[1][2] Harris moved to Los Angeles in 1937 and got a mailroom job at Columbia Studios.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces at the start of World War II, and as part of the First Motion Picture Unit, reported to Hal Roach Studios in Culver City.
His supervisor there was Ronald Reagan, who hired him as sound effects editor for training and combat films.
Over the next five decades, he directed hundreds of TV episodes, with significant contributions to Gunsmoke, Eight is Enough, The Waltons, and Falcon Crest.
He was survived by his wife, Patty; daughters, Joanne, a hairstylist and Suzanne; and a stepson, Michael Daruty, an NBC Universal exec.