William Morris Jr. (1899 – November 3, 1989) was an American talent agent and former president of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

.New York Times: "William Morris Jr., Agency Head, 90"
November 8, 1989
November 14, 1989Funding Universe: "William Morris Agency, Inc. History"
retrieved Jule 8, 2017

Biography

William Morris Jr. is the son of Emma (née Belinghoff) and William Morris Sr. His mother was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

; and his father a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrant from Germany. In 1898, his father founded the

which represented

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 ...

artists. In 1918, he went to work for his father's firm and helped to diversify the agency into radio and film as the industry changed. In 1930, he moved to Los Angeles to the heart of the film industry and the firm became the first agency to represent both performers and writers. In 1932, he became president after his father died. In 1949, the William Morris Agency attained further industry dominance with the acquisition of the Berg-Allenberg Agency, then the largest merger in the talent agency business.Rose, Frank. p. 141 He served as its president until 1952 and as a director until 1969. Under his tutelage, the William Morris Agency became one of the world's largest talent agencies. He served as a vice chairman on the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship.Rose, Frank. p. 143 In 1948, after the Council sponsored a dinner with Russian foreign minister

Andrei Vishinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (; ) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is best known as a state prosecutor of Joseph Stalin's Moscow Trials and in the Nuremberg trials. He was the Soviet Foreign Ministe ...

, it was placed by Attorney General

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United St ...

on his list of subversive organizations and Morris was deemed to be "very friendly to Communist writers and exceedingly unfriendly to anti-Communist writers."

Personal life

Morris divorced his wife Jerry.Rose, Frank. p. 83 He later married Ruth Ruben (née Bachmann). He died in 1989 in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, William Jr. 1899 births 1989 deaths American talent agents American people of German-Jewish descent American people of German descent