Adrian Michael Morris (January 12, 1907 – November 30, 1941) was an American actor of stage and film, and a younger brother of Chester Morris. As a child, Morris performed with his family in a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

act. In his short career as a Hollywood character actor, he appeared in over 70 films, including '' Dirigible'' (1931), '' Me and My Gal'' (1932), '' Bureau of Missing Persons'' (1933), '' The Big Shakedown'' (1934), '' The Fighting Marines'' (1935), '' The Petrified Forest'' (1936), '' There Goes the Groom'' (1937), '' Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), '' Gone With the Wind'' (1939), '' The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940), and '' Blood and Sand'' (1941).

Early life and family

Adrian Morris was born in Mount Vernon, New York, one of four surviving children of Broadway stage actor William Morris and stage comedic actress Etta Hawkins. His siblings were screenwriter-actor Gordon Morris, actor Chester Morris, and actress Wilhelmina Morris. Another brother, Lloyd Morris, had died young. As a six-year-old, Morris served as assistant to Chester who, by the time he was twelve, had developed an interest in performing magic tricks which often went wrong, to everyone's amusement. Both brothers also attended the same dancing school. In 1923, the whole Morris family teamed up to perform William Morris' original sketch called ''All the Horrors of Home'', which premiered at the Palace Theatre, New York, then on the Keith-Orpheum vaudeville circuit for two years, including Proctor's Theatre, Mount Vernon, New York, and culminating in Los Angeles in 1925. In 1929, Morris wrote—under the pseudonym of "Adrian O'Hara"—a column in the December copy of ''Talking Picture Magazine'' entitled "I Know Chester Morris", in which he praised his elder brother as a talented man excelling in music, painting and acting. Their brotherly friendship lasted for their entire lives.

Career

Adrian Morris moved to Hollywood in 1929. In 1931, he made his first, uncredited appearance in

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...

's aviation epic '' Dirigible'' by Columbia, and had a supporting role in

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

' '' The Age for Love'', directed by Frank Lloyd. Two more uncredited roles at Columbia followed the same year: the Officer in ''

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

'' starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

, and Snooper the Henchman in '' The Pagan Lady'' starring Evelyn Brent, before other companies began to award him more visible parts with screen billing. After ''The Age for Love'' (1931), released by United Artists, he was cast as Allen by Raoul Walsh for Fox's romantic comedy-drama '' Me and My Gal'' (1932), with Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. On February 26, 1932, Morris married stage actress Eva Virginia Shipley in Berverly Hills, and continued working regularly, playing uncredited or supporting parts in major films released in 1933, such as Warner Bros.' '' The Little Giant'', with Edward G. Robinson; '' The Mayor of Hell'' with James Cagney; '' Bureau of Missing Persons'', with Bette Davis, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell; and the powerful Depression drama '' Wild Boys of the Road'', with Frankie Darro. The same year, he also played the uncredited role of a crap shooter in Universal's '' King for a Night'', directed by Kurt Neumann, and starring his brother Chester in the lead role. From 1934 until the end of 1939, Morris appeared in a total of 45 major studio features, many of them top commercial and artistic successes made by the industry's greatest directors. At Warner Bros., he supported James Cagney and Ann Dvorak in '' G Men'' (1935); Paul Muni and Ann Dvorak again in '' Dr. Socrates'' (1935); Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, and

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

in '' The Petrified Forest'' (1936); and James Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart in '' Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938). Morris was also a sidekick for Grant Withers in two serials: '' The Fighting Marines'' (1935) for Mascot Pictures and '' Radio Patrol'' (1937) for Universal Pictures.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

cast him with W. C. Fields and Rochelle Hudson in '' Poppy'' (1936); Mae West, Edmund Lowe and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

in '' Every Day's a Holiday'' (1937); Sylvia Sidney and

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

in '' You and Me'' (1938); Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone in '' If I Were King'' (1938); and Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea in '' Union Pacific'' (1939). At MGM, he appeared as support to Wallace Beery and Robert Young in '' West Point of the Air'' (1935); Paul Lukas and Madge Evans in '' Age of Indiscretion'' (1935); Robert Young and Madge Evans in '' Calm Yourself'' (1935); and Walter Pidgeon and Rita Johnson in '' 6,000 Enemies'' (1939). RKO Radio cast him with Harry Carey and Hoot Gibson in '' Powdersmoke Range'' (1935), Paul Muni and Miriam Hopkins in '' The Woman I Love'', and Ann Sothern and Burgess Meredith in '' There Goes the Groom'' (1937). At

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

, he played a policeman in '' Mr. Moto's Gamble'' (1938), an entry in the Japanese detective series with a cast including Peter Lorre, Keye Luke and Lynn Bari. In 1939, he also appeared with Warner Baxter and Lynn Bari in '' The Return of the Cisco Kid''; with Tyrone Power, Alice Faye and Al Jolson in '' Rose of Washington Square''; and with Cesar Romero and Marjorie Weaver in '' The Cisco Kid and the Lady'', all for 20th Century Fox. In many of these films, he performed as a character actor, often uncredited or, later in his career, as "Michael Morris". His roles were usually of small-time hoodlum or rough-neck types, cowboys, policemen, and many other characters, such as the carpetbagger in '' Gone With the Wind'' (1939) and the hiring agent in '' The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940). For Nat Levine's Mascot Pictures, Morris played more prominent roles: Deputy Abner in the comic mystery '' One Frightened Night'', and Sergeant Mack McGowan in the serial ''The Fighting Marines'', both in 1935. In '' Wall Street Cowboy'' for Republic Pictures (1939), he appeared as Big Joe Gillespie opposite B-Western favorites Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes and Raymond Hatton.

Death

He was scheduled to begin playing in Chester's film ''I'll Be Back in a Flash''—released as '' I Live on Danger'' (1942)—when he died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage on November 30, 1941, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. His final film, '' Fly-by-Night'', was released posthumously on January 19, 1942.

Complete filmography

References

External links

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Adrian Morris at Rotten TomatoesAdrian Morris at Classic Movie Hub
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Adrian 1907 births 1941 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Mount Vernon, New York Adrian Morris