# Jessica Harper
**Jessica Harper** (Jessica Randolph Harper) is an American actress, singer, and author born in 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, best known for playing Suzy Bannion, the lead in [Dario Argento](https://www.edgepedia.org/dario-argento)'s horror film *Suspiria* (1977), a role she returned to in a different part in [Luca Guadagnino](https://www.edgepedia.org/luca-guadagnino)'s 2018 remake. Across a screen career running from 1974 to 2024, she appeared in films by [Brian De Palma](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-de-palma), Woody Allen, Dario Argento, Todd Haynes, and Steven Spielberg, and since the 1990s she has built a second career writing children's books and producing children's music.[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) • [2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949, Chicago, Illinois; sources differ on the exact day, giving either October 3 or October 10[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jessica_harper) |
| First starring film role | Phoenix in Brian De Palma's *Phantom of the Paradise* (1974)[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) |
| Signature role | Suzy Bannion, the American ballerina lead in Dario Argento's *Suspiria* (1977); Photoplay Award nomination[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) |
| Return to horror | Supporting role as Anke in Luca Guadagnino's *Suspiria* (2018), which won her an Independent Spirit Award[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) |
| Television | Award-winning role as Garry Shandling's wife on *It's Garry Shandling's Show*, winning a CableAce Award[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) • [2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper) |
| Second career | Eleven children's books including the Los Angeles Times bestseller *Nora's Room*, and seven albums of children's music[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper) • [5](https://jessicaharper.com/about-jessica/) |
| Family | Married film executive Tom Rothman on March 11, 1989; two daughters, Elizabeth (born 1989) and Nora (born 1991)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) |
## Early life and stage beginnings
Harper was born in Chicago to Eleanor (Emery), a writer and former nightclub singer, and Paul Church Harper, Jr., a painter who chaired the Needham Harper Worldwide advertising agency in New York.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) She attended [Sarah Lawrence College](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-lawrence-college) and launched her professional acting career soon after graduating.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) In interviews she has described trying painting, modern dance, and graphic art before a college theater class settled her direction; discovering she could sing made musical theater a natural entry point.[6](https://crypticrock.com/interview-jessica-harper/)
Her big break, by her own account, came in Richard Foreman's 1972 off-Broadway play *Dr. Selavy's Magic Theater*, an avant-garde production that earned a rave from Clive Barnes in *The New York Times*; she credits that review with bringing Brian De Palma and [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s representatives to see her.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career) She was an understudy in the Broadway production of the rock musical *Hair*, alongside understudies who included [Diane Keaton](https://www.edgepedia.org/diane-keaton), Melba Moore, Keith Carradine, Meat Loaf, and Cliff De Young, who later co-starred with her in *Shock Treatment*.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/)
## 1970s film career
Harper's first feature film work was a starring part as Phoenix, an aspiring singer, in De Palma's *Phantom of the Paradise* (1974).[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) She followed it with *Inserts* (1975), playing Cathy Cake in the X-rated period film, and a part as Natasha in Woody Allen's *Love and Death* (1975).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) • [8](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/209369-Jessica-Harper)
**Suspiria.** Dario Argento saw *Phantom of the Paradise* and, on the strength of that performance, cast Harper as Suzy Bannion, the American who enrolls at a German ballet school run by a coven of witches.[6](https://crypticrock.com/interview-jessica-harper/) • [9](https://pure.aber.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/28093340/Argento_s_Aesthetic_Alignments.pdf) Taking the role meant declining a part in Allen's new comedy *Annie Hall*, a decision she made in favor of a four-month production in Rome with Argento.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career) The performance earned her a Photoplay Award nomination, and *Suspiria* became the film with which she is most closely identified.[1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper)
Through the late 1970s and early 1980s she accumulated a run of films that later acquired cult followings: *The Evictors* (1979), Allen's *Stardust Memories* (1980) as his love interest Daisy, *Shock Treatment* (1981) in the Janet Majors role associated with [Susan Sarandon](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-sarandon) in *The Rocky Horror Picture Show*, the American remake of Dennis Potter's *Pennies from Heaven* (1981) as [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin)'s wife, and *My Favorite Year* (1982) opposite [Peter O'Toole](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-otoole).[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career) • [8](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/209369-Jessica-Harper)
