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Barry Morse | |
|---|---|
 Barry Morse in 2007, photo by Anthony Wynn | |
| Born | Herbert Morse (1918-06-10)10 June 1918 Hammersmith,London, England |
| Died | 2 February 2008(2008-02-02) (aged 89) London, England |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1937–2007 |
| Known for | The Fugitive Space: 1999 The Adventurer Encounter |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Hayward Morse Melanie Morse MacQuarrie |
| Website | http://www.barrymorse.com/ |
Herbert Morse (10 June 1918 – 2 February 2008), known professionally asBarry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in thetelevision seriesThe Fugitive and theBritishsci-fi dramaSpace: 1999. His performing career spanned seven decades and he had thousands of roles to his credit, including work for theBBC and theCBC.
Herbert Morse (he later changed his personal name to Barry) was born on 10 June 1918, in theHammersmith area of west London (Morse later claimed to have been born inShoreditch in London's East End but publicly-accessible birth records confirm Hammersmith), a son of Charles Hayward Morse and Mary Florence Hollis Morse. His parents owned a tobacco shop.[1][2] Morse was a 15-year-old errand boy when he won a scholarship to theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art. He performed the role of the Lion inAndrocles and the Lion, and as a result, came to knowGeorge Bernard Shaw, a patron of the academy. His first paid job as an actor while still a student was inIf I Were King. At graduation, he featured in the title role ofWilliam Shakespeare's playHenry V, presented as aRoyal Command Performance forKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth.
Upon graduation, Morse won the BBC's Radio Prize which resulted in several parts and a main role in the dramaThe Fall of the City. Later, among dozens of other roles, he played the lead in Shakespeare'sHamlet and featured as Paul Temple for the radio seriesSend for Paul Temple Again. He later performed onCanadian Broadcasting Corporation radio beginning in 1951 and continuing to the 1980s, including the long-running seriesA Touch of Greasepaint, theJoe McCarthy–inspiredThe Investigator, and1984. He also featured in a number of U.S. productions during the 1970s and 1980s for producerYuri Rasovsky, includingThe Odyssey of Homer, which won aPeabody Award.
Morse's final radio performance,Rogues and Vagabonds – A Theatrical Scrapbook, was distributed by internet radio KSAV on 7 August and 9 August 2007, prior to being released on compact disc format. The hour-long special audio drama comprised a half-dozen vignettes and performances culled from theatrical history, including Shakespeare and Shaw.
Morse was a member of repertory theatre companies inPeterborough,Nottingham, and other cities, where he gained experience as an actor while playing more than 200 roles. In 1941, he joined the national tour ofThe First Mrs. Fraser featuring DameMarie Tempest andA.E. Matthews. He debuted on theLondon West End stage inThe School for Slavery. Other West End productions includedEscort,The Assassin, andA Bullet in the Ballet. He was directed byJohn Gielgud inCrisis in Heaven. Morse developed a theatrical partnership with actressNova Pilbeam, and they worked together both in movies and on stage, most notably in the successful stage productions ofThe Voice of the Turtle andFlowers for the Living.
Morse made his movie debut in the 1942 comedyThe Goose Steps Out featuringWill Hay and continued with roles inThunder Rock,When We Are Married, andThis Man Is Mine (released asA Soldier for Christmas in North America) withGlynis Johns and Nova Pilbeam. Other notable movies includeKings of the Sun withYul Brynner,Justine, andPuzzle of a Downfall Child withFaye Dunaway. He also appeared in the thrillersAsylum (1972) withPeter Cushing,Funeral Home withKay Hawtrey andLesleh Donaldson (1980), andThe Changeling withGeorge C. Scott (1980). He worked on several Lacewood animated productions, notably as the voice of Dragon inThe Railway Dragon, alongsideTracey Moore, who played Emily. In 1999, he featured in the dramatic comedyTaxman withBilly Zane, released asPromise Her Anything and on DVD asNothing to Declare. His final movie appearance was inI Really Hate My Job, released in 2007. Morse was offered a cameo in the1993 film version ofThe Fugitive, but declined.
Morse performed onBroadway inHide and Seek,Salad Days, and the lead ofFrederick Rolfe inHadrian the Seventh, which he also played inAustralia, co-featuring withFrank Thring. He directed the Broadway debut ofStaircase featuringEli Wallach andMilo O'Shea, a depiction of gay male life.[3] He also featured in the U.S. national tour ofHarold Pinter'sThe Caretaker as Davies.
He first presented a version of his one-man showMerely Players in 1959, which explored the experiences of actors through history, with the definitive version of the show debuting in 1984 for a Canadian national tour. Morse served as artistic director of theShaw Festival of Canada for the 1966 season and as an adjunct professor atYale Drama School in 1968.
In 1995, he premiered theElizabeth Sharland playThe Private Life of George Bernard Shaw inToronto, also featuringShirley Knight. The play featured Morse in the role of Shaw, with 10 actresses portraying the various women in Shaw's life. Morse later performed the play in 1997 at the British Theatre Museum in London.
