Robert Morley Biography

Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 - 3 June 1992) was an English actor who was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in supporting roles. In Movie Encyclopedia, film critic Leonard Maltin describes Morley as "recognisable by his ungainly bulk, bushy eyebrows, thick lips and double chin, [...] particularly effective when cast as a pompous windbag." More politely, Ephraim Katz in his International Film Encyclopaedia describes Morley as "a rotund, triple-chinned, delightful character player of the British and American stage and screen." In his autobiography, Substantial Gentleman, Morley said his stage career started with managements valuing his appearance for playing "substantial gentleman" roles "? as a doctor, lawyer, accountant or other professional member of society.

Early life

Morley was born in Semley, Wiltshire, England, the son of Gertrude Emily (ne Fass) and Robert Wilton Morley, a Major in the British Army. His mother came from a German family that had emigrated to South Africa. Morley attended Wellington College, Berkshire, which he hated, followed by RADA. As he was a famous "Old Wellingtonian", generations of headmasters tried to contact him, without success, with Morley stating "the only reason for me visiting Wellington would be to burn it down".

Career

Morley made his West End stage debut in 1929 in Treasure Island at the Strand Theatre and his Broadway debut in 1938 in the title role of Oscar Wilde at the Fulton Theatre. Although soon won over to the big screen, Morley remained both a busy West End star and successful author, as well as appearing in touring productions.

A versatile actor, especially in his younger years, he played Louis XVI in Marie Antoinette (1938), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

As a playwright he co-wrote several plays for the stage. His 1937 play Goodness, How Sad was turned into a Ealing Studios film Return to Yesterday (1940) directed by Robert Stevenson. Later, he had outstanding success in London and New York with Edward, My Son, a gripping family drama written in 1947 in collaboration with Noel Langley. Morley played the central role of Arnold Holt, but in the disappointing film version Spencer Tracy was miscast, turning Holt, an unscrupulous English businessman, into a blustering Canadian expatriate. Edward, My Son (1949) was directed by George Cukor for MGM-British. His acting career continued with roles as a missionary in The African Queen (1951), The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), as W. S. Gilbert, and in Oscar Wilde (1960). Baby boomers will remember with macabre fondness, Morley's 1959 performance in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents adaptation of a Stanley Ellis short story entitled, 'Specialty of the House'.

Morley also personified the conservative Englishman in many comedy and caper films. He was the face of BOAC (later British Airways) as the merry television commercial spokesman of the 1970s with "We'll take good care of you" for British Airways. Later in his career, he received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for his performance in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?. Renowned as a raconteur and for being an eloquent conversationalist, Morley gained the epitheton of being a "wit".

Morley was honoured by being the first King of Moomba appointed by the Melbourne Moomba festival committee and, in typical humility, he accepted the crown in bare feet. Morley was in Australia touring his one-man show, The Sound of Morley.

In his book British Film Character Actors, Terence Pettigrew wrote: "Morley, who has more wobbly chins than a Shanghai drinking club, enjoys poking fun at life's absurdities, among whom he generously includes himself."

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

Personal life and honours

Robert Morley married Joan Buckmaster (1910-2005), a daughter of Dame Gladys Cooper. Their elder son, Sheridan Morley, became a writer and critic. They also had a daughter, Annabel, and another son, Wilton.

Morley was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1957 and was also offered a knighthood in 1975 but declined it.

Death

Morley died in Reading, Berkshire, from a stroke, aged 84.

Theatre career

• First stage appearance in Dr Syn (Hippodrome, Margate, 28 May 1928)
• First London role, a pirate in Treasure Island (Strand Theatre, Christmas 1929)
• Touring, plus Playhouse Oxford and Festival Cambridge repertory, (1931-1933)
• Oakes in Up in the Air (Royalty Theatre, London 1933)
• Touring with Sir Frank Benson (1934-35)
• Ran a repertory company with Peter Bull (Perranporth, Cornwall, 1935)
• Title role in Oscar Wilde (Gate Theatre Studio, Villiers Street, London, 1936)
• Alexandre Dumas in The Great Romancer (Strand Theatre and New Theatre, 1937)
• Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (Old Vic Theatre, 1937)
• Title role in Oscar Wilde (Fulton Theatre, New York, October 1938)
• Title role in Springtime for Henry (Perranporth, 1939)
• Descius Heiss in Play with Fire (try-out version of The Shop at Sly Corner, Theatre Royal, Brighton, 1941)
• Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner (Savoy Theatre "? and on tour "? 1941-43)
• Charles in Staff Dance (also wrote, touring UK, 1944)
• Prince Regent in The First Gentleman (New Theatre and Savoy, 1945-46)
• Arnold Holt in Edward, My Son (also co-wrote, His Majesty's Theatre, 1947; also played this role at the Martin Beck Theatre New York 1948, and in Australia and New Zealand, 1949-50)
• Philip in The Little Hut (Lyric Theatre, 1950)
• Hippo in Hippo Dancing (also adapted, Lyric, 1954)
• Oswald Petersham in A Likely Tale (Globe Theatre, 1956)
• Panisse in the musical Fanny (Drury Lane, 1956)
• The Tunnel of Love (directed, Her Majesty's, 1957)
• Sebastian Le Boeuf in Hook, Line and Sinker (also adapted, Piccadilly Theatre, 1958)
• Once More, with Feeling (directed, New Theatre, 1959)
• Mr Asano in A Majority of One (Phoenix Theatre, 1960)
• Title role in Mr Rhodes (Theatre Royal Windsor, 1961)
• The Bishop in A Time to Laugh (Piccadilly, 1962)
• The Sound of Morley (One-man show, touring Australia 1966-67)
• Sir Mallalieu Fitzbuttress in Halfway Up the Tree (Queen's Theatre, 1967)
• Frank Foster in How the Other Half Loves (Lyric, 1970; also North America, 1972, and Australia, 1973)
• Barnstable in A Ghost on Tiptoe (also co-wrote, Savoy, 1974)
• Pound in Banana Ridge (Savoy, 1976)
• Toured Robert Morley Talks to Everyone (1978)
• Picture of Innocence (co-wrote and toured UK and Canada, 1978)
• Hilary in Alan Bennett's The Old Country (Theatre Royal, Sydney, 1980)

