Woman (in Horror) Crush Wednesday: Danielle Harris

February 15, 2017

Written by Capt McNeely

Georgia Division ZADF Twitter: @ZADF_ORG

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Hello again my Little Monsters, as previously promised I have returned to highlight yet another lovely and talented woman of the horror genre. This particular woman in horror, is one that I first became aware of back in the heyday of brick and mortar video stores and VHS movie rentals. Of course Danielle Harris was a young girl then but has grown up to be one of the most recognized faces in the genre.
In the spring of 1988, Danielle had beaten out several young actresses, including Melissa Joan Hart, to play the role of Laurie Strode’s young daughter, Jamie Lloyd, in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Prior to taking on this role, she had only acted in one episode each of the TV series One Life to Live and Spencer for Hire. Danielle would reprise her role of Jamie LLoyd nearly one year later in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. At the age of 12 not only had Harris established her place in the mythos of the Halloeeen franchise, she had also fallen deeply in love with the horror genre. Danielle has been quoted as saying, “At that time I wasn’t even a horror movie fan. I did Halloween 4 and Halloween 5 back to back, and I decided that horror movies were all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was going to be my thing.”
Well, horror movies have certainly turned out to be her thing, but they definitely aren’t her only thing.  Danielle is also known for her roles in Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, The Last Boy Scout and Free Willy early on in her career. She has also been cast in many TV in shows like Roseanne,  ER, Brooklyn South, That’s Life, The West Wing, Fear Clinic and Holliston just to name a few.  Voice acting is another facet of her talent having provided the voice of Debbie Thornberry and various additional voices on The Wild Thornberrys as well as the voice of Sierra on Father of the Pride.
It has been over the last ten years that Danielle has blazed a bloody trail solidifying her Scream Queen status, beginning with her turn as Annie Bracket in Rob Zombie’s re-imagining of Halloween. Incidentally, she is the ONLY cast member to have any connection to the original franchise. Since 2007 she has appeared in nearly two dozen horror films including,  Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II,   The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond, Hatchet II and III, Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2, See No Evil 2 and Havenhurst, just to name a few.
Did I also mention that she has been a director on two feature length horror films? Well, it just so happens this is another accomplishment Danielle has added to her resume. She teamed up with Ellie Cornell and Heather Langenkamp in 2008 to share directorial duties on the horror anthology, Prank. In 2012 she went solo in the director’s chair for the movie, Among friends.
Another accomplishment Danielle will soon get to realize, is that of motherhood. It was announced in October that Danielle is pregnant with her first child, a son, with her husband David Gross. I would personally like to extend warm and heartfelt congratulations to the happy couple on their upcoming new addition.
I had the pleasure of getting to meet Danielle in 2013 and again in 2015, at HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis. The first time I was astounded by how tiny she was, standing at approximately five feet tall. However on both occasions she proved that despite being small in physical stature, she is huge on personality, kindness and of course beauty (inside and out). Her love of the horror genre truly seems to extend beyond the films to the fans as well.
For more info on the lovely and talented Danielle Harris, you can check out her official IMDB page. You can also follow Danielle at her official Twitter and Facebook pages, to keep up to  date with what’s going on with this Scream Queen.
Thanks again to all my Little Monsters for stopping by and, in the immortal word of the great John Landis, see you next Wednesday.

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