Mary Harron was born in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. As a child, she lived in multiple cities including New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and London, where she spent a majority of her adolescence. After studying journalism at Oxford University, she moved back to New York and wrote for Punk magazine. She was very active in the 1970s punk scene where she penned articles on the burgeoning culture for The Village Voice, The Guardian, and The Observer. Harron transitioned to film by becoming a researcher for The South Bank Show, a British pop music series. She later worked as a documentarian and directed satirical short films for The Late Show on BBC. After reading SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas, the woman who attempted to kill Andy Warhol, she was inspired to embark on a seven-year journey to tell a story about Solanas’ life. She initially developed the idea as a documentary but decided ultimately to make it into a dramatic feature film. The film, I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), became her feature directorial debut.
After directing Warhol, Harron helmed American Psycho (2000) starring Christian Bale; The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) starring Gretchen Mol; The Moth Diaries (2011) starring Lily Cole; and Charlie Says (2018) starring Matt Smith. She has also directed episodes from shows including Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, Six Feet Under, Big Love, The Nine, Fear Itself, The Following, and The Expecting. She directed the limited series Alias Grace and the movie for television The Anna Nicole Story.
Harron has been a member of the Guild since 1997.