Edward Allen "Ed" Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor, writer and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Right Stuff, Enemy at the Gates, The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross, Apollo 13, Pollock, A Beautiful Mind, The Hours, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and The Truman Show, among many others.

Harris was born in Englewood, New Jersey and raised in Tenafly, the son of Margaret, a travel agent, and Robert L. Harris, who sang with the Fred Waring chorus and worked at the bookstore of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has an older brother, Robert, and a younger brother, Spencer. Harris was raised in a middle class Presbyterian family. He graduated from Tenafly High School in 1969, where he played on the football team, serving as the team's captain in his senior year. He was a star athlete in high school and competed in athletics at Columbia University in 1969. Two years later his family moved to New Mexico and he followed after having discovered his interest in acting in various theater plays. He enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to study drama. After several successful roles in the local theater, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts.

Harris has been married to actress Amy Madigan since 1983. They have a daughter named Lily Dolores Harris born on May 3, 1993.