John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 - September 11, 1970) is an American stage actor, film, television and radio. She has several prestigious film roles early in her career, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Chester Morris is best remembered today for portraying Boston Blackie, a criminal detective, in a simple Boston Blackie series film budgeted in the 1940s.
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Initial years
Chester Morris was born John Chester Brooks Morris in New York City, one of four children of Broadway stage actor William Morris and stage stage Etta Hawkins. Morris dropped out of school and started his career on Broadway at the age of 15 years before Lionel Barrymore The Copperhead . She made her film debut in the martial arts film An Amateur Orphan (1917).
After appearing in several Broadway productions in the early 1920s, Morris joined his parents, sister, and two brothers, Gordon and Adrian (who also became movie actors), at the vaudeville circuit. This family action consists of a comedy sketch entitled "The Horrors of Home". Morris toured with his family for two years before returning to Broadway with roles at The Home Towners (1926) and Yellow (1927). When appearing in 1927 playing Crime , Morris was discovered by a talent agency and signed for a film contract.
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Careers
Morris made his sound film debut in the 1929 movie Alibi , which he nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He was followed by roles in the Woman Trap (1929), Sergeant Grischa's Case (1930) and The Divorcee, starring Norma Shearer in 1930. Later that year, Morris served as one of the leaders (with Wallace Beery and Robert Montgomery) in the MGM prison drama The Big House . For the next two years, he worked steadily in films for United Artists and MGM and played opposite Jean Harlow in the 1932 Red-Headed Woman comedy drama.
In the mid-to-late 1930s, Morris's popularity began to diminish and he acted as a major actor such as B-films such as Smashing the Rackets (1938) and Five Came Back (1939). In 1941, Morris's career was revived when he served as Boston Blackie's criminal detective. Morris appeared in a total of 14 Boston Blackie movies for Columbia Pictures, beginning with Meet Boston Blackie . He replicated Boston Blackie's role for the radio series in 1944. During World War II, Morris performed magic tricks in over 350 USO performances. He has practiced magic since the age of 12 and is considered a top amateur wizard.
When appearing in the Boston Blackie series, Morris continues to appear in roles in other films especially for Pine-Thomas movies for Paramount Pictures. After appearing in 1949 Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture, Boston Blackie's last film, Morris mostly retired from the film. During the 1950s, he focused primarily on television and theater, returning to Broadway in 1954 in The Fifth Season. During this time, Morris also appeared in guest venues for the Cameo Theater Cameo Theater anthology series, Expire Light , Tales of Tomorrow , Alcoa Premiere , Tension , Danger , Robert Montgomery Presents , Web , Phillip Morris Playhouse , Studio One , and Kraft Television Theater . He briefly returned to the movie in 1955 with a role in the prison drama Unchained , followed by a role in the 1956 science-fiction horror film The She-Creature . In 1960, he has repeatedly acted as Detective Lieutenant Max Ritter in the CBS summer replacement series, Diagnosis: Unknown . The series lasted a year, after which Morris appeared on the NBC television movie A String of Beads. In November 1960, he returned to Broadway as Senator Bob Munson on the adaptation stage of the 1959 Advise and Consent novel. Morris remained with production until it closed in May 1961. In October, he changed his role for the production of the tour.
In the early to mid-1960s, Morris appeared at the guesthouse for the drama Route 66 , Defenders , and Dr. Kildare . In 1965, he replaced Jack Albertson in the production of Broadway The Subject Was Roses . He replicated his role in playing for tour production in 1966.
Diseases and death
In mid-1968, Morris starred Barbara Britton in a touring production of Where Did We Go Wrong? . After production wrapped, he returned to his home in Manhattan, where his health began to decline. Morris was later diagnosed with stomach cancer. Despite his declining health, Morris began working on what his final film role was, as Pop Weaver in the biography drama The Great White Hope (1970). The film was released after his death. After the film was wrapped, Morris joined the stage production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
On September 11, 1970, Lee R. Yopp, producer and director of Caine , is scheduled to have lunch with Morris. After Yopp could not reach Morris by telephone in his motel room, he went to Morris room, where he found the actor's body lying on the floor. The district coroner attributes Morris's death to a barbiturate overdose. His body was cremated and spread over the German river.
Personal life
Morris is married twice. He first married Suzanne Kilbourne on November 8, 1926. They had two children, John Brooks and Cynthia. Kilbourne was given a divorce in November 1939 which was completed on 26 November 1940.
On November 30, 1940, Morris married Lillian Kenton Barker's socialite at the home of actor Frank Morgan. They had a son, Kenton, born in 1944. The couple remained married until Morris's death in 1970.
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References
Source
- Blottner, Gene (2011). Columbia Pictures, 1926-1955: The Harry Cohn Years . McFarland. ISBNÃ, 0-786-48672-4.
- Frasier, David K. (2002). Suicide in Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Cases Twenty-Century . McFarland. ISBN 0-786-41038-8.
- Morton, Lisa; Adamson, Kent (2009). Savage Detours: Life and Work of Ann Savage . McFarland. ISBN 0-786-45706-6.
- Parish, James Robert; Leonard, William T. (1976). Hollywood Players: Thirty . Arlington House. ISBNÃ, 0-870-00365-8.
- Rosen, Fred (2004). Cremation in America . Book of Prometheus. ISBNÃ, 1-615-92756-5.
- Young, William H.; Young, Nancy K. (2010). World War II and the Postwar Years in America: A History and Culture Encyclopedia, Volume 1 . ABC-CLIO. ISBNÃ, 0-313-35652-1.
External links
- Chester Morris on the Broadway Internet Database
- Chester Morris on the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Chester Morris on IMDb
- Chester Morris in the Search of the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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