Lisa Harrow
Encyclopedia
Lisa Harrow is an actress, noted for her roles in British
theatre, films and television.
and attended Auckland University. She graduated from RADA
in 1968, and joined the BBC Radio
's Repertory Company.
; roles there included Olivia in John Barton
's production of Twelfth Night opposite Judi Dench
, and Portia
in The Merchant of Venice
opposite Patrick Stewart
. Other leading roles in the UK theatre include Juliet
opposite John Hurt
's Romeo
at the Belgrade Theatre
in Coventry
, and Ann Whitfield in Man and Superman
opposite Peter O'Toole
at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Harrow has performed on stage all over America. She took over the central role of Vivian Bearing in the Pulitzer Prize
winning play Wit
in its long-running off-Broadway
production in New York
. She was named 2001 Performer of the Year in Pittsburgh for Medea
. Other roles include: Raynevskya in The Cherry Orchard
at Yale Rep and the Chautauqua Theatre Company, where she also played Kate Keller in All My Sons
. She played Creusa in the Washington Shakespeare Theatre Company
's 3/10/2009–4/12/2009 production of Euripides
's Ion
.
, in the 1982 BBC
drama of the same name; it aired in the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre
in the United States. Harrow played journalist Kate Reynolds in Omen III: The Final Conflict
(1981) and Lizzie Dickinson in Lizzie's Pictures (1987), BBC
. She won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
for her performance in The Last Days of Chez Nous
. Her last TV performance to date was as Lizzie Kavanagh in the series Kavanagh QC
starring John Thaw
. She left the series in order to move to America.
. Their son Tim was born in 1983.
She is now married to whale
biologist
Roger Payne
, and lives in Vermont. Roger is founder and President of Ocean Alliance
. He and Scott McVay discovered the long, complex and apparently random sounds produced by male humpback whales are actually rhythmic, repeated sequences, and therefore, are properly called 'Whale songs'. Lisa and Roger have created a lecture/performance piece called 'SeaChange: Reversing the Tide'.
, New Zealand
, the UK and the US. She has a website to promote the book. The U.S. edition: (pbk. : alk. paper) Includes bibliographical references.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatre, films and television.
Early life
Harrow was born in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and attended Auckland University. She graduated from RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
in 1968, and joined the BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
's Repertory Company.
Theatre
Her stage career started at the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
; roles there included Olivia in John Barton
John Barton (director)
John Bernard Adie Barton CBE is a theatrical director. He is the son of Sir Harold Montagu and Lady Joyce Barton. He married Anne Righter, a university lecturer, in 1968....
's production of Twelfth Night opposite Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, and Portia
Portia (Merchant of Venice)
Portia is the heroine of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. A rich, beautiful, and intelligent heiress, she is bound by the lottery set forth in her father's will, which gives potential suitors the chance to choose between three caskets composed of gold, silver and lead...
in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
opposite Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
. Other leading roles in the UK theatre include Juliet
Juliet Capulet
Juliet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo. She is the daughter of old Capulet, head of the house of Capulet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself....
opposite John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
's Romeo
Romeo Montague
Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet...
at the Belgrade Theatre
Belgrade Theatre
The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue seating 858 and situated in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built after the Second World War in Britain and as such was more than a place of entertainment...
in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, and Ann Whitfield in Man and Superman
Man and Superman
Man and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
opposite Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Harrow has performed on stage all over America. She took over the central role of Vivian Bearing in the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
winning play Wit
Wit (play)
Wit is a play written by American playwright Margaret Edson. Edson used her work experience in a hospital as part of the inspiration for her play. Wit received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, in 1995...
in its long-running off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She was named 2001 Performer of the Year in Pittsburgh for Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
. Other roles include: Raynevskya in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
at Yale Rep and the Chautauqua Theatre Company, where she also played Kate Keller in All My Sons
All My Sons
All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...
. She played Creusa in the Washington Shakespeare Theatre Company
Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. Their self professed mission "is to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their...
's 3/10/2009–4/12/2009 production of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
's Ion
Ion (play)
Ion is an ancient Greek play by Euripides, thought to be written between 414 and 412 BC. It follows the orphan Ion in the discovery of his origins.-Background:...
.
Television and Film
She is known for playing Nancy Astor, the first woman elected to the Parliament of Great BritainParliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, in the 1982 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama of the same name; it aired in the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
in the United States. Harrow played journalist Kate Reynolds in Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict is a 1981 British/American horror film directed by Graham Baker and the third installment in The Omen series...
(1981) and Lizzie Dickinson in Lizzie's Pictures (1987), BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. She won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented annually at the Australian Film Institute Awards. The award has been presented annually since 1971.-History:...
for her performance in The Last Days of Chez Nous
The Last Days of Chez Nous
The Last Days of Chez Nous is an Australian drama, directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Helen Garner. Made in a style which emphasizes naturalism over melodrama, the film centres around what happens after Vicki arrives at the house of her older sister Beth, whose French husband falls for her...
. Her last TV performance to date was as Lizzie Kavanagh in the series Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
starring John Thaw
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
. She left the series in order to move to America.
Personal life
She had a relationship with actor Sam NeillSam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
. Their son Tim was born in 1983.
She is now married to whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
Roger Payne
Roger Payne
Roger Searle Payne is a biologist and environmentalist famous for the 1967 discovery of Whale song among Humpback whales. Payne later became an important figure in the worldwide campaign to end commercial whaling.Payne studied at Harvard University and Cornell...
, and lives in Vermont. Roger is founder and President of Ocean Alliance
Ocean alliance
Ocean Alliance, Inc., a 5013 organization, is dedicated to the conservation of whales and their marine environment through research and education. The organization is based in Gloucester, Massachusetts in the United States....
. He and Scott McVay discovered the long, complex and apparently random sounds produced by male humpback whales are actually rhythmic, repeated sequences, and therefore, are properly called 'Whale songs'. Lisa and Roger have created a lecture/performance piece called 'SeaChange: Reversing the Tide'.
Author
Harrow is the author of the environmental handbook What Can I Do?, published in separate editions for AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the UK and the US. She has a website to promote the book. The U.S. edition: (pbk. : alk. paper) Includes bibliographical references.