Despite going uncredited in most of her film roles, she was well known to black audiences of the era. Some black theaters would feature her name on the marquee when her films were shown, rather than the names of the films' leading actors.
In 1974, she was inducted into the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame.
The title character in Lynn Nottage's play By the Way, Meet Vera Stark is based in part on Theresa Harris. She is portrayed by actress Sanaa Lathan.
Originally went to school to become an teacher, like her mother, and after that studied singing.