Linda Harrison | |
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Studio publicity photo 1970
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Born |
Linda Melson Harrison July 26, 1945 Berlin, Maryland, U.S. |
Other names | Augusta Summerland |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1965–present |
Spouse(s) | Richard D. Zanuck (1969–1978) |
Children | Harrison Richard Zanuck (b. February 23, 1971) Dean Francis Zanuck (b. August 11, 1972) |
Parent(s) | Isaac Burbage Harrison (1907–1989) Ida Virginia Melson Harrison (1914–2010) |
Linda Melson Harrison (born July 26, 1945) is an American actress, internationally renowned for her role as Nova, Charlton Heston's mute mate in the classic 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes and the first sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes; she also had a cameo in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of the original. She was the second wife of legendary film producer Richard D. Zanuck (Jaws, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory); her youngest son is producer Dean Zanuck (Road to Perdition, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
Linda Melson Harrison was born in Berlin, Maryland. She was the third of five daughters of Isaac Burbage Harrison (1907–1989), a nurseryman, and his wife, Ida Virginia Melson (1914–2010), a beautician. She was the middle child, with two older sisters, Kay and Gloria, and two younger sisters, Jane and Joan. The Harrisons, like Linda's maternal Melson ancestors, had a long history in the Delmarva region. According to Ancestry.com, the Melson family were mid-17th century immigrants to Maryland from Melsonby St James in North Yorkshire. The Anglo-Welsh Harrisons had been resident for generations in West Kirby, Cheshire, when one Richard Harrison (1593–1653), son of another Richard Harrison (1559–1617), emigrated in the early 17th century from West Kirby to the New Haven Colony in what is now Connecticut, thence to Maryland. Richard's direct descendant, Harrison's paternal grandfather, Joseph G. Harrison, and Joseph's older brother, Orlando Harrison (Mayor of Berlin 1900–1910 and 1916–1918 and senator from Maryland), established J.G. Harrison & Sons Nurseries, which were, at one time, the largest fruit tree nursery business in America, employing some five hundred workers. The Harrison Lab at the University of Maryland, College Park campus, which Harrison attended briefly, was named for her paternal great-uncle, Senator Orlando Harrison.