Robert Morse

Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor.

Morse started his career as a star on Broadway acting in musicals and plays before expanding into film and television.

He earned numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Morse was born on May 18, 1931, in Newton, Massachusetts, the second child of May (Silver), a pianist, and Charles Morse, who worked at a record store and managed a chain of movie theaters.

He was Jewish.

He attended a number of different schools until finding his inspiration in Henry Lasker, a music teacher at Newton High School who, according to Morse, "knew what I had burning in me and wanted to express".

Upon graduation, he left home for New York City to fulfill his ambition of becoming an actor, joining his elder brother Richard who was already studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Morse made his television debut in the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm in 1954.

In 1955, he made his Broadway debut playing Barnaby Tucker in the Thornton Wilder comedic play The Matchmaker, a role which he reprised in the 1958 film of the same name directed by Joseph Anthony.

He received an uncredited role in The Proud and Profane (1956), a film starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr.

Morse also served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

Morse earned multiple nominations and wins for Tony, Drama Desk, and Emmy awards over a period of five decades.

He appeared in musicals and plays on Broadway, as well as in movies and television shows.

His first film role was uncredited in the romantic drama The Proud and Profane (1956).

Morse acted in the films The Matchmaker (1958), The Cardinal (1963), and A Guide for the Married Man (1967).

Morse was also Tony-nominated for Say, Darling (1959), Take Me Along (1960), and Sugar (1973).

The following year, he played Richard Miller in the musical Take Me Along (1959) based off the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness!.

Morse acted alongside Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon.

For his role, Morse received his second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical.

Morse gained stardom for portraying the young 1960s New York City businessman J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway production, Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

The production earned raves with New York Times critic Howard Taubman, writing that Robert Morse played Finch "with unfailing bravura and wit", pronouncing Finch, as portrayed by Morse, "a rumpled, dimpled angel with a streak of Lucifer."

The production received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and seven Tony Awards.

He went on to receive his third Tony Award nomination and first win for Best Actor in a Musical. Although he was not named on the award, he contributed to the Grammy Award-winning cast album.

For his roles on Broadway, Morse won two Tony Awards; the first for Best Actor in a Musical for playing J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), a role which he reprised in the 1967 film adaptation; the second for Best Actor in a Play for portraying Truman Capote in the one-man play Tru (1988), a role which he reprised in the 1992 television production, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Morse also played Bobby in the Otto Preminger directed drama film The Cardinal (1963).

During this time, he took television roles in The Alcoa Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Naked City, The Play of the Week, and The Jonathan Winters Show.

Morse returned to Broadway playing Ted Snow in the comedic show Say, Darling.

Critic John Chapman of The New York Daily News, described Morse's performance as being "splendid".

He would go on to receive a Theatre World Award, as well as his first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, losing to Charlie Ruggles in The Pleasure of His Company.

In 1964, Morse co-starred in the comedy film Quick, Before It Melts.

The following year, he appeared in the black comedy film The Loved One, a movie based on the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same name which satirized the funeral business in Los Angeles, particularly Forest Lawn Cemetery.

He reprised the role in the 1967 film adaptation of the same name.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised the film adaptation, citing it as successfully re-creating "just about everything that was conducive to the stage success."

Crowther especially noted his performance, writing "Seeing Mr. Morse in close-ups, as those wily expressions cross on his face and those wicked designs of Pal Joey gleam in his Horatio Alger-character eyes, is better than seeing him on the stage".

In 1967, he co-starred in Gene Kelly's A Guide for the Married Man, opposite Walter Matthau, and in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, which had been filmed two years previously.

Known for his television roles, he played Robert Dickson in the ABC comedy series That's Life from 1968 to 1969, for which he was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series.

Morse attained a career resurgence playing Bertram Cooper in the critically acclaimed AMC period drama series Mad Men which he played from 2007 to 2015.

The role earned him nominations for five Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Morse acted in his final stage role in the Broadway revival of the newspaper comedy The Front Page from 2016 to 2017.

He portrayed Dominick Dunne in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).