Robert Morley
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- For the Australian soap opera actor, see Bobby Morley
Robert Morley (May 26, 1908 – June 3, 1992) was an Oscar-nominated British actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment. In his Movie Encyclopedia, film critic Leonard Maltin describes Morley as "recognizable by his ungainly bulk, bushy eyebrows, thick lips, and double chin, […] particularly effective when cast as a pompous windbag".
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[edit] Life and work
He was born Robert Adolph Wilton Morley in Semley, Wiltshire, England. Morley attended Wellington College, RADA and made his West End stage debut in 1929 and his Broadway debut in 1938 in the title role of Oscar Wilde but was soon won over to the big screen.
He was a versatile actor who, especially in his younger years, played roles as divergent as those of Louis XVI, for which he received an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actor (Marie Antoinette 1938). He also received Oscar nominations for Oscar Wilde (1960) and a missionary in The African Queen (1951).
Morley personified the conservative Englishman in many comedy and caper films. Later in his career, he received numerous critical accolades for Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?. Renowned for repartee and generally being an eloquent conversationalist, Morley gained the epitheton of being a "wit".
He married Joan Buckmaster (1910-2005), a daughter of Dame Gladys Cooper. Their elder son, Sheridan Morley was a well-known writer and critic. They also had a daughter Annabel and another son Wilton. He died in Reading, Berkshire from a stroke, aged 84.
[edit] Select filmography
- Little Dorrit (1988) (Lord Decimus Barnacle)
- Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV) (King of Hearts)
- The Old Men at the Zoo (1982) (TV mini-series) (Lord Godmanchester)
- The Great Muppet Caper (1981) (Man on seat)
- The Human Factor (1980) (Dr Percival)
- Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (aka Too Many Chefs) (1978) (Max)
- Great Expectations (1974) (TV) (Uncle Pumblechook)
- Theatre of Blood (1973) (Meredith Merridew)
- Cromwell (1970) (The Earl of Manchester)
- Hot Millions (1968) (Caesar Smith)
- Way...Way Out (1966) (Harold Quonset)
- The Alphabet Murders (aka The ABC Murders) (1965) (Captain Arthur Hastings)
- Life at the Top (1965) (Tiffield)
- The Loved One (film) (1965) (Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie)
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) (Lord Rawnsley)
- Topkapi (1964) (Cedric Page)
- Of Human Bondage (1964) (Dr. Jacobs)
- Take Her, She's Mine (1963) (Mr. Pope-Jones)
- Murder at the Gallop (1963) (Hector Enderby) (opposite Margaret Rutherford)
- Oscar Wilde (1960) (Oscar Wilde)
- The Battle of the Sexes (1959) (Robert MacPherson)
- The Doctor's Dilemma (1959) (Sir Ralph Bloomfield-Bonington)
- Beau Brummell (1954) (King George III)
- Beat the Devil (1953) (Crook #1)
- The African Queen (1951) (Reverend Samuel Sayer)
- The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) (Charles James Fox)
- Major Barbara (1941) (Andrew Undershaft)
- Marie Antoinette (1938) (King Louis XVI)
[edit] Biography
- Morley, Robert; Sewell Stokes (1966). Robert Morley "Responsible Gentleman". Heineman.
- Morley, Sheridan (1993). Robert. My Father.