## Later film and television work
*My Favorite Year* was her last major film credit for more than a decade.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jessica-harper/) On television she received her widest exposure as the girlfriend and later wife of [Garry Shandling](https://www.edgepedia.org/garry-shandling)'s character on *It's Garry Shandling's Show*, a role that won her a CableAce Award.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jessica-harper/) • [1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) [Todd Haynes](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-haynes) recruited her for *Safe* (1995), and she played Anne Lively, a drowning victim, in [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg)'s *Minority Report* (2002).[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career)
**Return to Suspiria.** When Luca Guadagnino remade *Suspiria* in 2018, Harper hoped for a cameo; he instead offered her a more substantial part as Anke in the film's final stretch, on the condition that she deliver her dialogue in German.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career) It was her first film role in sixteen years, and it won her an Independent Spirit Award.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career) • [1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) She has since appeared in Guadagnino's *Bones and All* (2022) as Barbara Kerns, in Michel Franco's *Memory* (2023) opposite [Jessica Chastain](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-chastain), and in *Nightbitch* (2024) with [Amy Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-adams), the last bringing a Chlotrudis Award nomination.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper) • [1](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper) [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) work in this period includes recurring roles in *See* on Apple TV+, *The Old Man* on Hulu, and *Fatal Attraction* on Paramount+.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper)
## Children's books and music
Since the 1990s Harper has developed a parallel career as an author and composer for children.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) She has written eleven children's books, published by HarperCollins and G.P. Putnam's Sons, including the Los Angeles Times bestseller *Nora's Room*; four picture books were created in collaboration with her sister, the illustrator Lindsay Harper DuPont.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) After becoming a mother in 1989 she wrote and produced seven albums of children's music.[5](https://jessicaharper.com/about-jessica/) Her debut CD, *A Wonderful Life* (1994), won a Parent's Choice Gold Award and a National Association of Parenting Publications Award, and later releases on Rounder include *Rhythm in My Shoes* (2000), *Inside Out* (2001), and *Hey, Picasso* (2004).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) • [11](https://biography.jrank.org/pages/83/Harper-Jessica-R-1949.html) She has also written songs for Bette Midler, among others.[5](https://jessicaharper.com/about-jessica/)
Her writing for adults includes *The Crabby Cook Cookbook* (Workman Publishing), a humor-and-recipes book, and *Winnetka* (2018), an audio memoir produced as a podcast about her childhood in a Chicago suburb, which was featured on iTunes' New and Noteworthy list.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper)
## Personal life
Harper has been married to motion picture executive Tom Rothman since March 11, 1989; they have two daughters, Elizabeth and Nora, who have performed with her on her children's albums.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/) She lives in New York and Los Angeles.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper) She and her brother Sam have pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), a genetic condition, and she has served for many years on the board of PXE International with a focus on fundraising.[2](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper)
## References
1. [Jessica Harper: Biography, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/jessica-harper)
2. [Jessica Harper, PXE International](https://pxe.org/people/jessica-harper)
3. [Jessica Harper – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0363888/bio/)
4. [Jessica Harper, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jessica_harper)
5. [About Jessica, jessicaharper.com](https://jessicaharper.com/about-jessica/)
6. [Interview – Jessica Harper, Cryptic Rock (2019)](https://crypticrock.com/interview-jessica-harper/)
7. [The First Lady of 'Suspiria': The Creative, Curious Career of Jessica Harper, The Ringer (2018)](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/jessica-harper-suspiria-remake-dario-argentino-luca-guadagnino-career)
8. [Jessica Harper, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/209369-Jessica-Harper)
9. [Argento's Aesthetic Alignments, Aberystwyth University repository](https://pure.aber.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/28093340/Argento_s_Aesthetic_Alignments.pdf)
10. [Jessica Harper – Actress, Singer, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jessica-harper/)
11. [Jessica (R.) Harper (1949-) Biography, JRank](https://biography.jrank.org/pages/83/Harper-Jessica-R-1949.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames H to Ha*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license