New York native David Dominic Harris studied at the Manhattan High School of Performing Arts and joined their drama department upon the advice of an English teacher. He made his acting debut in the made-for-television drama
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (1976). Three years later, he had a leading role in the cult movie
The Warriors (1979), achieving lasting fame as the flamboyantly attired Cochise (complete with turquoise necklace and red bandanna), a key member in a New York street gang. Notable among his subsequent film appearances are the
Robert Redford-starring prison drama
Brubaker (1980), the murder mystery
A Soldier's Story (1984) (set in a segregated U.S. Army regiment during World War II) and
Quicksilver (1986) (as a character named 'Apache'). He was seen more frequently on the small screen in episodes of
Kojak (1973),
MacGyver (1985),
Hill Street Blues (1981),
Simon & Simon (1981) ,
The Equalizer (1985), and
Profiler (1996), among many others. Harris is also well-remembered as the abused Mont Royal house slave Priam, brother of Semiramis, in the epic miniseries
North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985); and as the uniformed Officer Donny Simmons in several instalments of
NYPD Blue (1993).
Harris died from cancer on October 25 2024 in New York.
First Wives Club(2019)as Uncle Bepop
Instinct(2018)as Building Super
His Dying Wish(2016)as Walt Harper
Mommy's Box(2016)as C.C. 'Pop' Nevins
James White(2015)as Joe
Zoo Crew Two(2022)
The Andy Troy Show(2016)as Self
The Grindhouse Radio(2015)as David Harris
The Warriors: Last Subway Ride Home(2015)as Cochise
The Way Home: Making the Warriors(2005)as Self
TCM Remembers 2024(2024)as Self - Actor
