Robert Morse is Dead to Me

His finest moment

Few actors are privileged to have a sign off like this

He had a great run, winning his two Tony Awards 28 years apart.

I always liked him. Had a famous role in How to Succeed in Business when young, which is a variant of the Mad Men theme or vice versa.

Cute when younger and was called at then by his colleagues "Bobby".

Hard to believe he wasn't gay but never heard credible rumors.

I once read that one Mad Men actor was hung even bigger than Hamm...it hinted that it was Morse.

If you’ve never seen him in TRU, it’s worth watching:

For years I've thought he was of the HOMOSEXUAL persuasion.

Always loved that gap in his front teeth!

He had a gap in his front teeth but couldn't live forever, R7.

A drinker

He was great as Dominic Dunne in Ryan Murphy’s OJ Simpson series.

I truly thought he was already dead.

This is one of my favorite scenes ever on any TV show ... he was fantastic as Burt Cooper.

R9, I believe he sobered up at some point. He disappeared for a while and then re-emerged.

RIP. For some reason I thought he was already dead, probably because I associate him so much with Bert Cooper.

Wasn't he fired from the WICKED tryout?

He was, r15. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t take direction. At that age, it’s sometimes hard to know. But he was a pretty singular talent.

I worked on another new musical (after WICKED) and Morse was in the readings but wasn't asked to go further for an out of town try out because he just wouldn't follow direction. He was sweet but had no discipline. He really just didn't care.

Count me in as another one who thought he had died already, about two or three years ago. Now I'm wondering who I have confused him with?

I’m another fan of his Mad Men ending. Lovely of the show to give him that moment.

[Quote] Count me in as another one who thought he had died already, about two or three years ago. Now I'm wondering who I have confused him with?

Inspector Morse?

I’m in my late 50s but his career was mostly before my time. I think that’s the same of most people because everyone talks about Bert Cooper but that was very much the tail end of his career.

Why did he disappear for so long?

What I wouldn’t give for just one more season of Mad Men!

I forgot he had won a second Tony for Tru.

Great, singular actor

R19, the old soft shoe. A homage to his earlier Broadway roles.

Larry King lives at r20!

I didn't watch "Mad Men" but I knew Morse from the dark comedy THE LOVED ONE, a movie I love, but didn't like him in it much. I thought he was really good in THE MATCHMAKER, though.

GAPPED TEETH=BI

I loved The Boatniks as a kid.

Did he have his own sitcom? Or variety show?

He was indeed adorable as Barnaby Tucker in the wonderful film of THE MATCHMAKER starring Shirley Booth as Dolly Gallagher Levi, Paul Ford as Horace Vandergelder, Shirley MacLaine as Irene Molloy and Tony Perkins as Cornelius Hackl. And I believe Morse actually also appeared in the original stage version opposite Ruth Gordon.

For those who mistakenly think the musical version Hello Dolly! is plotless, check out this beautiful little film.

JFK would constantly play this song. He had his mistress Mimi sing it to him. Self awareness indeed. RIP both of ya.

He was perfect in every damm way on Mad Men. That's all I knew him from tbh but it was enough to see his huge talent. BRB going to watch the best of Bert on YT.

Best of Bert

Many years ago he said that he was bisexual.

He like his code is dead.

Bobby on DL fav What's My Line.

Has Pam Wagner commented yet?

He had a prominent role with Doris Day in Where Were You When The Lights Went Out. In fact the movie started out with him. He was cute and perky and animated when he was young.

I also remember him from Mad Men, and his appearances at the Tony awards on TV over the years, and his ingratiating too happy gap tooth smile that sometimes made him look like he was up to something...lol. I also have a gap tooth smile, so we had that in common. :-)

Damn. JFK had a thing with Mimi Hines?

[Quote] Many years ago he said that he was bisexual.

Link?

^ wishful thinking. Nothing on the internet.

He turned mugging into HIgh Art. “ How to Succeed” is still so watchable and find my myself humming parts of the score during the day. So happy he had a wonderful late career success with Mad Men.

