Howard Morris | |
|---|---|
 Morris asErnest T. Bass | |
| Born | Howard Jerome Morris (1919-09-04)September 4, 1919 |
| Died | May 21, 2005(2005-05-21) (aged 85) Hollywood,California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park |
| Other names | Howie Morris |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1937–2005 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role inThe Andy Griffith Show asErnest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch onSid Caesar'sYour Show of Shows (1954). He did voices for television shows such asThe Flintstones (1962–1965),The Jetsons (1962–1987),The Atom Ant Show (1965–1966), andGarfield and Friends (1988–1994).
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Morris was born to aJewish family inthe Bronx, New York, the son of Hugo and Elsie (née Theobald) Morris.[1] His father was a rubber company executive. Morris attendedNew York University on a dramatic arts scholarship.[2]
DuringWorld War II, he was assigned to aUnited States ArmySpecial Services unit where he was theFirst Sergeant.Maurice Evans was the company commander andCarl Reiner andWerner Klemperer were soldiers in the unit. Based inHonolulu, the unit entertained American troops throughout the Pacific.[3]
He came to prominence in appearances onSid Caesar'sYour Show of Shows (a livesketch comedy series appearing weekly in the United States, from 1950 to 1954). In April 1954, Morris joined Caesar and Carl Reiner in "This Is Your Story," an 11-minute takeoff on Ralph Edwards'sThis Is Your Life. Morris claimed it was his favorite sketch role.[4]
AsThe New Yorker'sDavid Margolick wrote in 2014,
Though the competition is stiff, many feel that this sketch is the funniest that “Your Show of Shows” ever did . . . . That night nearly sixty years ago, the show produced what is probably the longest and loudest burst of laughter—genuine laughter, neither piped in nor prompted—in the history of television.
Never afraid to have talented people around him, Caesar is actually upstaged here by hissecond second banana (that is, after Reiner): Howard Morris, who plays Duncey’s long-lost Uncle Goopy, who, overcome with emotion, repeatedly clings to and slobbers over his favorite nephew. Shamelessly milking the moment, Morris throws in all sorts of extra embraces, even clinging to his leg as a lumbering Caesar drags him to the couch. It was a dangerous thing to do, but evidently Morris felt he could do it.[5][6]
This opinion was shared byThe New York Times[7] and Hollywood.com,[8] among others.Conan O'Brien tweeted in 2014, "Saw this Sid Caesar sketch when I was a kid. It made me want to make people laugh."[9]Billy Crystal later called it a defining early influence: "That's how I used to go to bed. I'd grab my dad's leg, and he'd drag me to bed like Sid Caesar."[4] The sketch can be viewedhere, Morris enters at the 4:14 mark. He also appeared twice in 1957 in episodes of the short-livedNBC comedy/variety showThe Polly Bergen Show. He notably played the wily and over-the-topmountain man characterErnest T. Bass onThe Andy Griffith Show. Also, he played George, the TV mechanic in the episode, "Andy and Helen Have Their Day." (He had lampooned southern accents while in the army atFort Bragg, North Carolina.)
He starred in one of the more comical early hour-longTwilight Zone episodes, "I Dream of Genie." Other roles included that of Elmer Kelp inThe Nutty Professor, a movie studio clerk in the short filmStar Spangled Salesman, and an art appraiser in an episode ofThe Dick Van Dyke Show.
He also appeared in several Broadway shows including the highly regarded 1960 revival ofFinian's Rainbow as Og the leprechaun oppositeBobby Howes as Finian. He played the role of Schmidlap inWay... Way Out and appeared in the movie,Boys' Night Out (1962).
Morris was first heard in animated cartoons in the early 1960s. He andAllan Melvin teamed up for a 50-episodeKing Features Syndicate series,Beetle Bailey, for which he and Melvin co-wrote a number of episodes. He provided the voices forGene Deitch's Academy Award-winningMunro, about a four-year-old boy who was drafted into the Army.
