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==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Harris was raised [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], and attended an all-girls school. She married at age 19, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced at age 21. She had a second daughter while in her late 20s. In 2006, she [[coming out|came out]] as a [[lesbian]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/commentary/2006/09/25/miss-cleo-comes-out|title=Miss Cleo Comes Out|date=September 25, 2006|publisher=|accessdate=July 26, 2016}}</ref>
Harris was raised [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], and attended an all-girls school.{{fact}} She married at age 19, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced at age 21.{{fact}} She had a second daughter while in her late 20s.{{fact}} In 2006, she [[coming out|came out]] as a [[lesbian]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/commentary/2006/09/25/miss-cleo-comes-out|title=Miss Cleo Comes Out|date=September 25, 2006|publisher=|accessdate=July 26, 2016}}</ref>


==Death==
==Death==

Revision as of 23:21, 26 July 2016

Miss Cleo
Born
Youree Dell Harris

(1962-08-12)August 12, 1962
Los Angeles, California, United States
DiedJuly 26, 2016(2016-07-26) (aged 53)
Palm Beach County, Florida, United States
Cause of deathCancer
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLaShawnda Williams, Corvette Mama, Elenore St. Julian, Desiree Canterlaw, Janet Snyder, Maria Delcampo, Christina Garcia, Cleomili Harris, Youree Perris
Known forPhone/TV psychic/900 number employee

Youree Dell Harris (August 12, 1962[1] – July 26, 2016)[2] was an American television personality best known as Miss Cleo, a spokeswoman for a psychic pay-per-call service from 1997 to 2003.

Harris has used various aliases, including LaShawnda Williams, Corvette Mama, Elenore St. Julian, Desiree Canterlaw, Janet Snyder, Maria Delcampo, Christina Garcia, Cleomili Harris, and Youree Perris.[3]

Early career

In 1996, in Seattle, Washington, Harris and her partner opened a production company which produced several of her plays.[3] She acted in her first project, an autobiographical play entitled For Women Only.[4]

Her last project, Supper Club Cafe, was not successful, and she "left town with a trail of debts and broken promises" according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.[3] Some of the cast of her productions claimed that they were never paid, and that Harris "told her cast members she had bone cancer" and "her medical costs would prevent her from paying people immediately", but she wrote each actor and crew member a letter telling him or her how much money she owed them.[3]

Psychic Readers Network

In the late 1990s, Harris began to work for the Psychic Readers Network under the name Cleo. She appeared as a television infomercial psychic in which she claimed she was from Jamaica.[5]

The Psychic Readers Network is said to have coined the title "Miss Cleo" and sent unsolicited emails,[6] some of which stated, "[Miss Cleo has] been authorized to issue you a Special Tarot Reading!... it is vital that you call immediately!" Charges of deceptive advertising and of fraud on the part of the Psychic Readers Network began to surface around this time.[7]

In 2001, Access Resource Services doing business as Psychic Readers Network was sued in various lawsuits brought by (among others) Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, and the Federal Communications Commission, although reports later said that "many customers were satisfied with the service".[8]

In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged the company's owners and Harris' promoters, Steven Feder and Peter Stotz, with deceptive advertising, billing, and collection practices; Harris was not indicted.[9] Her promoters agreed to settle for a fraction of the amount they took in.[10] It emerged that Harris was actually born in Los Angeles, and that her parents were U.S. citizens.[8]

Subsequent career

Harris voiced the character Auntie Poulet in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.[11][12]

In 2003, the New York Daily News reported that TV music network Fuse had signed Harris as a spokeswoman.[13] In early 2005, Harris was reportedly appearing on television as Miss Cleo in advertisements for a used car dealership in Florida, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.[14]

In 2014, using the name Cleomili Harris, she spoke about her experiences in the documentary Hotline.[15]

Personal life

Harris was raised Catholic, and attended an all-girls school.[citation needed] She married at age 19, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced at age 21.[citation needed] She had a second daughter while in her late 20s.[citation needed] In 2006, she came out as a lesbian.[16]

Death

Harris' original diagnosis of colon cancer had eventually spread to her other organs, and she died after a long battle on July 26, 2016.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Miss Cleo's A Valley Girl". The Smoking Gun . March 14, 2002. Retrieved August 4, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  2. ^ a b "Miss Cleo Dead at 53". TMZ. July 26, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Parvaz, D. (March 2, 2002). "Miss Cleo left a trail of deception in Seattle". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 18, 2006.
  4. ^ "Miss Cleo left a trail of deception in Seattle". Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  5. ^ Press, Associated. "Actress who played TV psychic Miss Cleo dies of cancer at 53". Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  6. ^ "Phone psychics' scam follows script". Erie Times-News. December 1, 2001. p. 2.
  7. ^ Lithwick, Dahlia. With Psychics Like These …: The lawsuits pile up for Miss Cleo. Slate, March 26, 2002. Accessed August 4, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Hood, James (November 14, 2002). "Miss Cleo Settles for $500 Million". News. Washington, DC: ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  9. ^ "FTC Charges "Miss Cleo" Promoters with Deceptive Advertising, Billing and Collection Practices - Federal Trade Commission". Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  10. ^ Christopher, Kevin (March–April 2003). "'Miss Cleo' settles with the Federal Trade Commission – News and Comment". Vol. 27, no. 2. Skeptical Inquirer. p. 8. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  11. ^ Clary, Mike (August 26, 2015). "Psychic network accuses cereal maker of infringing on 'Miss Cleo' copyright". SunSentinel. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  12. ^ Reed, Chris (September 12, 2014). "The 11 Best GTA Supporting Characters". Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  13. ^ Rush and Molloy. Schumer $andbagging friends of AG?. New York Daily News, November 30, 2003. Accessed January 8, 2008. "New music network Fuse recently signed up as spokeswomen 1) televangelist Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Mrs. Jim Bakker), 2) cable porn princess Robin Byrd and 3) Youree Harris (the actress who played purported psychic "Miss Cleo" before the Federal Trade Commission shut down her $4.95-a-minute phone line)."
  14. ^ Staff writer. Drink and Scoot!. Broward-Palm Beach New Times, February 5, 2005. Accessed January 8, 2008. "The Turbaned One is back. With her crystal ball and snake-oil smile, Miss Cleo (real name: Youree Harris) showed up recently on television ads for Plantation-based Uncle Mel's Used Cars."
  15. ^ Editor, Cavan Sieczkowski Senior; Strategy, Content; Post, The Huffington (May 3, 2014). "The Elusive 'Psychic' Ms. Cleo Talks About Coming Out". Retrieved July 26, 2016. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Miss Cleo Comes Out". September 25, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
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