He was with Roz Russell in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967)

I could believe Joan Crawford would hang someone in a closet, but not Roz Russell.

He managed to be both hateable and ruthless yet kind of lovable and cute as Bert.

I liked him. Farewell.

I found him creepy.

He was definitely an honorary gay, whether or not he partook.

I think some of you are mixing him up with Dick Kallman.

R8 did the gap in his teeth have a playlist?

He was an astronaut…

no, r51, he invented the telegraph.

He invented smoke signals,

I remember seeing "Guide For The Married Man' many, many times just for him. He was terrific in it, and it was worth seeing just for all the star cameos.

R51 That was one of the greatest lines in Mad Men. I can't remember he name, but that old secretary was hilarious.

He was not of our stripe.

R55 Mrs. Blankenship

I see you, r36.

I guess I don’t know Robert Morse. I was thinking of Robert Morley

Robert Morse is -.. . .- -..

I thought Robert Conrad was dead already.

Or was that William Conrad.

I know S.F.B. Morse is dead. Were they related?

I miss Maurice the Cat.

[quote]He turned mugging into HIgh Art.

He really did. Look at "I Believe in You," about 30 years after he sang it for the first time:

Has his son David commented yet?

He actually does have a daughter who was an actress. (See, r36.)

"He rose to fame as an original Not Ready For Prime Time Player on Saturday Night Live. He was famous for playing the baseball player Chico Escuela. He later starred in the sitcom 2 Broken Girls."

His daughter co-starred in Eastenders. Big Mo.

LOVE seeing his appearance on the What's My Line? clip (thanks, r35!) but CANNOT BELIEVE no one, not even Morse, mentions the name of his big movie that apparently was playing currently at Radio City Music Hall! Was it How to Succeed...? Somehow the WML appearance seems later than that (Dorothy KIlgallen was already murdered and replaced by the beautiful if inept Pamela Tiffin).

A natural beauty...

In the 1960s, he starred in a situation comedy called “That’s Life” that had musical and dance numbers integrated into each episode. It was an unusual format for TV, and unfortunately the show didn’t last long. EJ Peaker played his wife, and I remember Ruth Buzzi and Goldie Hawn were both guest stars on separate episodes. Being the gayling I was at the time, I enjoyed the show and was sorry when it was cancelled.

[quote]Robert Morse is -.. . .- -..

He had a great dash but he couldn't live forever.

His daughter Robin looks kind of like him. It seems she was in "First Wives Club" and played Caroline in "A Woman Called Jackie (on Assistance)".

R71 for a time she was also on As The World Turns

She looks almost the same in your photo - 35 years older, of course.

IBDB shows that he had only 8 Broadway credits, but 5 Tony nominations (2 wins).

[quote]Bobby on DL fav What's My Line.

With eternal starlet Pamela Tiffin on the panel!

[quote]Bobby on DL fav What's My Line.

With eternal starlet Pamela Tiffin on the panel!

omg how old are you people?

[quote]wishful thinking. Nothing on the internet.

I also definitely remember Robert Morse coming out as bisexual. But it was years ago, when his career was at a low point, so very little attention was paid. I recall some actor friends talking about it at the time.

Robin starred in the flop Broadway musical BRING BACK BIRDIE.

[quote] "Always loved that gap in his front teeth!"

R7 = Madonna

I'm kidding. I just couldn't resist.

That's Life guest stars...

[quote]That's Life guest stars...

The Doodletown Pipers!

[quote]omg how old are you people?

omg, how clueless are you?

Yep, r81...

In his book "Hollywood Gays" (1996), Boze Hadleigh included an interview with Anthony Perkins (who had died by the time the book was published): Hadleigh asks Perkins if he knew Robert Morse "came out as bisexual," and Perkins says he knew (p. 231).

On Perkins' Wikipedia page, this interview is interpreted as: "Perkins would later disclose that Morse was bisexual, implying that they became confidants of sorts."

Hadleigh seems to be the only source, for what it's worth...

