The Story of René Harris
After the Titanic disaster, Mrs. Henry B. Harris grieved but knew the show must go on. As one half of a powerful Broadway impresario couple, the 35-year-old had a whole life ahead of her—a life that would rely on her powerful storytelling and business acumen to support herself in a time when women’s roles in entertainment were primarily limited to performing.
Henry B. Harris, 45, and his wife René (who also went by Irene and Renée at various points in her life) boarded Titanic in First Class in Southampton on April 10, 1912. The two were journeying home to New York City after a trip to Europe. The Harrises occupied cabin C-83, near the Big Piece, a 15-ton section of Titanic’s hull that was recovered in 1998 and is on permanent display at TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition in Las Vegas.
While most of their voyage had been pleasurable, René slipped and fell down the Grand Staircase while making her way to her cabin on Sunday, April 14. She broke her arm, which was placed in a sling. Her injury did not deter the Harrises’ dinner plans that evening. They were guests of the Wideners at the dinner party for Capt. E. J. Smith in the À La Carte Restaurant.
During the sinking, René unwillingly said goodbye to the love of her life. Henry perished in the disaster. René was rescued in Collapsible Lifeboat D and brought on board Carpathia for the journey to safety in New York City.
In this 1910 photo, Henry and René Harris sit in the Hudson Theater in New York City. After Henry died in the Titanic sinking, René inherited the theater business and became the first female theater manager and producer in the United States. Public domain
René Harris is among the occupants of Collapsible Lifeboat D. J. W. Barker, a passenger on Carpathia, took this photograph. Public domain
Mrs. Henry B. Harris is described as a “hustler” in this October 1912 article explaining why she took up her husband’s theater management and production business after he died in the Titanic sinking. The Baltimore Sun, October 22, 1912
Despite remarrying three times after losing her husband in the Titanic tragedy, Mrs. Henry B. Harris maintained that he was the true love of her life. The portrait of Henry seen in this photo, which was taken in 1959, hung in the Hudson Theater. Public domain
Upon Henry’s death, René inherited her husband’s business, one of America’s most extensive theatrical agencies. Her book of business included touring shows and the Hudson, Harris, and Fulton theaters in New York City. She faced three unforeseen challenges with her inheritance: repaying her husband’s previously unknown debt, claiming her space in the male-dominated world of Broadway production, and overcoming the loss of the man who gave her “twelve of the most supremely happy years that one could ever hope to enjoy.”
René had only helped Henry with technical direction occasionally, so she had little experience financing and managing a show from soup to nuts in comparison to her male counterparts. Nevertheless, she persisted and achieved great success, becoming the first female theatrical producer and manager on Broadway and the only female theater owner in New York. She claimed to be the first female theater manager and producer in America. René encouraged other women to join her in the working world of theater, saying women “can give the feminine touch.” She ran the Hudson Theater for 20 years—longer than Henry’s ownership—until its closing in 1932 due to the Great Depression.
In a loving tribute to her husband, she was known throughout her professional career as Mrs. Henry B. Harris. “If I had my life to live over, I wouldn’t change it,” she said. “After all, I had 10 wonderful, happy, superb, unforgettable years with my first husband. He spoiled me for any other man in the world. I have had four marriages—but really only one husband.”
Although René spent most of her life trying to forget Titanic, she became good friends with Walter Lord and worked with him extensively on his famous book about the sinking, A Night to Remember. René Harris died at age 93 on September 2, 1969.
The Hudson Theater operates today as one of the major theaters on Broadway, recently showing “Once Upon a Mattress” starring Sutton Foster and the Tony Award-winning revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” in 2024. Inside the theater is an area showcasing the work and success of Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Harris.
*****
René wrote this poem for her husband Henry in 1903:
Why do I smile? It’s very queer
That you should ask me that my dear
Because of you I smile—don’t scoff
I’ve wiped and wiped but it won’t come off.
I’m just so glad. I love you so
The little smile, it will not go.
But when you’re gone I greatly fear
The smile will fade away my dear
I’ll not be glad. I’ll just be sad
Till you return to me my lad.
A dramatic account of the Titanic’s final moments is given by Mrs. Henry B. Harris in this write-up days after the tragedy. The Boston Globe, April 19, 1912
