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Boris Morros (Russian:Борис Михайлович Моррос,romanized: Boris Mikhailovich Morros; January 1, 1891 – January 8, 1963) was an AmericanCommunist Party member, Soviet agent, andFBIdouble agent. He also worked atParamount Pictures, where he produced films as well as supervising their music department.
Morros was born inSaint Petersburg, Russia. He emigrated with his family in late in 1922, sailing from the Port ofConstantinople to the Port of New York on the S/SConstantinople. In 1934, he was enlisted as aSoviet spy, following which timeVasily Zarubin became his first contact in 1936.
The mysterious "Mr Guver" letter, sent toFBI DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover in 1943 from an anonymous source, who is now widely believed to be KGB Officer Vasily Mironov, named Morros as an agent working withSoviet intelligence and identifiedElizabeth Zarubina as Morros' contact.
In December 1943, Zarubina drove with Morros toConnecticut, where they met with Alfred Stern and his wifeMartha Dodd Stern. Soviet intelligence wanted to use an investment from the Sterns in Morros' sheet music company to serve as cover forespionage. The Sterns invested $130,000 in the Boris Morros Music Company.
In 1947, Morros became a counterspy for the FBI. He reported onJack Soble and members of the Soble spy ring, while also passing low-level secrets and misinformation back toMoscow. Morros' codename in Soviet intelligence and theVenona files was "FROST."
As a double-agent for the FBI, Morros solicited funds from theMGB (the Soviet intelligence service) to create a U.S.television network. Like the Boris Morros Music Company, the network would have served as espionage cover, but the MGB never funded the venture.[1]
In 1960,Man on a String, a feature film loosely based on Morros' adventures as a counterspy, was released.Ernest Borgnine played Morros, who co-wrote the screenplay.[2]
Morros, who was employed byParamount Pictures, worked there in several capacities. His movie production credits includeThe Flying Deuces (1939) withLaurel and Hardy, andSecond Chorus (1940) withPaulette Goddard andFred Astaire. Morros also worked withBing Crosby,Ginger Rogers,Martha Raye, andRudy Vallee. Morros was also the music director at Paramount, where he conducted the music of such composers asGeorge Antheil, among others.
He died inNew York City on January 8, 1963.
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