Well, Perkins and Morse did work together in The Matchmaker in 1958.....

Agnes Moorehead warbling on an episode of Morse's "That's Life" series.

Hal Prince also fired him out of town from his production of Show Boat, despite his giving by most accounts a wonderful performance as Cap'n Andy. As successful a career as he had I suspect his years long chronic alcoholism cost him an even better one. I don't understand how someone can drink that much and live to be 90 but good for him.

[quote] I don't understand how someone can drink that much and live to be 90 but good for him.

I only made it to 71, but I probably drank more. Oh, and I was also obese.

I'll always associate him with being J. Pierpont Finch or "Ponty" in "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying." I thought that was his signature role He was perfect in it. I still listen to tunes from that show sometimes, sung by the original Broadway. cast.

He seemed unhappy that he was rarely considered for dramatic roles. But that face of his (pop eyes, gapped teeth) was made for comedy.

@r37 he has that Terry-Thomas thing going.

R47 = Carole D’Andrea

He was another one of those actors the establishment pushed on the public but no one wanted.

He refused to submit to Tony Perkins so Tony had him blacklisted.

Sugar Babies

I love those “That’s Life” clips - thx!!!!

[quote]He was another one of those actors the establishment pushed on the public but no one wanted.

Yeah, I hate how The Man keeps pushing all those unwanted actors on the public.

One of my favorite scenes.

Robert Morse was adorable as a young man.

*RIP*

Another clip

Has Michael Crawford issued a statement?

With Tony Perkins in 1958 film, "The Matchmaker".

[quote] Cute when younger and was called at then by his colleagues "Bobby".

He was quite cute into his middle age.

You can see him credited as 'Bobby' at the bottom of this 1963 poster for this turgid melodrama. He is credited as 'Bobby and His Adora-Belles'

R5 That stage show by Jay Presson Allen was interesting— especially what he did at the curtain call.

A bit off-topic, but Michelle Lee was really lovely when she was young. I wish she had done more theatre.

Morse is a performer who, for me, didn't seem to know that the 'size' of his performances needed to be different on stage and film. Maybe directors encouraged, but at times he's just too exaggerated in a movie for me, but you can see how he would charm a b'way house all the way the back row of balconies.

Clip at r12 is great. It was some of Hamm's best acting -- that look of anguish.

R105, he got in right in Mad Men. Maybe age and experience finally set in. Or a good director. But I agree with your assessment overall.

Loved Robert Morse in That’s Life. He was adorable in the 1960s.

I thought he was the murdered cast member from "Hello, Dully!" It's kind of a shock and a relief and then a shock again that he's been alive all this time and yet now has died.

Interview from 1984 with Skip E. Lowe (who dat?)

Nothing to do with late Robert Morse.....

1994 Broadway production of "Show Boat," directed by Hal Prince, starring Elaine Stritch, John McMartin, Rebecca Luker, Robert Morse, Michel Bell, Lonette McKee, Mark Jacoby, and Gretha Boston.

R112, thanks so much for that.

I do like him but he seemed very WASPY. The type you don't see in show business nowadays.

How to Succeed . . .(1967) is a fun and sprightly film musical and a welcome relief from those overpriced duds Star, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, Finian's Rainbow, Thoroughly Modern Millie that put the lid on the coffin of film musicals.

The witless, 60s sitcom feel of the film of How to Succeed wasn't a patch on the vicious, mean spirited fun of the original stage show. It preserves some of the original stage performances but out of context.

Thoroughly was a big hit. It remains a beloved film musical and it spawned that thoroughly miserable Broadway show which I understand is popular with community theaters and high schools.

Though I like it How to Succeed was a dud as much as those other films. It was no relief from anything.

And how did you leave out Half a Sixpence and Dr. Dolittle?

I guess I'm the oldest one here. I saw him in Sugar 3 times. I wrote him a fan letter during the run and he responded with a gracious letter in return. He and Cyril were wonderful. The rest of the show was pretty bad.

R118 perhaps because I never saw them or any part of them as I did those others which seem to go on forever which despite what R117 says is not true of How to Succeed . .

