David Harris, who played a member of the eponymous street gang in the 1979 cult classic movie“The Warriors,” died on Friday at his home in New York City. He was 75.
His daughter, Davina Harris, confirmed his death, saying that the cause was cancer.
As the Warriors evaded and did battle with rival crews in New York City streets and subway cars, Mr. Harris in the role of Cochise dutifully supported his brothers. In a gang that conformed to matching red leather vests, Cochise cut a defiant presence with his headband and turquoise necklaces that bobbed to the rhythm of their violent journey home to Coney Island.
After the Warriors are falsely accused of killing a gang leader, they have to navigate a panoply of colorful and costumed rivals — malevolent mimes, pinstriped baseball bat thumpers and villains aboard a school bus fit for “Mad Max.”
In a movie with moments (the sinister bottle clinking, the baritone bellow of “Can you dig it?”) that have been recreated and parodied in media in the decades since the film’s release, one of Mr. Harris’s scenes inside a rival gang’s den was a central point in the mayhem.
After being seduced by an all-female gang, a party in an apartment quickly turns sideways, with a hand near Mr. Harris’s face suddenly wielding a switchblade. He bobs and dodges, jumps and jukes before swinging a chair and plowing through a door that allows him and his fellow members to escape bullets and blades.
“We thought it was a little film that would run its little run and go, and nobody would ever talk about it again,” Mr. Harris said in an interview in 2019 with ADAMICradio, an online channel about TV, films and comics.
“I was in Hong Kong, I was in the Philippines, I was in Tokyo,” he added. “I’ve done a lot of movies, but I get off the plane and people go, It’s the guy from ‘The Warriors.’”
As Cochise, Mr. Harris was part of an ensemble for a movie that became internationally recognized though it had been initially derided by critics, remaining a fixture in film discourse.
David Dominic Harris was born in New York City on June 18, 1949, according to his daughter.
He attended the High School of Performing Arts, but was unsure about his path. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I was always the jokester,” Mr. Harris said in an interview in 2022 with “The Claw’s Corner,” a show that speaks with workers in the film industry. An English teacher recommended that he join the school’s drama department.
“I fell in love with it,” he added. “I said you know what, I think this is my niche.” He later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, according to his bio on social media.
Mr. Harris’s first major role was in the 1976 TV film “Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys,” a drama about nine Black men who were imprisoned after being falsely accused of rape. The movie would be nominated for two Emmy Awards.
The next year, Mr. Harris was cast in the play “Secret Service” alongside the acting titans Meryl Streep and John Lithgow.
“I was onstage with giants,” Mr. Harris said on “The Claw’s Corner.” “I was so scared and so nervous that I got cast. But they took me under their wing.”
Mr. Harris would find his own audience with his role as Cochise. He had been performing in a play in Minneapolis when he returned to New York and his agent connected Mr. Harris with Walter Hill, who directed “The Warriors.”
“I walked into the room and Walter took one look at me and said, ‘Go down to costumes,’” Mr. Harris said in an interview in 2014 with “The Five Count,” a radio program in Minnesota.
The gritty New York streets of the film paved a path for decades of work. In 1980, Mr. Harris had a role in “Brubaker” starring Robert Redford. Mr. Harris would be cast in dozens of episodes of television, too, including on “NYPD Blue,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “MacGyver.”
Aside from his daughter, Mr. Harris’s survivors include his mother, three siblings and two grandchildren.
As Cochise, Mr. Harris was part of a film that was initially derided by critics, who said it invoked real-life gang violence, but was later lauded by many for its sleek direction and campy appeal.
A 1979 appraisal in The New York Times said it was “full of gorgeous nocturnal city images that splash blaring neon colors against filthy, rain-slicked gray.” In 2003, The Times included “The Warriors” on its list of the 1,000 best films ever made. And this year, Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the musical “Hamilton,” released a concept album inspired by the movie.
Despite the enduring appeal of “The Warriors,” Mr. Harris never tired of the role that made him recognizable around the world.
“It feels great to know that you’re a part of some film that’s history,” Mr. Harris said on “The Five Count.” “Certain actors are blessed enough to get in a film that is just iconic and people are going to talk about for the next thousand years.”
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