy writer Mark Linn Baker. In Stardust Memories (1980), she was one of many stellar contributors to Woody Allen's impressionistic vision of fame. Offscreen, Jessica Harper is the wife of motion picture executive Thomas E. Rothman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• 1. Phoenix: Don't you hear that crowd down there? Why should I give that up?
  2. Winslow/The Phantom: They'll want more. They want much more. More than you could ever give.
  3. Phoenix: I'll give them whatever they want.
  From Phantom of the Paradise. Submitted by Adam O (45 days ago)

• 1. Sara: And on a restricted diet, they give you wine?
  2. Suzy Bannion: That's professor Verdegast's idea. Says i'tll build up my blood.
  From Suspiria. Submitted by César G (15 months ago)

• 1. Natasha: I never want to marry, I just want to get divorced.
  From Love and Death. Submitted by Nancy B (23 months ago)