How to Succeed was a flop. And as I said I like it. In fact very much.

R116 I saw a revival of How to ... with Nick Jonas and didn't find it mean-spirited.

R121 glad you liked it but who said it was a BO success? It just didn't lose as much money as the expensive musical duds Dr. Doolittle, Camelot, Star, Paint Your Wagon . . .

[quote]Interview from 1984 with Skip E. Lowe (who dat?)

Turn in your gay card.

Because it didn't cost as much. But what kills me about it was that UA threw out the stereo stems and all the first run prints so that as far as anyone knows the stereo soundtrack no longer exists. You can only hear it partially on the LP and cd. And the Nelson Riddle arrangements based on the Broadway show are terrific. Now maybe they'll be found somewhere but it's well over half a century. I guess they threw out the original camera negative as well.

How to Succeed . . .(1967).has a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 82% Audience Score both scores are higher than Mille and much higher than the low scores for Chitty, Chitty, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon

R35, Robert Morse was on WML twice thereafter. In 1970.

[quote][R116] I saw a revival of How to ... with Nick Jonas and didn't find it mean-spirited.

That was one of the problems with both the Broadway revivals.

R126 Are those scores from 1967?

[quote] Robert Morse was on WML twice thereafter. In 1970.

And in 1973.

R129 No, the 12 reviews listed are from 2000-2018

It really is interesting that we’re a society that thinks that people who were in the entertainment business are worth morning. I’m mourning the demise of civility in my country.

Only 12 reviews?

In my country, we have war. People are dying, Kim.

Which country is that? There are so many of them.

Surgeons should have their licenses revoked.

[quote]It really is interesting that we’re a society that thinks that people who were in the entertainment business are worth morning. I’m mourning the demise of civility in my country.

So you choose to come to this thread to cast your disdain, r132? Some people in the entertainment industry have brought others joy. Their deaths are sad for some people.

R133 same # as Millie also a '67 release. RT didn't exist back then which I'm sure you know. The scores are based on various reviews, and most are current.

He was a boyish cutie back in the day.

No he wasn't. He was always character.

[quote] It really is interesting that we’re a society that thinks that people who were in the entertainment business are worth [sic] morning. I’m mourning the demise of civility in my country.

What a bizarre comment. As functioning, sentient beings we are fully capable of briefly expressing regret for Robert Morse’s passing and praising him for his work as an entertainer, AND being concerned about the potential demise of democracy here and around the world (which is a graver and more pressing problem than the lack of civility).

But, thank you for virtue signaling how much better you are than the rest of us. 🙄🙄🙄

[quote] UA threw out the stereo stems and all the first run prints so that as far as anyone knows the stereo soundtrack no longer exists.

R125 I could swear I saw the Coffee Break number when as a gayling I saw the first-run release of the movie in the DC area. But everything I’ve read on the web states that the number was cut from the film before the first general release, and a copy of the number hasn’t surfaced subsequently.

When I saw the movie as a 13-year-old, I thought Robert Morse was cute, and I was also attracted to Anthony Teague (playing Bud Frump). It seems I liked nerdy-looking types back then.

Interestingly the coffee break number is part of the illustration of the original poster art that was kept in but supposedly the number was cut just before the film opened. There are some photos of it. Who knows maybe they missed the print you saw and you did see it. But it has completely disappeared.

R130 That's Justin Bieber on WML?.

Lonnette McKee by all accounts was fabulous in that 1994 revival of Showboat. Her rendition of "My Bill" as become one of the definitive versions.

Broadway World says...

"I've also that Morse can fly off the handle in performance sometimes. Apparently, when he played Cap'n Andy in SHOW BOAT (Hal Prince's staging), Sondheim was in the audience one night and Bobby Morse spotted him and shouted, "Hiya, Steve!" mid-scene.

Note that the character of "Steve" was not in that scene, apparently."

Perhaps that is why Hal Prince gave Robert Morse the push.