With his sonHayward Morse, he featured in the 2004 North American debut ofBernard and Bosie: A Most Unlikely Friendship byAnthony Wynn, performed at theUniversity of Florida,Sarasota. This two-act stage drama is based on the correspondence between playwright George Bernard Shaw, played by Morse, andLord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas (Oscar Wilde's boyfriend), played by Hayward.
The next year, Morse appeared in the world premiere performance of the science-fiction playContact by Doug Grissom, co-featuring Ryan Case and presented inTampa, Florida.[citation needed]
Morse guest-featured in more than a thousand drama, comedy, and talk-show presentations in the U.S., Canada, andBritain. Early American appearances include theU.S. Steel Hour,Encounter, andPlayhouse 90. He also guest-geatured on suchTV series asNaked City,The Untouchables,The Twilight Zone,Wagon Train,The Defenders,The Invaders,The Starlost, andThe Saint, episode: The Reluctant Revolution (season 5, episode 4). InThe Outer Limits episode "Controlled Experiment", he featured withCarroll O'Connor andGrace Lee Whitney. InThe Starlost episode "The Goddess Calabra", he guest-featured withJohn Colicos. In The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ‘A Tangled Web’ with Robert Redford & Zohra Lampert.
In his later years, Morse guest-featured in a number of Canadian-produced series, includingLa Femme Nikita andKung Fu: The Legend Continues, as well as such British series asDoctors,Waking the Dead, andSpace Island One.
Morse's first television series wasPresenting Barry Morse, which was broadcast for 13 weeks during the summer of 1960 on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Some of his best-known television roles included:Lt Philip Gerard for the 1960s seriesThe Fugitive withDavid Janssen; Victor Bergman in the 1975–76 season ofSpace: 1999 withMartin Landau,Barbara Bain, andZienia Merton; Mr Parminter inThe Adventurer withGene Barry; and Alec "the Tiger" Marlowe inThe Zoo Gang withSir John Mills,Lilli Palmer, andBrian Keith. In 1982, he played theReaganesque U.S. President Johnny Cyclops in the satirical sitcomWhoops Apocalypse in theUK and hosted the seriesStrange But True for the Global and the BBC.
Morse appeared in a number of television miniseries, includingThe Winds of War andWar and Remembrance (both withRobert Mitchum),The Martian Chronicles,Sadat,JFK: Reckless Youth, andFrederick Forsyth'sIcon. Other notable miniseries appearances includeA Woman of Substance,Master of the Game, andRace for the Bomb.
The book based on his long-running stage playMerely Players – The Scripts was published in 2003. His first autobiographyPulling Faces, Making Noises was released in 2004.
Stories of the Theatre was published in 2006 and features material from his CBC radio seriesA Touch of Greasepaint, which was broadcast from 1954 to 1967.
His theatrical memoir,Remember With Advantages – Chasing 'The Fugitive' and Other Stories from an Actor's Life (ISBN 9780786427710), (written withRobert E. Wood andAnthony Wynn), details his life and career. The book features a foreword written by Academy Award-winning actor Martin Landau, and was released in 2007.
He wrote the afterword toDestination: Moonbase Alpha – The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to SPACE: 1999 (ISBN 9781845830342), published in 2010 by Telos Publishing, and written by Robert E. Wood. It featured a colour photo section of models created for theSpace: 1999 television series byMartin Bower, and a foreword byZienia Merton. Morse is quoted extensively throughout the book, as are numerous other series cast and crew.
Before his death, Morse wrote the foreword toConversations At Warp Speed (ISBN 9781593932893), published in 2012 by BearManor Media, and written by Anthony Wynn. The book is a compilation of interviews with actors and other professionals associated with the various incarnations ofStar Trek. It also contains a bonus chapter featuring an interview with Barry Morse, who worked with numerous actors who appeared inStar Trek.
After a short courtship, Morse married actressSydney Sturgess on 26 March 1939, during their work together in repertory theatre inPeterborough,Cambridgeshire. The couple had two children,Melanie Morse (1945–2005) andHayward Morse (b. 1947).
In 1951, the Morse family relocated to Canada, where he worked in radio and theatre, and participated with the first television broadcasts of CBC Television fromMontreal, and laterToronto. Morse became a Canadian citizen in 1953.
Barry Morse long patronized a number of charitable organisations, including the Toronto-based Performing Arts Lodges of Canada, the Royal Theatrical Fund, the London Shakespeare Workout Prison Project, Actors' Fund of Canada, the Samaritans, BookPALS, andParkinson's disease treatment and research.
The cause of Parkinson's disease was special for Morse, as his wife of more than 60 years, actress Sydney Sturgess, battled the illness for 14 years before her death in 1999. In later years, he also became an advocate for senior citizens in his adopted homeland of Canada.
Barry Morse died on 2 February 2008 atUniversity College Hospital,London, aged 89, after a brief illness.[4] His body was donated to science, and on 3 April 2011 Morse's ashes were scattered in St. James's Square Garden, Pall Mall, London, England.
