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It is with a heavy heart that I must report the passing of stage, film and TV actor Harry Morgan. He died today at the impressive age of 96 of pneumonia complications at his home in the tony Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The Associated Press has an obit here.
I was going to write an entry about how damn much I admired this man and his work...but my old pal![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
filkertom beat me to the punch by saying it all and then some on his own LJ page. He even has a couple of YouTube links to some of Mr. Morgan's peerless perfs as Col. Sherman T. Potter, MD on the now-legendary CBS situation comedy M*A*S*H, by way of showing just why he was revered and loved as an actor.
I also fondly remember his appearance as the judge in the original film adaptation of one of my all-time favorite plays, Inherit the Wind, with the equally great Spencer Tracy and Frederic March as the protagonists and a young, pre-Bewitched Dick York as the luckless schoolteacher jailed for teaching his students the bald-faced truth—which, as Lazarus Long noted, is a capital offense in any society. It's one of the best films you'll ever clap eyes on...and if you haven't, go thou and rent the DVD at once. (By an interesting coincidence, Morgan almost became a real-life lawyer instead of acting; see the AP article. One is hard-pressed to decide whether this would have been society's loss or even greater gain.) I even remember seeing him a few times as LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday's equally phlegmatic sidekick, Det. Bill Gannon, on the TV version of Dragnet. The old gent invariably classed up anything he ever appeared in.
The hearts, thoughts and prayers of millions, including Your Humble, are with his daughter-in-law, three sons, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; his castmates and friends; and all the rest who mourn the loss of a good man and a tremendous talent. Rest well, sir, and thank you from the bottom of an old lefty drama-club geek's heart.
I was going to write an entry about how damn much I admired this man and his work...but my old pal
filkertom beat me to the punch by saying it all and then some on his own LJ page. He even has a couple of YouTube links to some of Mr. Morgan's peerless perfs as Col. Sherman T. Potter, MD on the now-legendary CBS situation comedy M*A*S*H, by way of showing just why he was revered and loved as an actor.I also fondly remember his appearance as the judge in the original film adaptation of one of my all-time favorite plays, Inherit the Wind, with the equally great Spencer Tracy and Frederic March as the protagonists and a young, pre-Bewitched Dick York as the luckless schoolteacher jailed for teaching his students the bald-faced truth—which, as Lazarus Long noted, is a capital offense in any society. It's one of the best films you'll ever clap eyes on...and if you haven't, go thou and rent the DVD at once. (By an interesting coincidence, Morgan almost became a real-life lawyer instead of acting; see the AP article. One is hard-pressed to decide whether this would have been society's loss or even greater gain.) I even remember seeing him a few times as LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday's equally phlegmatic sidekick, Det. Bill Gannon, on the TV version of Dragnet. The old gent invariably classed up anything he ever appeared in.
The hearts, thoughts and prayers of millions, including Your Humble, are with his daughter-in-law, three sons, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; his castmates and friends; and all the rest who mourn the loss of a good man and a tremendous talent. Rest well, sir, and thank you from the bottom of an old lefty drama-club geek's heart.