R16

From what one hears official reason Robert Morse didn't make cut for Wizard in 'Wicked" was he couldn't (or wouldn't) give out warmth for character that was wanted.

Robert Morse was a great actor within a certain comfortable range. Tend to agree "warmth" just wasn't up his street.

But he was fabulous as Cap'n Andy in Show Boat, one of the warmest characters in all musical theater. If Hal Prince wasn't having his behavior behind the scenes, there was something else going on.

Something about a few of these clips made me think Billy Magnussen looks a wee bit like him (face).

[quote]Robert Morse was on WML twice thereafter. In 1970.

[quote]And in 1973.

Not too long ago, on Buzzr, I saw another episode of "What's My Line?" in which Robert Morse was the mystery guest, this one from 1972, while he was in "Sugar." His co-star, Tony Roberts, was on the panel and failed to recognize Morse. I couldn't find the episode on YouTube, though.

[quote] I knew Morse from the dark comedy THE LOVED ONE, a movie I love, but didn't like him in it much.

Evelyn Waugh's original wicked satire from 1948 is only 176 pages and is extremely witty. There was talk in the mid-50s of it being made as a vehicle for Alec Guinness who I'm sure could have captured the funny English-versus-American dynamic.

Unfortunately Tony Richardson's movie is heavy-handed and only partly-funny.

R67 You say Dorothy KiIlgallen was murdered but Wiki says the death was a combination of alcohol and barbiturates.

He always reminded a little of Michael J. Pollard.

The Loved One is a very flawed film but it is one of my very favorite films. Liberace as a coffin salesman, LOL.

RESURRECTION NOW!!!

I really disliked The Loved One.

^ It was raucous and chaotic but Christopher Isherwood and lots of other gays appeared in it.

^ too dark

What does Michael J. Pollard's daughter with Beth Howland look like? Both parents were... interesting looking.

[quote] ^ too dark

You obviously haven't read the original book. It's short, subtle and very funny.

[quote] It's short, subtle and very funny.

It's also acerbic and asperous.

He was SO cute. Even when he became portly in the 1990s he was still cute.

"Which way are you going, Bobby?"

R5 I clicked on it to watch just a few minutes... and I got hooked. Boy, I'll tell you, at the end of the play, we've been told how his closest friends, people he loved, turned their backs on him. Ostracized from NYC society, which he'd once been the center.

Truman gets ready to got out. To walk the streets of New York City. The lights dim, he turns the Christmas tree on, and a beautiful slow choral rendition of Little Drummer Boy on the Hi-Fi.

Truman "suits up for battle." His long black scarf, that black wide brimmed hat, the small round sunglasses. Morse subtly strikes several familiar Capote poses as he prepares to leave and go out into a world that now despises him. He walks out confidently, as if he knows he's gonna win. Fade out.

It's a stunning moment. Beautiful in its simplicity. And boy, did I have a good, long cry when I watched it yesterday.

I cried for Bobby Morse. I cried for dear Truman. I cried for the person I was when I first saw this on stage in Boston at age 22. I had no understanding of what made that moment so powerful. I cried for the person I am now, who has come to understand some of Truman's struggles all too well. I cried for all of us. Gay men who have overcome unique struggles, and withstood some of the most irrational hatred and vitriol ever known. Yet, we are are still standing.

Rest well, Bobby Morse. Again, to quote Bert Cooper the night of the moon landing, "Bravo."

R163

Not taking away from a wonderful post, but to be fair Truman Capote brought is downfall upon himself.

Certain things are unforgivable. Society may accept certain things from one of their own (after a decent period of living things down), but from an outsider, someone who was graciously welcomed into their world was and still is another matter.

Truman Capote committed the ultimate sin, a mistake that had in past brought many down; believing oneself to be firmly in society rather than merely accepted. People feel betrayed; they graciously opened up their homes and lives and betrayal was their recompense.

Have known gays like Truman Capote. Happy to be accepted into whatever society they become far too comfortable. Then one day they say or do something that goes too far. Within weeks no one is permitted to know them ever again. Invitations cease arriving, the are cut in public, and in general cease to exist far as beau monde is concerned.

