In Memoriam: Harry Bratsberg Morgan, 1915-2011

[thatcrazycajun]

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 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.

Comments

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Awwww. I always liked him. darthgeek and I were talking about him just yesterday. I wish him well in whatever comes next.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

He was in a lot of things; he said he was on prime-time TV for 35 years. I remember him as December Bride's son-in-law, and when I re-viewed High Noon a few years ago, I noticed him there.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I remember how delighted I was when I finally got Inherit the Wind on DVD. The cast is amazing, top to bottom -- Tracy, March, Morgan, York, Claude Akins, a very-against-type Gene Kelly... hell of a great film.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Hmm... Amy Winehouse adds to the 27 Club. Now, Harry Morgan adds to the 96 Club, with Jack LaLanne.

I remember a Dragnet where Morgan got off the closest thing to a double entendre you could on network tv in the 60s:

(quote from memory)

Sgt. Friday: "It's a baby, but I don't know whether it's a boy or a girl."

Officer Gannon: "Look up front."

Friday: (Looks aghast.)

Gannon (smugly): "See if he needs a shave."

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Ahh, Col. Potter!

[asg-qa-s7.livejournal.com]

He was one of those actors I always liked to see turn up in a movie. The funny thing is, even in the earliest pictures where I spotted him, he always seemed the same age to me.