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Linda Harrison Profile

Linda Harrison
Linda Harrison
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(Linda M. / N. Harrison)
24 July 45 is born in Berlin, Maryland, of English-Irish descent, the third of four sisters. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Burbage Harrison, a nursery man and a beautician.
56 wins the Delmarva Chicken Festival Talent Contest at age 11
June 62 is finalist in the "Miss Delmarva" contest, one of the highlights of the 15th Delmarva Chicken Festival
63 is crowned "Miss Berlin"
? is a model in New York's Garment Center but returns home due to homesickness
? is elected "Fire House Queen" and "Miss Worcester County"
64 is crowned "Miss Delmarva"
? her first job is as a soda fountain girl in Ocean City, Maryland
? works as a waitress at Harrison Hall, Phillips Crab House, where she later becomes head hostess
65 is elected "Miss Ocean City"
is crowned "Miss Maryland" in the "Miss Universe" competition in Ocean City
July 65 is the fourth runner-up in the "Miss America" pageant in Long Beach, California. There she is spotted by talent scout Mike Medavoy and presented to 20th Century-Fox.
August 65 has her personality screen test at 20th Century-Fox with a 60-day option
November 65 is signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox
is introduced to Richard Zanuck, the son of movie mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, when sitting at his table at the premiere of The Agony and the Ecstasy. She is the date of his best friend, attorney Harry Sokolov. Soon afterwards, they start dating.
? to keep her inside the studio, Richard Zanuck builds an acting school on the studio lot, named “New Talent School”
? is introduced to Darryl F. Zanuck during a dinner at Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn. He has his new French girlfriend with him, who is about her age.
August 66 is on hand for the coronation of her successor as "Maryland Beauty Queen" at Ocean City
68 for her part in Planet of the Apes, she bronzes her body during weekends at the Zanuck family’s Palm Springs retreat
February 68 is maid of honor at her sister Joan Harrison's wedding to Arthur Lynch, Jr., in Berlin, Maryland
June 69 the press reports that Charlton Heston is unhappy about his part in the upcoming Beneath the Planet of the Apes, telling the studio to give lead billing to James Franciscus. "Or maybe he's just not happy working with Linda Harrison again."
July 69 columnist Earl Wilson expects her to marry Zanuck in early 1970
27 October 69 in the evening, she marries Zanuck on the terrace of the Sands Hotel penthouse suite in Las Vegas. He's 34; she's 24. He has two little daughters from his former marriage to actress Lili Gentle. Linda wears a copy of a Chanel suit, given to her by her bridegroom, a 14-karat gold brooch garnished with blue flowers selected by the best man, and a bobby pin borrowed from an older sister. Around her neck she has an old diamond cross reputedly worn by actress Marion Davies at her first wedding.
Christmas 69 the Zanucks spend their honeymoon in Acapulco
April 70 attends the Academy Awards ceremony held at Los Angeles' Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Centre dressed in a halter-necked, hyphen white pleated crepe long gown by Travilla
71 Darryl F. Zanuck shocks the industry by firing her husband as president of 20th Century-Fox
? when 20th Century-Fox is sold, she sues for $311,800 charging breach of contract, alleged defamation, and asserted affliction of emotional distress. The terms of her settlement will never be disclosed.
23 February 71 her son Harrison Richard is born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. He will become technical assistant in movies.
1 November 71 her husband files suit for $2.22 million against his father, Darryl F. Zanuck, in Los Angeles for firing him from the $300,000-a-year post. Richard contents he, Linda, and former Fox executive David W. Brown, were wrongly fired and subjects to humiliation and embarrassment.
11 August 72 her son Dean Harrison is born. He will become a producer.
72 her marriage becomes difficult due to Zanuck’s extremely violent disposition, so she seeks spiritual guidance from 65-year-old Vincentii Turriziani of the Risen Christ Foundation.
c. August 74 changes her professional name to Augusta Summerland and obtains a role as Gloria Swanson's secretary in Airport, 1975
September 74 she and Zanuck separate
c. September 74 files for divorce from Zanuck on the grounds of irreconcilable differences
November 74 alleges her estranged husband beat both her and her 65-year-old spiritual guru and asks for a court order restraining Zanuck from getting in touch with her or Turriziani. She says that when she left Zanuck in September because she was afraid of him, he went with a friend to the Risen Christ Foundation of Vincentii Turriziani and punched and kicked the guru, smashed a statue and struck him on the head with it / claims Richard violently beat both her and her spiritual adviser, Vincentii Turriziani, and destroyed a painting entitled The Risen Christ wilfully
75 her husband considers her for the female lead in Jaws, but Universal executive Sid Sheinberg promised that part to his wife, Lorraine Gary
June 77 divorces Zanuck in Los Angeles. He will marry Hollywood office manager-turned-producer Lili Fini.
August 77 Zanuck wins temporary custody of his children because of weird in-court demands by her guru that he correctly predicted Zanuck's Jaws hit and wants a percentage of the profit
June 85 her successor with Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck, casts her when needing a middle-aged actress to play a supporting role in Cocoon
00 has re-settled back in her hometown of Berlin, Maryland
29-30 July 00 attends the Classic Film Fest at the Hyatt Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, along with Yvonne Monlaur, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Veronica Carlson, Margaret O’Brien, and others
September 00 guests at A Toyful Weekend antiques and collectibles toy show in Syracuse, New York
Sources:
Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema by Tom Lisanti, The Fox That Got Away by Stephen M. Silverman, The Salisbury Times, Daily Times, Tri-City Herald, TV Guide, The Daily Gleaner, News Journal-Mansfield, Indiana Evening Gazette, The Coshocton Tribune, The Lethbridge Herald, Daily Intelligencer, Classic Images, The Syracuse Newspapers, www.IMDb.com
Recommended Books:
Fantasy Femmes of 60's Cinema by Tom Lisanti
The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool by Chris Strodder
Links:
Filmography
Cult Sirens: Linda Harrison