The Michigan-born actress died at her Chatham, Massachusetts home after suffering from congestive heart failure. Her death was announced by her close friend Francesca James, reported BBC online.
Harris was best known for her roles on Broadway and her breakthrough came in the hit 1950 play 'The Member of the Wedding', which led to an Oscar nomination for a big screen adaptation three years later.
Her film debut was in 1952 in "I Am A Camera". The film was based on John Isherwood's The Berlin Stories which would later become the musical Cabaret, a production Harris would also star in as Sally Bowles.
On the small screen, she won three Emmy Awards between 1959 and 2000 as well as playing country music singer Lilimae Clements in 'Knot's Landing' in the 1980s.
Harris continued to perform on screen untill 2006 despite her stroke in 2001. She is survived by her son Peter.