Julius Harris, the brooding, cold-eyed African-American character actor whose most memorable work in the films Live and Let Die and Superfly made him an icon in Black culture, died on October 17 at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California of heart failure. He was 81.

Born in Harlem in 1923 (his birthday has never been disclosed), but raised in Philadelphia, Harris served as an Army medic during World War II. After leaving the service in 1950, he found work as an orderly and eventually became a nurse before returning to New York City.

While living in Manhattan, he became involved with other notable black actors of the day, including James Earl Jones, Yaphet Kotto, Al Freeman, and Louis Gossett Jr. Through their connections, he found stage work that led to his screen debut, that of Ivan Dixon's alcoholic father in the acclaimed family drama Nothing but a Man (1964). Despite the positive reviews, Harris spent the remainder of the `60s working on the stage. The `70s were another matter.

His turn as Scatter, the aged drug pusher whose reluctance to come out of retirement for one last score in Superfly, gave him one of his most meaty roles, yet that part was surpassed the following year with his most memorable performance, that of the menacing Tee Hee who battles James bond atop a speeding train in the popular Live and Let Die (1973).

He finished the decade in high style with a string of fine roles: as a Deputy Chief Inspector in the exciting crime thriller The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974), Augie in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, his riveting portrayal as Ugandan President Idi Amin (substituting for Godfrey Cambridge, who died during production) in Victory at Entebbe (both 1976), and the mysterious character "Black Cat" in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

He showed an unexpected flair for comedy as an African premiere in Buck Henry's uneven political satire First Family (1980), and had his last strong role playing a preacher who headed a slave group in the Civil War mini-series The Blue and the Gray (1982). Harris also found work in television appearing in such notable series as: Benson, The Jeffersons, Amazing Stories, and Murder She Wrote.

Although in semi-retirement in recent years, he made a most notable cameos in 1997, as a proud but ailing elderly patient in the medical show ER. He is survived by his son, Gideon; and daughter, Kimberly.

by Michael T. Toole