Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''

Allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

'' (2018), and '' Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), '' Christine'' (2016), and '' A Vigilante'' (2018). He starred in the HBO project ''

The Plot Against America ''The Plot Against America'' is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The novel follows the fortunes of th ...

'', and also appears in the network's ''

The Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

''.

Early life

Spector was born in Santa Rosa, in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, and grew up in nearby

Guerneville Guerneville ( , ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California, United States. The town is historically known for the logging community, formed in the late 1800s. Guerneville ...

. His father was an attorney and his mother worked in public education as a teacher and then as an administrator. He acted for the first time in community theater at the age of eight; and later acted in high school and college productions.Alexis Soloski. 012)
Angel or Devil, an Actor Finds Peace With It All
The New York Times. February 9, 2012 After graduating from

Reed College Reed College is a private university, private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor style architecture ...

, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, he enrolled in the acting school of the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Americ ...

, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and then pursued work in regional theater, including a tour in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...

''. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 2006. Spector is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

on his father's side. His paternal grandmother was an actress in the New York

Yiddish Theatre District The Yiddish Theatre District, also called the Jewish Rialto and the Yiddish Realto, was the center of New York City's Yiddish theatre scene in the early 20th century. It was located primarily on Second Avenue, though it extended to Avenue B, ...

.Matthew Blank
PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Machinal Star Morgan Spector
Playbill. January 21, 2014Gerri Miller
'The Plot Against America' Explains How Genocide 'Can Happen Here' Says Producer
Jewish Journal. March 11, 2020

Career

In 2010 Spector made his Broadway debut as Rodolpho in

Gregory Mosher Gregory Mosher (born 1949) is an American director and producer of stage productions at the Lincoln Center and Goodman Theatres, on and off-Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, and in the West End. He is also a film director and television dir ...

's revival of

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...

's play ''

A View from the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...

'' – a role he was unexpectedly called upon to play (having originally been cast in a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisi ...

, as a

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

) when the actor scheduled for the role was injured during previews. In 2012 he played the role of Boris in

The New Group The New Group, is a New York City Off-Broadway theatrical troupe founded by Artistic Director Scott Elliott, that produced its first play, Mike Leigh's ''Ecstasy'', in 1995. The New Group is run by founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, and ...

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

production of ''The Russian Transport'', by Erika Sheffer. In 2014 he co-starred with Rebecca Hall in a Broadway revival of Sophie Treadwell's '' Machinal''. They appeared together on stage in New York again in June 2017, after marrying, in

Clare Lizzimore Clare Lizzimore (born 1980) is a British theatre director and writer. Her production of 'Bull' by Mike Bartlett, won 'Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre' at the 2015 Olivier Awards. Lizzimore has been resident director at the Citize ...

's play ''Animal''. They have also appeared together on screen in the 2016 drama '' Christine'' and the 2017 film '' Permission''. In 2018 Spector starred alongside

Olivia Wilde Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House'' (2007–2012), and has appeared in th ...

in the drama '' A Vigilante''. In 2019, he starred alongside

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...

in the legal drama '' Pearson'' on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

, a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of '' Suits''. In 2020, he starred in the HBO miniseries adaptation of

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

's ''

'', alongside

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

.Jessica Zack
Morgan Spector's political perspective aptly cast in 'The Plot Against America'
Datebook, San Francisco Chronicle. March 13, 2020 In 2022, he also headlines alongside

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding S ...

and

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She is a 15-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom '' Cybill' ...

in HBO's ''

''.

Personal life

In September 2015 Spector married actress Rebecca Hall, whom he had first met the year before, during their work together in the Broadway play ''Machinal''. Their first child was born in 2018.Jen Junea
Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector Expecting First Child - See the Hilarious Double Announcement
People. January 1, 2018

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spector, Morgan 1980 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Jewish American male actors Male actors from Santa Rosa, California People from Guerneville, California Reed College alumni