Terence Morgan | |
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| Born | (1921-12-08)8 December 1921 Lewisham, London, England |
| Died | 25 August 2005(2005-08-25) (aged 83) Brighton,East Sussex, England |
| Education | Ewell Castle School[1] |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Known for | PlayingSir Francis Drake in the TV showSir Francis Drake |
| Spouse | Georgina Victoria Symondson (m. 1947 - his death) |
Terence Ivor Grant Morgan (8 December 1921 – 25 August 2005) was an Englishactor intheatre,cinema andtelevision.[2] He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical adventure seriesSir Francis Drake.[3]
Terence Morgan was born inLewisham,London,[4] the eldest child of Frederick Rowland Morgan, a "manipulative surgeon" (i.e., abonesetter) and Muriel M Morgan (née Grant). His uncle was the character actor Verne Morgan.[5][6] From 1932 to 1937, he attended Ewell Castle School,Epsom.[7]
On leaving school, his first job was as a shipping clerk atLloyd's of London, at a salary of £1/week.[8] He left after winning a scholarship toRADA, graduating in 1942.[9] On leaving RADA, he was called up into theArmy's theatre unit, but after two years was invalided out (with claustrophobia),[10] and went intorep. On 23 March 1947, he married actress Georgina Victoria Symondson (known professionally as Georgina Jumel, daughter of actress and entertainerBetty Jumel) inWestminster Register Office. They had one daughter, Lyvia Lee Morgan.
In 1948 he joined theOld Vic Company at the instigation ofLaurence Olivier, and played the role ofLaertes opposite Olivier in the latter's 1948 film ofHamlet. He was allegedly the first actor in such a role to get fan mail from teenage girls.[11]
In 1951, in his third film role, he played a supporting role inCaptain Horatio Hornblower withGregory Peck andVirginia Mayo. InMandy (1952) he played the insensitive father of a deaf girl and inEncore in 1951 he played a cad risking the life of his wife. In 1953 he again played a villain inTurn the Key Softly as a crook who gets his girlfriend a prison sentence for helping him in aburglary.[12]
More nasty roles quickly followed withAlways a Bride (1953) where he played a Treasury Investigator who turns bad as well asForbidden Cargo in 1954 as a smuggler andTread Softly Stranger (1958) where he is an embezzler. Two films he made in 1955 saw him cast in more positive roles—inMarch Hare he played an impoverished aristocrat riding a horse for the Derby, and in the espionage melodramaThey Can't Hang Me, (which usedSidney Torch's theme music fromThe Black Museum for its own Title and Incidental music), he starred as a dapperSpecial Branch officer charged with discovering the identity of an enemy agent. One of his nastiest roles was in 1959,The Shakedown, when he played a pornographer and blackmailer. 1960 saw him as a petty thief inPiccadilly Third Stop.[13]
Morgan's biggest screen success came when he landed the title role in theITV seriesSir Francis Drake, but parts dried up after that as he was no longer seen as "the bad guy".[14]
He appeared in 30 films; other notable roles included the villainous brother of the mummy (Rameses VIII) inCurse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) and the 1967 shockerThe Penthouse where he is an estate agent who is forced to watch as his girlfriend is abused by thugs.The Lifetaker in 1976 had him back as the bad guy again where as a wealthy business man he plans ritualistic revenge on his wife and her lover. In 1986 he appeared in a series,King and Castle and in 1993,The Mystery of Edwin Drood. As roles dried up, Morgan bought a small hotel inHove,Sussex, and ran it for some years before becoming a property developer.[15]
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