Robert Morse

XERUS'S VOICE ARTIST FOCUS:

Today's V/A focus is Robert Morse. He started out as a Broadway musical star and acted in some TV shows and movies. In the 70's, Robert did voices for some Rankin/Bass specials, including Jack Frost. And he did quite a few voices for cartoon companies like Hanna-Barbera, WB, and Klasky-Csupo.

THE FIRST EASTER RABBIT: Young Stuffy
JACK FROST: Jack Frost
MONCHICHIS: Moncho
POUND PUPPIES: Howler
THE STINGIEST MAN IN TOWN: Young Scrooge
SUPERMAN(1996): Desaad
TINY TOON ADVENTURES: Goopy Gear
THE WILD THORNBERRYS: Jake the Tortoise

I just discovered this neat clip on Youtube. It's Robert Morse singing, I Believe in You, from a Tony telecast. He's a great singer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMeub2NK_Fs

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You're thinking of the wrong Morse!

Now if only I could actually read that...

Robert Morse is a fantastic comedic actor. His most well-known role was as J. Pierepont Finch in the Broadway smash How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1961),about a window washer who rises to the top of a company in a matter of weeks. The original cast featured crooner Rudy Vallee as the head honcho of the company, and Charles Nelson Reilly as Bud Frump, a scheming co-worker who tries to uncover Finch's ruse.

Morse won a well-deserved Tony award for his frantic, rubbery portrayal, and he played the role in various revivals throughout the early 1970s. This is one of those cases where it's virtually impossible to imagine anyone else in this particular part; it is said it was actually tailor-made for Morse's talents. A 1995 Broadway revival starred Matthew Broderick, but when listening to the cast album, one wishes it were Morse.

The musical was successfully adapted to the big screen in 1967, with much of the cast from the show (sans Reilly), and is a very faithful reproduction of the material. The sets are overly-exaggerated and loudly colored, and there is a nice use of New York City photography. Check out the scene where Morse does a happy dance down the sidewalks of the city. More than one passerby turns his/her head at this bubbly, buoyant figure skipping and strutting, most of them with confused looks on their faces (obviously unaware that a movie is being shot).

Morse and Vallee also teamed for a rather macabre segment of Rod Serling's Night Gallery in the early 1970s.

Another great Robert Morse film is The Loved One (1965), Tony Richardson's adaptation of the darkly comic Evelyn Waugh novel.

In the 1990s, Morse played Grandpa Munster in a made-for-TV Munsters movie.

Great synopsis of Morse's career, Winslow! I would like to add to it, though: he was in a little known musical adaptation of "Some Like It Hot" called "Sugar" in 1974; he played the Jack Lemmon role.

Princeton said:

Great synopsis of Morse's career, Winslow! I would like to add to it, though: he was in a little known musical adaptation of "Some Like It Hot" called "Sugar" in 1974; he played the Jack Lemmon role.

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Thanks, Brian!

I have heard of "Sugar," but I didn't know that Robert Morse was in it! I'm sure he was great in the Lemmon role.

Before "How to Succeed," he was in the Broadway play, "The Matchmaker," which was the basis for the musical "Hello Dolly!"

Okay, HOW in the wide blue ever-lovin' heck did I miss this thread before? Nebermind; water under the bridge and all that there.

Winslow Leach said:

I have heard of "Sugar," but I didn't know that Robert Morse was in it! I'm sure he was great in the Lemmon role.

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He was. I've got the soundtrack (yet to be imported into iTunes, unfortunately), and he's just as good as he is in HTSIBWRT. My favorite track, by far, is "Penniless Bums".

To add onto your bio, Winslow, Morse won a second Tony in 1989 for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the one-man show Tru. He would later go on to win an Emmy for that same role for the televised version that aired on PBS. Morse also portrayed the Wizard in the San Francisco run of Wicked, but was replaced with Joel Grey when the show hit Broadway.

-Kim

Skeeter Muppet said:

Okay, HOW in the wide blue ever-lovin' heck did I miss this thread before? Nebermind; water under the bridge and all that there.



He was. I've got the soundtrack (yet to be imported into iTunes, unfortunately), and he's just as good as he is in HTSIBWRT. My favorite track, by far, is "Penniless Bums".

To add onto your bio, Winslow, Morse won a second Tony in 1989 for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the one-man show Tru. He would later go on to win an Emmy for that same role for the televised version that aired on PBS. Morse also portrayed the Wizard in the San Francisco run of Wicked, but was replaced with Joel Grey when the show hit Broadway.

-Kim

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Wow, thanks for the extra info, Kim!

I'm sure Robert did an excellent Capote...I'll have to track down the PBS version.

Interesting about Wicked...Joel Grey is phenomenal, but it would be interesting to see Morse as the Wizard.

The Morse/Vallee segment of Night Gallery is called "Marmalade Wine." It features only the two actors, in a spare setting, which almost looks theatrical, in terms of architecture and sets. Morse is a braggart and Vallee is a sinister doctor. There's nice humor between the two throughout the brief scene, and the climax is chilling.