Biography

Jean Harris was born on April 27, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was married to James Scholes Harris. She died on December 23, 2012 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Born to a wealthy Cleveland suburban family and raised in a strict Christian Scientist household; attended Smith College.

In 1977, she became headmistress of ultra-exclusive Madeira school in McLean, Virginia.

On March 10, 1980, she shot and killed Dr. Herman Tarnower, her boyfriend of many years and author of the bestselling book "The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet."

Served 12 years in prison and was released in 1992 after she was granted clemency by New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

In Westchester, I always felt I was a woman in a pretty dress that went to dinner parties with Dr. Tarnower. In Washington, I was a woman in a pretty dress and a headmistress. I wasn't sure who I was, and it didn't seem to matter.