Harry E. Northup (born September 2, 1940) is an American actor and poet. As an actor, he made frequent appearances in the films of

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

and Jonathan Demme.

Personal life and career

Northup was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

. He lived in 17 places by age 17, but mostly in

Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,757 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for Sidney Dillon, president of the Uni ...

, where he graduated from high school in 1958. From 1958 to 1961 he served in the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Second Class Radioman. From 1963 to 1968, he studied

Method acting Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...

with

Frank Corsaro Frank Corsaro (December 22, 1924, New York City, New York – November 11, 2017, Suwanee, GeorgiaRobert ViagasNight of the Iguana Director Frank Corsaro Is Dead at 92/ref>) was one of America's foremost stage directors of opera and theatre. His Bro ...

in New York City.Cinema Retro interview by Raymond Benson
/ref> Northup received his B.A. in English from California State University, Northridge, where he studied poetry with Ann Stanford. He has made a living as an actor for over 30 years and has been in 37 films, including

's first six feature films: ''

Who's That Knocking at My Door ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'', originally titled ''I Call First'', is a 1967 American independent drama film written and directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Harvey Keitel and Zina Bethune. It was Scorsese's feature film directorial deb ...

'', ''

Boxcar Bertha ''Boxcar Bertha'' is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington, Made on a low budget, the film is loose adaptation o ...

'', ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National ...

'', '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...

'' and '' New York, New York''. He was Mr. Bimmel in Jonathan Demme's film '' The Silence of the Lambs'' and starred in '' Over the Edge'' and '' Fighting Mad''. Northup has been a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

since 1976. His second wife, poet and novelist Holly Prado, died on June 14, 2019. He has a son, Dylan, by his first marriage. Poets such as

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

, Leland Hickman, Paul Blackburn, Ann Stanford,

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

, and Holly Prado have influenced Northup's poetry. He conceived and coordinated the weekly poetry reading series "Poetry on Melrose" at Gasoline Alley in Los Angeles, from 1986 to 1988. Poets who read at the venue include Robert Peters,

Jack Hirschman Jack Hirschman (December 13, 1933 – August 22, 2021) was an American poet and social activist who wrote more than 100 volumes of poetry and essays. Biography Hirschman was born in New York City to a Russian Jewish family. He received a B.A. ...

and

Lewis MacAdams Lewis MacAdams (October 12, 1944 – April 21, 2020) was an American poet, journalist, political activist, and filmmaker.Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

Poems, Mt. Averno Press, 1973 *Eros Ash, Momentum Press, 1976 *Enough The Great Running Chapel, Momentum Press, 1982 *The Images We Possess Kill The Capturing, Jesse Press, 1988 *The Ragged Vertical, Cahuenga Press, 1996 *Reunions, Cahuenga Press, 2001 *Greatest Hits, 1966–2001, Pudding House Press, 2002 *Red Snow Fence, Cahuenga Press, 2006 *Where Bodies Again Recline, Cahuenga Press, 2011 *East Hollywood: Memorial To Reason, Cahuenga Press, 2015 *Love Poem to MPTF, Cahuenga Press, 2020

Anthologies

* Venice Thirteen, Bayrock Press, 1971 * The Streets Inside: Ten Los Angeles Poets, Momentum Press, 1978 * Foreign Exchange, Biographics, 1979 * Poetry Loves Poetry, An Anthology of Los Angeles Poets, Momentum Press, 1985 * Gridlock: An anthology of Poetry About Southern California, Applezaba Press, 1990 * Grand Passion, The Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, Red Wind Books, 1995 * Corners of the Mouth, A Celebration of Thirty Years at the Annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival, Deer Tree Press, 2014 * Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, Pacific Coast Poetry Series/Beyond Baroque Books, 2015 * Coiled Serpent, Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts of Los Angeles, Tia Chucha Press, 2016 * Beat Not Beat anthology, Moon Tide Press, 2022

Audio

*Personal Crime, New Alliance Records, 1993 *Homes, New Alliance Records, 1995 *As Long As I Tell The Truth What Difference Does It Make To You – An Interview with Harry Northup, Alright, Dude Productions, 2010

Filmography

References

External links

*
Harry Northup Papers
MSS 598. **
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.

* ttp://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/12/northup.html Getting in character with Harry Northup:an Interview

Over the Edge," by Mike Sachs

extensive interview

interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Northup, Harry American male poets American male film actors 1940 births Living people People from Amarillo, Texas Male actors from Texas People from Sidney, Nebraska