Biographie
As Ajay Sidhu, one of the stars of Steven Spielberg’s The Last World: Jurassic Park (from which he is also the subject of his own action figure), Harvey Jason once again transformed himself into one of the countless and varied characters he has played throughout a successful career in film, TV and theater for over fifty years. Known for his virtually unlimited facility with accents and dialects, he has portrayed, with total authenticity, every conceivable nationality. Born in London on Leap Year’s Day 1940, he always wanted to be an actor. After finishing his education, he made his way to New York. Within two weeks he got his first role an off-Broadway play. Other plays followed at a rapid pace, including a season at Joseph Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park. Soon, it was Broadway. First, the award-winning A Taste of Honey, after which he did the national tour. After that, Broadway again, with Ray Milland in Hostile Witness. Shortly thereafter he toured the U.S. and Canada, playing a variety of characters in Peter Cook’s famed satirical revue, The Establishment. Back in NY, he was asked to return to L.A. to play Julie Andrews’ assistant in Robert Wise’s production of STAR. Following that was a lengthy series of guest-starring roles in TV series, one after another, which made him realize that his stay in L.A. had to be permanent. That was a fortunate move, since on the film Necromancy with Orson Welles and the brilliant Pamela Franklin (who had just received a British Academy Award nomination for her starring role alongside Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. When Harvey and Pamela met it was love at first sight. A couple of months later they married. In 2025, along with their two sons, Joshua and Louis, they celebrated their 55th anniversary. After appearing with Jack Lemmon in Save The Tiger, for which Lemmon won his Best Actor Oscar, Jack sponsored Harvey into AMPAS. For years, Harvey starred on dozens of TV shows (including a season as a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in, and his acclaimed starring performance as Harry Zeff in the mega-hit mini-series Captains and The King. A genuine highlight was when legendary director Stanley Kramer (who had directed Harvey in Oklahoma Crude) phoned him at home to offer him a leading role as Roy Cohn in his TV production of Judgement: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. After starring as Ajay in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Harvey retired from acting to begin an entirely new career. With his son Louis, they opened Mystery Pier Books on the Sunset Strip. Selling exclusively First Editions of literature, the shop achieved widespread fame and is now called ‘One of The Most Important First Edition Bookshops in the United States’.
