Tess Harper
| Tess Harper | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Tessie Jean Washam August 15, 1950 Mammoth Spring, Arkansas |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse(s) | Ken Harper (1971-1976) |
Tess Harper (born August 15, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her first film role, opposite Robert Duvall in 1983's Tender Mercies, and for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1986 film Crimes of the Heart. Her other film appearances include Flashpoint (1984), Ishtar (1987), Far North (1988) and No Country for Old Men (2007).
Harper was born Tessie Jean Washam on August 15, 1950 in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, the daughter of Ed and Rosemary (Langston) Washam. She grew up around lots of quilts and quilt makers. On her own time, she liked to sit on the porch-swing and read. She graduated from high school in 1968. She attended Arkansas State University–Beebe (ASU–Beebe), where she performed in several plays, as well as Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) in Springfield, where she graduated with a degree in education.
Tess Harper began acting in theater production and appearances in theme parks, including Dogpatch, USA and Silver Dollar City, dinner theatres and children's theatre. She had given up hopes of an acting career and was working for a financial institution in Texas. The institution wanted to produce a TV spot and asked Tessie to be in the spot which she accepted. In a twist of fate, a casting person with Tender Mercies had to spend the night in Dallas and saw Tess's spot on TV. She called Duvall and arranged an audition. Director Bruce Beresford was impressed with Harper and cast her in the lead female role of Rosa Lee, the young widow and mother who marries country singer Mac Sledge. Beresford said the previous actress who auditioned for the role brought to it a sophistication and worldliness inappropriate for the part, whereas Harper brought a kind of rural quality without coming across as simple or foolish. Beresford said of Harper, "She walked into the room and even before she spoke, I thought, 'That's the girl to play the lead.'" Harper did not realize this, and recalled shortly after the film's release, "After I did the final screen test, I went to see Breaker Morant and started sobbing uncontrollably halfway through it. A friend had to take me home, and I kept crying, 'You don't understand! They're not gonna let me do this part!'"
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