Rossie Harris

Richard R. Harris (born March 13, 1969), better known by his nickname, Ross Harris, is an American actor, artist, and musician.

Biography

Acting career

Born in Ventura, California, Harris began acting at age six. He appeared in over 100 commercials in the 1970s. In 1979, at the age of 10, Ross landed the role of Joey in the classic comedy feature film '' Airplane!'', notably in a scene with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Peter Graves. Ross went on to co-star in the Academy Award-nominated drama '' Testament'' as well as roles on ''The Love Boat'', '' CHiPs'', ''Little House on the Prairie'', '' Hart to Hart'', ''T.J. Hooker'', and many more.

In March 1985, he replaced Chad Lowe in the starring role on the NBC sitcom '' Spencer'', which was retooled following Lowe's sudden departure; it returned under the new title ''Under One Roof''. Harris also appeared, as "Ross Angeles", on MTV's '' Jackass'', in the "Big Wheel Craze" segment, alongside friend Dave England.

Music, photography, and video career

Harris was part of the Camarillo, California space-age electronic 1990s music act Sukia. Taking their name from an X-rated Italian comic book of the same name, Sukia was notable for their crazy, often perverse live shows, which sometimes featured a naked saxophone player. Sukia toured the world with acts like Beck and Stereolab, and subsequently put out one album on the Dust Brothers' fledgling label Nickel Bag Records in 1997. The album, ''Contacto Espacial con el Tercer Sexo'' (''Space Contact with the Third Sex''), was produced by the Dust Brothers and Jerry Finn.

After Sukia dissolved, Harris formed DJ Me DJ You with Sukia cohort Craig Borrell. More sample-heavy and straightforward musically than Sukia, DJ Me DJ You relied on sampling from their endless collection of obscure records along with live instrumentation as the basis of their songs. They put out two records, ''Rainbows and Robots'' (2000) on Emperor Norton Records and ''Can You See the Music'' (2003) on Eenie Meenie Records.

Amidst musical projects, Harris also worked as a music video director and photographer. He directed two music videos for Elliott Smith – one for "Coming Up Roses", from Smith's 1995 self-titled album, and another for Smith's Academy Award-nominated song " Miss Misery", from the '' Good Will Hunting'' soundtrack. (Harris also directed the music video for the song "Plainclothes Man" by Heatmiser, Smith's previous band.) Harris was the photographer for Beck's first two albums and performed on them as well, including the Grammy-winning '' Odelay''.

These successes allowed him to begin yet another career as a record producer, recording works for Virgin, Capitol, and PolyGram. As a remixer, he has worked for Beth Orton, Beck, The Dust Brothers, The Prodigy, Fantastic Plastic Machine, and many others. His music has been featured on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', '' Roswell'', and '' Kissing Jessica Stein''.

As a performer with both Sukia and DJ Me DJ You, he has traveled as far as Moscow and Tokyo to play to a growing underground audience.

2003 saw the release of the feature film '' Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician'', co-written with director Steve Hanft. In addition to Harris' role as "Ross Angeles", it stars Rory Cochrane, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Laura Prepon, Beck, Hank Williams III, and features the final recorded live performance of legendary jazz drummer Billy Higgins.

Current projects

Harris spearheaded the benefit album '' Dimension Mix'', which pays tribute to legendary children's electronic music pioneers Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson. The album was a culmination of over 5 years of work for Harris, who produced and compiled the project. It features a song by Beck, which Harris produced and engineered. The project also includes songs and remixes by Stereolab, Eels, Money Mark, The Apples in Stereo, and many more. All proceeds from the album go to ''Cure Autism Now''.

Harris is currently working as a director, editor, and director of photography. He has contributed to advertising campaigns for Honda, Acura, Ray-Ban, Levi's, and the children's television show ''Yo Gabba Gabba''.

Personal life

Harris is the father of two children and lives in Southern California with his wife.

References

Bibliography

* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 374.

External links

*
10 Years of Mellow Gold Documentary
(retrospective documentary done for anniversary of the Beck's first album, features interviews with Harris)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ross
American male film actors
1969 births
Living people
American electronic musicians
Record producers from California
American male child actors
Male actors from California
Musicians from Ventura County, California
People from Ventura, California