Filmography

• Marie Antoinette (1938) (King Louis XVI)
• Major Barbara (1941) (Andrew Undershaft)
• The Big Blockade (1942) (Von Geiselbrecht)
• The Foreman Went to France (1942) (Mayor Coutare of Bivary)
• The Young Mr Pitt (1942) (Charles James Fox)
• The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947) (Gen. "Jumbo" Burlap)
• The Small Back Room (1949) (The Minister) (credited as "A Guest")
• The African Queen (1951) (Reverend Samuel Sayer)
• Outcast of the Islands (1952) (Almayer)
• The Final Test (1953) (Alexander Whitehead)
• Curtain Up (1952) (Harry Derwent Blacker)
• The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) (W.S. Gilbert)
• Beat the Devil (1953) (Peterson)
• The Good Die Young (1954)(Sir Francis Ravenscourt)
• The Rainbow Jacket (1954) (Lord Logan)
• Beau Brummell (1954) (King George III)
• The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) (Louis XI of France)
• Loser Takes All (1956) (Dreuther)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956) (Gauthier Ralph - Reform Club member and Bank of England Governor)
• Law and Disorder (1958) (Judge Crichton)
• The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958) (Uncle Lucius)
• The Journey (1959) (Hugh Deverill)
• The Doctor's Dilemma (1959) (Sir Ralph Bloomfield-Bonington)
• The Battle of the Sexes (1959) (Robert MacPherson)
• Oscar Wilde (1960) (Oscar Wilde)
• The Young Ones with Cliff Richard (1961) (Hamilton Black)
• The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1961) (Potiphar)
• Go to Blazes (1962) (Arson Eddie)
• The Road to Hong Kong (1962) (Leader of the 3rd Echelon)
• The Old Dark House (1963) (Roderick Femm)
• Murder at the Gallop (1963) (Hector Enderby) (opposite Margaret Rutherford)
• Ladies Who Do (1963) (Colonel Whitforth)
• Take Her, She's Mine (1963) (Mr. Pope-Jones)
• Of Human Bondage (1964) (Dr. Jacobs)
• Topkapi (1964) (Cedric Page)
• Hot Enough for June (1964) (Colonel Cuncliffe)
• Genghis Khan (1965) (Emperor of China)
• Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965) (Lord Rawnsley)
• The Loved One (1965) (Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie)
• A Study in Terror (1965) (Mycroft Holmes)
• Life at the Top (1965) (Tiffield)
• The Alphabet Murders (aka The ABC Murders) (1965) (Captain Arthur Hastings)
• The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965) (Narrator)
• Hotel Paradiso (1966) (Henri Cotte)
• The Trygon Factor (1966) (Hamlyn)
• ' (1966) (Lord Swift)
• Way...Way Out (1966) (Harold Quonset)
• Hot Millions (1968) (Caesar Smith)
• Twinky (1969) (Judge Roxborough)
• Some Girls Do (1969) (Miss Mary)
• Sinful Davey (1969) (Duke of Argyll)
• Cromwell (1970) (The Earl of Manchester)
• Song of Norway (1970) (Berg)
• When Eight Bells Toll (1971) (Uncle Arthur)
• Theatre of Blood (1973) (Meredith Merridew)
• Great Expectations (1974) (ITC TVM) (Uncle Pumblechook)
• Hugo the Hippo (1976) (voice) (The Sultan)
• The Blue Bird (1976) (Father Time)
• Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (aka Too Many Chefs) (1978) (Max Vandeveer)
• The Human Factor (1979) (Dr. Percival)
• Scavenger Hunt (1979) (Charles Bernstein)
• The Great Muppet Caper (1981) (British Gentlemen)
• Deadly Game (1982) (Emile Carpeau)
• The Old Men at the Zoo (1982) (BBC TV mini-series) (Lord Godmanchester)
• High Road to China (1983) (Bentik)
• Alice in Wonderland (1985) (CBS TV mini-series) (King of Hearts)
• The Trouble with Spies (1987) (Angus)
• Little Dorrit (1988) (Lord Decimus Barnacle)
• War and Remembrance (1988) (ABC TV mini-series) (Alistair Tudsbury)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1989) (NBC TV mini-series) (Wentworth)

Publications

• Robert Morley's Book of Bricks (1978, ISBN 0 330 25881 8)