Film, stage and TV (KNOTS LANDING) star Julie Harris died in August at age 87. At the time ALL MY CHILDREN's Francesca James said Harris "was, really, the greatest influence in my life." She apparently had known Harris for 50 years. Now several friends and longtime employees, who were fired by James — including a housekeeper, a gardener and Harris’ lawyer, Herbert Nass — say she “wormed” her way into Harris’ life, took control of her medical and business affairs, and “isolated” Harris from her son, Peter Gurian.James and and Harris’ attorney dismiss these allegations as sour grapes, according to the New York Post. Reached at her home in New York, James told the Post: “There is no truth to any of these accusations. They are being made by disgruntled, fired employees.”
Isaac Peres, who replaced Nass as Harris’ attorney and is also an executor of her estate, said in a statement: “We are aware of the rumors that have been circulated by discharged employees of Miss Harris and all of the unfounded accusations circulating about Miss Harris’ will and codicil and about access to her toward the end of her life . . . We categorically deny any such rumors and accusations.”
Gurian “lives like a hermit” and has a temper but is not violent, neighbors say.
Nass, who worked with Harris for many years, says he plans to raise objections to the will with the probate court in Barnstable, Mass.
“I believe the will and the codicil were the product of undue influence,” he says, “and that Ms. Harris may have lacked testamentary capacity when she signed them.”
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- Julie Harris Dead at 87
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