Tess Harper

Tessie Jean Harper (''née'' Washam; 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 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 '' Amityville 3-D'' (1983), '' Flashpoint'' (1984), ''Ishtar'' (1987), '' Far North'' (1988), and ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007). She also had a recurring role on the first three seasons of ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2010), as well as a guest appearance in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019).

Early life

Harper grew up in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, the daughter of Rosemary and Ed Washam, who operated Washam's Hardware. Harper has a brother and sister. She graduated from Mammoth Spring High School and attended Arkansas State University-Beebe, earning an associate degree in Fine Arts, before transferring to Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) in Springfield, Missouri, graduated with a degree in education, and taught ninth-grade English in Springfield, Missouri.Tess Harper: 'Ozark Hillbilly', ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', February 11, 1987, page 101
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Career

Harper began acting in theater productions, theme parksRobert Cochran & Suzanne McCray, ''Lights! Camera! Arkansas'' pages 63-64, University of Arkansas Press, 2015
/ref> (including Dogpatch, USA and Silver Dollar City), dinner theater, and children's theater. She moved to Texas in order to appear in television commercials. The institution wanted to produce a TV spot and asked her 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 Harper's spot on TV. She called Robert 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 that Harper brought a kind of rural quality to the role without coming across as simple or foolish. He 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!'"

''Tender Mercies'' was Harper's feature film debut. She earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role.

Harper appeared in the TV mini-series ''Chiefs'' (1983) and ''Celebrity'' (1984), as well as many television movies including '' Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land'' (1983) and ''Reckless Disregard'' (1985). In 1983, she appeared in the full-length feature '' Silkwood''.Peggy Soric, Former SMS student Tess Harper enjoys success, ''Springfield Leader and Press'' (Springfield, Missouri), December 21, 1986, page 80
/ref> In 1986, Harper was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work as Chick Boyle in '' Crimes of the Heart'', which was directed by her ''Tender Mercies'' director Bruce Beresford. She later played parts in ''Ishtar'' (1987), ''Far North'' (1988), '' The Man in the Moon'' (1991), '' The Jackal'' (1997) and '' Loggerheads'' (2005). She also took part in Michael Jackson's music video " Black or White" (1991), playing the mother.

From 1994 to 1995 Harper had a regular role on the CBS series '' Christy'', playing mountain woman Fairlight Spencer.Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 – Present'' (7th edition), page 185, Ballantine, 1999 She also had a recurring role on another CBS television series, '' Early Edition'', from 1996 to 2000. She portrayed the mother of lead character Gary Hobsen. Harper shared a Screen Actors Guild Award (in the Best Ensemble Cast category) with her fellow cast members in the Oscar-winning film ''No Country for Old Men'', in which she played the wife of Tommy Lee Jones's character.

She had the recurring role of Mrs. Pinkman on ''Breaking Bad'', appearing in the first three seasons, as well as the sequel HBO movie '' El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Arkansas bio
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20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Arkansas
American film actresses
American television actresses
Arkansas State University alumni
Living people
Missouri State University alumni
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Fulton County, Arkansas
1950 births