Physician, author, and murder victim. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was the only son of Jewish immigrants, Harry and Dora Tarnower. He attended Syracuse University and became a physician specializing in cardiology. During World War II, he joined the US Army Medical Corps and was promoted to Major. After the war, he founded the Scarsdale Medical Center. He was, however, best known as the author of the best-selling book "The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet." He never married. A love affair with Jean Harris lasted for 14 years until she shot and killed him with a .32 caliber handgun after he dumped her for his much younger and more attractive personal assistant, Lynne Tryforos. The crime was a media frenzy and the love triangle would be made into two movies, "The People vs. Jean Harris" in 1981 starring Ellen Burstyn, and "Mrs. Harris" in 2005, with Annette Bening. Herman Tarnower was 69 when he met his demise in 1980; he was interred at a Jewish Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson NY. Jean Harris served 12 years in prison at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford NY for his murder. She was released in 1993 and visited his gravesite on several occasions before her death at age 89 in 2012 at an assisted living facility in Connecticut.
Physician, author, and murder victim. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was the only son of Jewish immigrants, Harry and Dora Tarnower. He attended Syracuse University and became a physician specializing in cardiology. During World War II, he joined the US Army Medical Corps and was promoted to Major. After the war, he founded the Scarsdale Medical Center. He was, however, best known as the author of the best-selling book "The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet." He never married. A love affair with Jean Harris lasted for 14 years until she shot and killed him with a .32 caliber handgun after he dumped her for his much younger and more attractive personal assistant, Lynne Tryforos. The crime was a media frenzy and the love triangle would be made into two movies, "The People vs. Jean Harris" in 1981 starring Ellen Burstyn, and "Mrs. Harris" in 2005, with Annette Bening. Herman Tarnower was 69 when he met his demise in 1980; he was interred at a Jewish Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson NY. Jean Harris served 12 years in prison at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford NY for his murder. She was released in 1993 and visited his gravesite on several occasions before her death at age 89 in 2012 at an assisted living facility in Connecticut.
Bio by: Memorial Flower
Inscription
WE LOVED HIM DEARLY
Family Members
Advertisement
