HOLLYWOOD CALLING
When Chris Harris designs a gala or just a party rest assured it will be an event to remember and it will be celebrated with major news coverage around the world if indeed that is what you desire.
LERON GUBLER
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“Chris Harris is a veteran P.R. Expert, who not only knows the business but also knows the history of Hollywood through his many years of involvement in the community.” Leron Gubler President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |
THE UNVEILING OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD SIGN
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Chris Harris interviewed about the Hollywood Sign in a Hollywood Documentary
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Betsy Berkheimer and Chris Harris celebrate lighting the new Hollywood Sign
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In 1978 it was Chris Harris who staged the gala for the lighting of the new Hollywood Sign. Harris staged the event in a tent at the famed Griffith Park Observatory directly in view of the new Hollywood Sign. Harris went outside with an umbrella to inform the press, "Tonight fifty million people in the United States will be able to view the lighting of the new Hollywood Sign."
TRIBUTE TO TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
“Chris your Hollywood tribute was a celebration of my beloved mother Tamara and the profound legacy of her art.”
Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall
Chris Harris tribute to Tamara de Lempicka with actress Sharon Stone
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Tamara de Lempicka and Tamara in a Green Bugatti
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THE MASQUERS CLUB – OLDEST ACTORS CLUB IN AMERICA
In 1985 a Chicago builder had purchased the land where the Masquers Club was located. The Masquers was where all the actors had met since Hollywood became the motion picture capital of the world. Chris Harris along with attorney Bob Stein and public relations executive Dean DeLorean had labored for over a month to save the historic building. Chris Harris called upon his longtime friend Virginia Knauer Special Consumer Advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan to assist in saving the historic building. Mrs. Knauer arranged a meeting between Chris Harris the director of the nation’s landmark sites. USA TODAY and The Los Angeles Times along with television news rallied around saving the Masquers Club. During the meeting with the Director of landmark sites Chris Harris learned that Los Angeles Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson whose district presided over the Masquers Club had given her word to save the Masquers Club. It turned out Peggy Stevenson took a campaign contribution from the Chicago builder. Chris Harris, Bob Stein, and Dean DeLorean led a sit in outside the offices of Peggy Stevenson for a period of two weeks. In the end the Councilwoman lost the race to Mike Woo.
RUDY VALLEE SAFE OPENING
After the death of America’s first Crooner Rudy Vallee in 1986 Chris Harris staged an early morning caviar and champagne black-tie breakfast for the opening of the Rudy Vallee safe that had been locked for over fifty years. The event was to celebrate the sale of the Rudy Vallee collection of movie memorabilia to the Thousand Oaks Library for over a half million dollars. Rudy Vallee had the largest collection of movie memorabilia in the history of Hollywood film history. Chris Harris represented Rudy Vallee for over three years introducing him to the MTV generation with a music video entitled, “Girl’s Talk.” Harris later arranged a tribute for Vallee at the Kennedy Center for his role in the classic film “Palm Beach Story.”
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Rudy Vallee Girls Talk Music Video
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"SECOND GUN" (ASSASSINATION OF SENATOR ROBERT KENNEDY)
“The success of winning the Golden Globe for “Second Gun” the documentary based on the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy is due in part to your Public Relations campaign."
Theodore Charach
Golden Globe Award Winning Producer
SHARON STONE ACTRESS
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Chris Harris gave Sharon Stone's charity Planet Hope a national image. When a reporter once ask Harris about Stone Harris said, "There is no actress in the history of Hollywood film who ever possessed a natural beauty without the layers of makeup than Sharon Stone."
THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE"Everything went smoothly and I just wanted to let you know that your assistance with AFI Theater events is always welcome and greatly appreciated. Hope to be working with you again in the very near future."
Lisa Parks AFI Theater 
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LEGENDARY OUR GANG COMEDY STAR GEORGE SPANKY MCFARLAND PRESENTS OSCAR TO HAL ROACH
Chris Harris convinced legendary George Spanky McFarland (Our Gang Comedy) to come out of retirement to host the new classic film channel Nostalgia Channel. Chris Harris arranged for George Spanky McFarland to present a special Oscar Hal Roach director of the Our Gang series.
