The Warriors actor was 75 years old

David Harris, actor best known for his role as Cochise in the 1979 cult classic filmWarriors“, died. He was 75.

Harris died Friday at his home in New York after a battle with cancer, his daughter Davina Harris said. New York Times.

In The Warriors, Harris played Cochise, an integral member of the red vest-wearing gang of the same name. Based on Saul Urick’s 1965 novel of the same name, the film, directed by Walter Hill, follows a New York City gang who are framed for murder and decide to travel from the Bronx to Coney Island. Harris’ character Cochise stood out from the others with his unique fashion choices, which included a headband and a large turquoise necklace as a sign of rebellion.

The Warriors was criticized upon its initial release, but eventually achieved cult status. “We thought it was a little movie that would go away for a little while and no one would ever talk about it again,” Harris said in an interview. interview in 2019 with ADAMICradio.

“I’ve been to Hong Kong, I’ve been to the Philippines, I’ve been to Tokyo,” he added. “I’ve been in a lot of movies, but I get off the plane and people say, ‘That’s the guy from The Warriors.’

From the 1980s to the 2000s, Harris worked on several films, including Boobaker (1980), Quicksilver (1980), A Soldier’s Tale (1984), Fatal Beauty (1987) and James White” (2015) and others. He has also appeared in such television shows as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ER, NYPD Blue, Mike Hammer: Private Eye and others.

His breakthrough project was the 1976 Emmy-nominated TV movie Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys, in which he played Haywood Patterson. The following year, he landed a role in the play The Secret Service, starring Meryl Streep and John Lithgow.

Harris was born in New York on June 18, 1949. He studied at the High School of Performing Arts, where one of his English teachers recommended that he enroll in the drama department.

“I fell in love with it,” he told the magazine in a 2022 interview. “Claw Corner” “I said, you know what, I think this is my niche.”

Along with his daughter, Harris is survived by his mother, Maud Marie Harris; sister, Jeannette K. Harris-Zwerin; brothers, Arthur A. Harris and Vincent J. Harris; and two grandchildren.