David Harris, ‘The Warriors’ Actor Who Played Cochise, Dies at 75

Actor David Harris, who played Cochise in the 1979 cult film “The Warriors,” passed away. His age was 75. Following a fight with cancer, Harris passed away at his New York City home on Friday, according to his daughter Davina Harris, who spoke to the New York Times.

Harris portrayed Cochise in “The Warriors,” a crucial part of the group that wore the same red vest. The Walter Hill-directed movie, which is based on the same-titled 1965 novel by Sol Yurick, centers on a gang in New York City who decide to go to Coney Island from the Bronx after being falsely accused of murder. Cochise, played by Harris, stood out from the others thanks to his distinctive fashion sense, which included wearing a large turquoise necklace as a headband.

“I visited Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Tokyo,” he continued. When I go off the plane, people say, ‘It’s the man from ‘The Warriors.’ I’ve done a lot of movies.” Among the many films Harris worked on from the 1980s to the 2000s were “Bubaker” (1980), “Quicksilver” (1980), “A Soldier’s Story” (1984), “Fatal Beauty” (1987), and “James White” (2015). In addition, he starred in television series such as “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “ER,” “NYPD Blue,” “Mike Hammer: Private Eye,” and others.

In the 1976 Emmy-nominated television film “Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys,” he played Haywood Patterson, which was his breakout role. He was chosen for the play “Secret Service,” which starred Meryl Streep and the following year. On June 18, 1949, Harris was born in New York City. One of his English teachers suggested that he join the drama department at the High School of Performing Arts, where he was enrolled. He declared, “I fell in love with it,” in an interview with “The Claw’s Corner” from 2022. “I think this is my niche, you know what?” Harris is survived by his mother, Maude Marie Harris; two grandsons; brothers, Arthur A. Harris and Vincent J. Harris; and sister, Jeannette C. Harris-Zwerin.