At the age of eleven, Julie Harris declared, "I'm going to be an actress-or bust!" Harris not only kept that promise; she fulfilled it with a distinction rarely equaled in American theater. Proclaimed Broadway's newest star in 1950 following her portrayal of an adolescent tomboy in The Member of the Wedding, she eventually claimed an unprecedented five best-actress Tony Awards. Among her early admirers were such stage greats as Helen Hayes and Ethel Barrymore, and Harris has long since come to be regarded as one of America's most accomplished actresses. In 1976, referring to her slightness of stature, one critic hailed her as Broadway's "tiniest tower of strength."

In this portrait, Harris appears dressed for her role as St. Joan in The Lark. She posed for it in her dressing room during the play's Boston tryout, and it ran on the cover of Time magazine on November 28, 1955, shortly after the play opened on Broadway. The day after the opening, a reviewer noted that "great" was a word he valued dearly, but "this morning," he said, "it belongs to Miss Harris."