Beginning in 1962, Morris played a variety of voices in manyHanna-Barbera series includingThe Jetsons as Jet Screamer who sang the "Eep opp ork ah ah!" song,[10] (said to be Morris' first work for Hanna-Barbera) andThe Flintstones. He was the original voice ofAtom Ant and provided the voice of Mr. Peebles inThe Magilla Gorilla Show, teaming up again with Allan Melvin who performed the voice forMagilla. In another series, Morris was heard as the voice ofBreezly Bruin which was similar in tone with theBill Scott vocalization ofBullwinkle. Morris had a disagreement withJoseph Barbera prior to production of the 1966–1967 season ofMagilla Gorilla andAtom Ant and all of his voices were recast, mostly usingDon Messick. Years later, the two men reconciled and Morris was back doing those voices and others. He also lent his voice toForsythe "Jughead" Jones on Filmation's seriesThe Archies through the life of the franchise, 1968–1977. Moreover, he was the voice of Leonard Blush, "The Masked Singer" - he had a skin condition - as well as the regular voice of the Mount Pilot radio station's host onThe Andy Griffith Show.
Morris also voiced the characters Professor Icenstein and Luigi La Bounci in the animated seriesGalaxy High. He voiced Mayor McCheese and later the Hamburglar (taking over forLarry Storch in 1986) inMcDonaldland ad campaign forMcDonald's, which Morris also directed. He provided the voice of Wade Duck in theU.S. Acres segments ofGarfield and Friends, and voiced Webbly inBobby's World and Flem inCow & Chicken. Morris supplied the voice of thekoala in TV commercials forQantas from 1967 through 1992 (saying the tagline, "I hate Qantas"),[11] and voiced "Gopher" in theDisney featurettesWinnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree andWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Also in 1989, he voiced a French gangster cat named Monte De Zar (Fat Cat's Cousin) in an episode of Disney'sChip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers episode "Le Purrfect Crime".
He also voiced Squawk in 1992’s Tom and Jerry: The Movie
While Morris continued to make himself available for voice and sound effect roles, he also began a new career in voice directing. Among the projects he directed arePolice Academy,Richie Rich,Bionic Six,Goin' Coconuts,Pole Position,Galaxy High,The Snorks,The Mighty Orbots,Rose Petal Place,The Dogfather,Dragon's Lair,Tom and Jerry: The Movie,Turbo Teen,Little Clowns of Happytown,Space Stars, andKidd Video.
Morris directed some episodes ofThe Andy Griffith Show,Gomer Pyle,Hogan's Heroes,The Dick Van Dyke Show, the black and white pilot episode ofGet Smart and later, episodes ofOne Day at a Time,Bewitched, and single episodes of many other comedy shows. He directedDoris Day in her final film,With Six You Get Eggroll (1968). Other films he directed wereDon't Drink the Water (1969) andWho's Minding the Mint? (1967).
Mel Brooks occasionally cast Morris in his films. For example, he played Brooks' mentorpsychiatrist Dr. Lilloman in the comedyHigh Anxiety (1977), the emperor's court spokesman ("Here, wash this!") inHistory of the World, Part I (1981), and played a bum named Sailor living in the streets inLife Stinks (1991).
In 1984, he played Dr. Zidell inSplash, a film directed byRon Howard (the two had first worked together onThe Andy Griffith Show). He worked with his old friend and trouping partnerSid Caesar as nervous Jewish tailors in the 1998 movie ofRay Bradbury'sThe Wonderful Ice Cream Suit.
He appeared on "The Love Boat" (S8 E13) as "has been" comedian Billy Banks in a Christmas-themed vignette "Santa, Santa, Santa" which aired on 12/15/1984. In 1986, he reprised his famous role as Ernest T. Bass in the highly-rated television movieReturn to Mayberry. In 1989, he guest starred onMurder, She Wrote. From 1997 to 1999, he voiced Flem onCow and Chicken.
Morris was married and divorced five times.[12] He was first married to Mary Helen McGowan from 1945 to 1962. He married his second wife, Dolores A. Wylie, later in 1962; the marriage lasted until 1977 when they divorced. During their marriage, Morris appeared as Ernest T. Bass in a 1964 episode ofThe Andy Griffith Show in which a party is hosted by a “Mrs. Wiley.”[12] He had three daughters and a son, along with three grandchildren.[12]
On May 21, 2005, Morris died ofcongestive heart failure, at the age of 85.[12] At his funeral, the "Uncle Goopy" sketch was shown; among the eulogizers wasCarl Reiner, who praised Morris's ability to improvise.[13] He is entombed in Laurel Gardens Wall crypt atHillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Media related toHoward Morris at Wikimedia Commons
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