"“What I thought was: here’s a dumpy little guy with a dramatic mind who, like one of his own heroines, seeks attention and sympathy by serving up half-believed lies to total strangers,” he wrote. “Strangers because he has no friends.”"

R164 I hear you, and I know. We've all brought some of our worst miseries and sadness's on to ourselves. That is part of what made it so powerful for me.

It is so fitting that his unfinished novel, the one that caused his so much heartache is called Answered Prayers. "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones". Doesn't that sum up the tragedy of Capote's life?

I had a great deal of sympathy for Truman Capote. His childhood was awful and was instrumental in making him the self destructive, unhappy personality he was. I loved his writing, though. And his interviews were always fascinating. He was quite the bullshitter, though. I guess he did it to amuse people. But also said a lot of things that were right on the mark. I enjoyed his work a lot more than the ONE piece of writing Harper Lee supposedly did, "To Kill A Mockingbird." I always thought that was one of the most overrated pieces of mediocrity that I ever read. And I always thought Harper Lee, who is portrayed in movies about Truman Capote as nice and normal. was just as strange as Truman Capote. And a lot less likeable.

Answered Prayers is well written and very enjoyable. I had no idea who anybody was until I read about the Paleys and how they cut him(it is a pretty funny story but very very stupid to have written) and then that woman who I believe he called Miss Bang Bang.

R167 I started reading La Cote Basque 1965 yesterday. I was surprised to find that, along with their fictional counterparts, the real life swans actually appear in the story. There's a whole section with Gloria Vanderbilt and Carol Matthau. Both those ladies come off in the story as simply divine. Here is a passage (Mrs. Cooper js of course, Gloria Vanderbilt)

The two women laughed together, their laughter like a naughty but delightfully sung duet. Though they were not physically similar—Mrs. Matthau being blonder than Harlow and as lushly white as a gardenia, while the other had brandy eyes and a dark dimpled brilliance markedly present when her negroid lips flashed smiles—one sensed they were two of a kind: charmingly incompetent adventuresses. Mrs. Matthau said: “Remember the Salinger thing?” “Salinger?” “A Perfect Day for Banana Fish. That Salinger.” “Franny and Zooey.” “Umn huh. You don’t remember about him?” Mrs. Cooper pondered, pouted; no, she didn’t. “It was while we were still at Brearley,” said Mrs. Matthau. “Before Oona met Orson. She had a mysterious beau, this Jewish boy with a Park Avenue mother, Jerry Salinger. He wanted to be a writer, and he wrote Oona letters ten pages long while he was overseas in the Army. Sort of love-letter essays, very tender, tenderer than God. Which is a bit too tender. Oona used to read them to me, and when she asked what I thought, I said it seemed to me he must be a boy who cries very easily; but what she wanted to know was whether I thought he was brilliant and talented or really just silly, and I said both, he’s both, and years later when I read Catcher in the Rye and realized the author was Oona’s Jerry, I was still inclined to that opinion.” “I never heard a strange story about Salinger,” Mrs. Cooper confided. “I’ve never heard anything about him that wasn’t strange. He’s certainly not your normal everyday Jewish boy from Park Avenue.” “Well, it isn’t really about him, but about a friend of his who went to visit him in New Hampshire. He does live there, doesn’t he? On some very remote farm? Well, it was February and terribly cold. One morning Salinger’s friend was missing. He wasn’t in his bedroom or anywhere around the house. They found him finally, deep in a snowy woods. He was lying in the snow wrapped in a blanket and holding an empty whiskey bottle. He’d killed himself by drinking the whiskey until he’d fallen asleep and frozen to death.” After a while Mrs. Matthau said: “That is a strange story. It must have been lovely, though—all warm with whiskey, drifting off into the cold starry air. Why did he do it?” “All I know is what I told you,” Mrs. Cooper said.

A complete episode of That's Life. With guest stars Paul Lynde, EJ Peaker, Betty White & special guest star Sid Caesar.