Elia Kazan, in his autobiography "A Life", said that he was grateful to have Harris on the set of East of Eden (1955) because she had a calming influence on James Dean. Kazan praised Harris as both an actress and as a human being.
[on the late James Dean]: And he took me for a ride that I thought would be my last, up in the Hollywood hills and so fast that my heart was in my throat, but instead of saying to him, 'Slow down, Jimmy,' I didn't say anything. I was, like, 'Whe-e-e-e-e.' As long as I didn't say, 'Hey, don't go so fast,' I was a comrade. And after that we just always got on. He knew I was in his corner.
