Garrett Morris

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Garrett Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Morris was a church-choir singer from his youth, trained at the Juilliard School of Music, and soloed early in his career with the Harry Belafonte singers. He performed in numerous musicals.

Morris has appeared in numerous television shows and movies since the early 1970s, but is best known as one of the original cast members of NBC's Saturday Night Live. At least twice on SNL he sang classical music: once a Mozart aria when guest-host Walter Matthau designated him as a "musical guest...in place of the usual crap", and once a Schubert lied while the titles on the screen purported to express his colleagues' displeasure at having to accommodate a misguided request by him.

Morris' best known character on SNL was the Dominican baseball player Chico Escuela. Chico spoke only limited and halting English, so the joke centered on him responding to almost any question with his catch phrase: "Baseball... been berra berra good... to me." In the mid '70s Morris appeared as a high school teacher in the memorable cult classic film Cooley High.

In 1994 he was shot in an apparent robbery attempt but went on to make a full recovery. In a radio interview, he mentioned that the robber who shot him was eventually incarcerated, and in prison some fans of Garrett's who happened to be inmates there teamed up and beat up the robber in revenge.

Among later television performances, he had regular roles on Hunter, Martin, and The Jamie Foxx Show.

As of 2006, he continues to perform regularly in films.

Contents

[edit] Trivia

  • Morris is the oldest living SNL castmember.
  • Garrett Morris cameoed on an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2002 (host: Brittany Murphy; musical guest: Nelly) in Tracy Morgan's recurring sketch, Astronaut Jones.
  • Jamie Foxx has impersonated Garrett Morris on In Living Color.
  • Morris was played by Dean Bernard in the 2002 TV movie Gilda Radner: It's Always Something.

[edit] Recurring Characters on Saturday Night Live

  • Chico Escuela, a Dominican baseball player
  • Cliff, the streetwise friend to the Fenstruk Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin)
  • Grant Robinson, Jr., one of the Nerds
  • Hodo, one of Miles Cowperthwaite's cronies
  • Merkon, the leader of the Coneheads

[edit] Celebrity Impersonations on Saturday Night Live

[edit] External links

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