Eric Morris is an American acting teacher and actor who founded his own theory of acting based on the works of Lee Strasberg and Martin Landau. Morris lives with his wife in Los Angeles and teaches actors the Eric Morris System of Acting.
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Having published over six books in his theory, Morris claims that his System is derived partly from Lee Strasberg's Method Acting. However, Strasberg's Method focuses too much on craft, according to Morris, and not enough on the actor's instrument. Facing struggle in finding truth, he contemplated his theory while heading the Directors Unit at the Actor's Studio in Los Angeles. Morris' method recognizes the fact that actors have emotional blocks, tension, insecurities and other preventions to achieving a fundamental state of being, and works to clear these blocks, rendering the actor truly organic. In this sense, Morris stresses that acting is essentially living and being. There are seven major obligations to material, according to Eric: 1) Time and Place, 2) Relationship, 3) Emotional Obligation, 4) Character Obligation, 5) Historic Obligation, 6) Thematic Obligation, 7) Directorial Obligation. After recognizing these 7 obligations, there are the choices the actor utilizes to render these emotions, and finally the approach to which the actors use these choices.
The Eric Morris System has received praise from such actors as Jack Nicholson and Johnny Depp.
Morris has been acting since 1949. He is an original member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1954. He has worked in over 100 equity plays on stages across the US, including such stages as the Globe Theater and Chicago Rep. Morris has also worked in several television shows, including Lawman, Days of our Lives, Hogan's Heroes, The New Phil Silvers Show and Fame. Furthermore, Morris has worked in over 25 major motion pictures, including Pork Chop Hill, Battle Beyond the Stars and Mirage.
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | Monkey on My Back | Soldier | |
| 1959 | Holiday for Lovers | Airforce Military Police | Uncredited |
| A Private's Affair | Orderly | Uncredited | |
| 1960 | Ma Barker's Killer Brood | Fred Barker | |
| 1969 | Strategy of Terror | Tippo | Alternative title: In Darkness Waiting |
| 1976 | My Friends Need Killing | Dr. MacLaine | |
| 1980 | Battle Beyond the Stars | Feh | |
| 1983 | Wavelength | Dr. Vernon Cottrell | |
| 1989 | Cipayos (la tercera invasión) | English Colonel | |
| 1995 | Mirage | Police captain | |
| 1996 | Eye for an Eye | Columnist | |
| 2006 | Love Hollywood Style | Psychologist | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | The Silent Service | Soldier | 19 episodes, uncredited |
| 1959 | Lawman | Joey Young | 1 episode |
| 1961 | Ben Casey | Patient | 1 episode |
| Dr. Kildare | Doctor | 1 episode, uncredited | |
| 1963–1964 | The New Phil Silvers Show | Stanley | 4 episodes, uncredited |
| 1965 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Tippo | 2 episodes |
| 1969–1970 | Hogan's Heroes | Captain Streicker | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | Fame | Panel Member | 1 episode |
| 1988 | Mathnet | Wharfinger | 1 episode |
| Square One Television | Wharfinger | 1 episode | |