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George Spanky McFarland presents The Lifetime Achievement Award to Hal Roach at the 1984 Academy Awards
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Actor George Spanky McFarland
"Thank you Chris for rediscovering me." Spanky McFarland Actor |
The first cable channel to run classic films and interviews with the stars like James Stewart and Rita Hayworth. The producers of the new classic film channel needed publicity to gain the investors they were seeking. Chris Harris was contacted and suggested honoring the great classic film stars at the Lasky – DeMille Barn one of the first Hollywood film studios. The first feature film produced at the Barn was The Squaw Man in 1914. Harris staged the first major event in the historical building since it was renovated in 1982. Chris Harris convinced George “Spanky” McFarland to come out of retirement to host the event. Over a hundred of the classic film stars attended the dinner with entertainment. The press carried the story around the world. The producers gained their investors as a result of the news coverage. Former host of Entertainment Tonight Leonard Maltin and Chris Harris arranged for George “Spanky” McFarland to appear on the 1984 Academy Awards presenting Hal Roach with a Special Achievement Award.
CHRIS HARRIS - THE RESTORATION OF THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN DOCUMENTARY |
In 1972, Chris Harris informed Bill Welsh president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce that people were stealing tin from the Hollywood Sign. If it continued there would soon be one less Hollywood Sign. The chamber applied for landmark status and in 1973 the chamber received landmark status. In 1978 Bill Welsh selected Harris to stage the gala for the unveiling of the new Hollywood Sign. The original sign remained warehoused for over thirty years until sculptor Bill Mack purchased the remains of the original sign and restored the H. Bill Mack asked Chris Harris to walk through the restored H before guests and the press at his studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2013.
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MICKEY ROONEY"No one can design a Hollywood gala like Chris Harris!" Mickey Rooney Legendary Actor |
Mickey Rooney and Chris Harris
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STAGING HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARILYN MONROE TOKYO, JAPAN
To celebrate the publishing of a Marilyn Monroe book in Japan Chris Harris designed a special birthday party for the legendary late actress Harris served hot dogs, and hamburgers Monroe’s bill of fare during the lean years topped off with Monroe’s favorite Dom Perignon champagne 1952. The event was carried around the world by CNN.
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BATMAN GALA
The second Batman film (Batman Returns – Directed by Tim Burton) Pop artist Tom Zotos President of Zanart publishing of Los Angeles, California selected Chris Harris to stage a gala to celebrate the new Batman art. Harris turned an art gallery on the famed La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood, California into a “Batman” environment. The Bat light was mounted on a building across the street from the gallery positioned to shine directly into the gallery at the scheduled hour the artist John Philip Dismukes dressed as “Batman” rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle into the gallery to unveil his art along with Bella Shaw hostess of CNN Showbiz Today. As the new Batman art was unveiled actor Dean DeLorean came swinging from an upstairs level on a rope introducing the Bat Dance with two young actresses. Seagram’s alcoholic beverage company introduced the Bat drink. The success of the Batman gala created a traffic jam on La Cienega Boulevard. The Los Angeles fire department arrived to monitor overcrowding of the gallery. When Tom Zotos made his presentation of the new Batman art from Zanart to Warner Bros Studios the public relations people for Warner’s noted that the Batman gala on La Cienega Boulevard received more interest than the premier of “Batman Returns” the film.
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Left John Philip Dismukes Middle Tom Zotos Right Bella Shaw of CNN Showbiz Today
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STAGING A TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH TAYLOR
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Chris Harris coordinates the Pacific Center tribute to actress Elizabeth Taylor for her tireless dedication in finding a cure for AIDS. Ms. Taylor noted in her dinner speech before fifteen hundred people in the Grand Ballroom of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, California that the loss of close friend actor Rock Hudson had inspired her to give of her time for AIDS research. Ms. Taylor paid tribute to Ryan White the young boy who died from AIDS as the result of a blood transfusion. Jeannie White the mother of Ryan honored Ms. Taylor for her tireless work in the war against AIDS. A silent auction was set up offering everything from a Rolls Royce Cornish to a book by Ryan White.
FLAMINGO HOTEL AND CASINO
Baron Hilton
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KSNV News 3 NBC Las Vegas, Nevada |