Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Townes attended the University of Alabama and Columbia University, where he graduated. He developed his acting skills in the university's drama club.
Townes performed in several New York and Broadway stage productions, including summer stock. During World War II he left the stage to enlist in the Army Air Corps. Discharged in 1946, he returned to the stage before moving on to Hollywood.
Townes became a skilled character actor and was familiar face to TV viewers in the 1950s and '60s. His expanded range led him to fill a variety of roles, and he avoided the Hollywood nightmare of being typecast. Besides appearing in 29 movies, Townes had more than 200 television parts.
Townes retired from acting in 1970. A religious person, he was ordained as an Episcopal priest in St. Paul's Cathedral on March 16, 1974 and served as minister of the Church of the Bells in Palm Springs, California. In 1989 Townes returned to his hometown of Huntsville, where he lived the remainder of his life.
Harry Townes died in Huntsville in 2001 at the age of 86. He was laid to rest in Maple Hill Cemetery.
