Robert Morse

Morse was born on May 18, 1931, in Newton, Massachusetts, the second child of May (Silver), a pianist, and Charles Morse, who worked at a record store and managed a chain of movie theaters.^[5][6] He was Jewish.^[7] He attended a number of different schools until finding his inspiration in Henry Lasker, a music teacher at Newton High School who, according to Morse, "knew what I had burning in me and wanted to express".^[8][9] Upon graduation, he left home for New York City to fulfill his ambition of becoming an actor, joining his elder brother Richard who was already studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He received an uncredited role in The Proud and Profane (1956), a film starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr. Morse also served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.^[10] aboard the USS Black (DD-666).

Morse earned multiple nominations and wins for Tony, Drama Desk, and Emmy awards over a period of five decades. He appeared in musicals and plays on Broadway, as well as in movies and television shows. Morse made his television debut in the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm in 1954. His first film role was uncredited in the romantic drama The Proud and Profane (1956). In 1955, he made his Broadway debut playing Barnaby Tucker in the Thornton Wilder comedic play The Matchmaker, a role which he reprised in the 1958 film of the same name directed by Joseph Anthony. Morse also played Bobby in the Otto Preminger directed drama film The Cardinal (1963). During this time, he took television roles in The Alcoa Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Naked City, The Play of the Week, and The Jonathan Winters Show. Morse returned to Broadway playing Ted Snow in the comedic show Say, Darling. Critic John Chapman of The New York Daily News, described Morse's performance as being "splendid".^[11] He would go on to receive a Theatre World Award, as well as his first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, losing to Charlie Ruggles in The Pleasure of His Company.

The following year, he played Richard Miller in the musical Take Me Along (1959) based on the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness!. Morse acted alongside Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon.^[12] For his role, Morse received his second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical.^[13]

Morse gained stardom for portraying the young 1960s New York City businessman J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway production, Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The production earned raves with New York Times critic Howard Taubman, writing that Robert Morse played Finch "with unfailing bravura and wit", pronouncing Finch, as portrayed by Morse, "a rumpled, dimpled angel with a streak of Lucifer."^[14] The production received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and seven Tony Awards. He went on to receive his third Tony Award nomination and first win for Best Actor in a Musical.^[15] Although he was not named on the award, he contributed to the Grammy Award-winning cast album.^[16]

He reprised the role in the 1967 film adaptation of the same name.^[17] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised the film adaptation, citing it as successfully re-creating "just about everything that was conducive to the stage success." Crowther especially noted his performance, writing "Seeing Mr. Morse in close-ups, as those wily expressions cross on his face and those wicked designs of Pal Joey gleam in his Horatio Alger-character eyes, is better than seeing him on the stage".^[18] In 1964, Morse co-starred in the comedy film Quick, Before It Melts. The following year, he appeared in the black comedy film The Loved One, a movie based on the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same name which satirized the funeral business in Los Angeles, particularly Forest Lawn Cemetery. In 1967, he co-starred in Gene Kelly's A Guide for the Married Man, opposite Walter Matthau, and in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, which had been filmed two years previously.^[19][20]

In 1968, he appeared in the comedy Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? opposite Doris Day. That same year, he acted in the television series That's Life, which attempted to blend the musical genre with a situation comedy centered on newlyweds "Robert" and "Gloria" (played by E. J. Peaker).^[21] The series was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series. Additionally, he guest-starred on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.^[22] During this time, he also appeared in episodes of Night Gallery, Love, American Style, and Alias Smith and Jones.

Morse was in the original Broadway cast of Sugar, a 1972 musical stage adaptation of Some Like It Hot. T.E. Killam of Time wrote of Morse's performance, "Morse captures the tremor, tenderness, coquettishness and vulnerability of a girl's first love. Morse is an enormously personable stage presence, and he knows it."^[23] For the role, he won the Drama Desk Award and was again nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Morse joined other performers, including Marlo Thomas, in creating the 1972 Free to Be... You and Me children's album.^[17] He provided the voice for the cartoon character Howler in Hanna-Barbera's Pound Puppies. For Rankin/Bass, he voiced Jack in the 1979 animated special Jack Frost,^[24] as well as the main character Stuffy in The First Easter Rabbit.^[25] Morse appeared in dozens of TV shows,^[26] including Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.^[27] He also appeared on CBS Radio Mystery Theater.^[28]

He starred in the 1976 musical So Long, 174th Street, which was based on the play Enter Laughing. It received poor reviews and closed quickly, becoming Morse's last Broadway role for more than a decade.^[6] In 1987, Morse appeared in the movie The Emperor's New Clothes, which starred Sid Caesar and was part of the Cannon Movie Tales series.^[29] Morse made his return to Broadway portraying author and socialite Truman Capote in the one man show Tru (1989), earning rave reviews for his performance as well as the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.^[30] In 1992, he recreated his Tru performance for the PBS series American Playhouse and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In 1999, Morse was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame for his long career as a stage actor.^[31]

During the 1990s, he also took on numerous voice roles in various animated shows such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Rugrats, Superman: The Animated Series and The Wild Thornberrys. In 2000, he acted in the CBS medical drama City of Angels playing Edwin O'Malley, acting alongside Blair Underwood, Vivica A. Fox, Viola Davis, and Maya Rudolph. In 2002, Morse was cast in the role of the Wizard of Oz in the San Francisco run of the Stephen Schwartz musical Wicked at the Curran Theatre, and acted opposite Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Morse quit the show before it opened on Broadway and was replaced by Joel Grey.^[32]

Beginning in 2007, Morse took on a recurring role in the critically acclaimed AMC dramatic series Mad Men as elder 1960s New York City businessman Bertram Cooper, a founding partner in the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. He was regularly nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series as a result of his performance in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014.^[9][33] The series creator Matthew Weiner originally cast Morse in part because of his reputation on the stage, including his iconic role as social climber J. Pierrepont Finch in 1962’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In his character's final moments, he gets a song and dance number where he sings, "The Best Things in Life Are Free". Morse said of the moment, "It’s an absolute love letter from creator Matt Weiner. You couldn’t ask for a nicer send off."^[34]

In 2016, he played Walter Hoving in the comedic film Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie. Morse was cast as journalist Dominick Dunne who covered the 1994–1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson for Vanity Fair in the critically acclaimed Ryan Murphy created limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story on FX.^[35] At the age of 85, Morse returned to Broadway in the 2016 revival of the newspaper comedy The Front Page acting alongside Nathan Lane, John Slattery, John Goodman, and Holland Taylor at the Broadhurst Theatre.^[36] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter described his performance as "delightful".^[37] He voiced Santa Claus in Teen Titans Go! (2015-2021), and Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (2019).

Morse was married twice^[30] and had five children.^[17] He died at his home in Los Angeles, California, on April 20, 2022, at the age of 90.^[38][6]

• Prototype 2 (2012) – Doctor Anton Koening (voice)^[69]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Morse.

• Robert Morse at the Internet Broadway Database
• Robert Morse at IMDb 
• Robert Morse at Playbill Vault
• Robert Morse discography at Discogs