Robert Morley

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For the Australian soap opera actor, see Bobby Morley.
Robert Morley

from the trailer for
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Born Robert Adolph Wilton Morley
26 May 1908(1908-05-26)
Semley, Wiltshire
Died 3 June 1992 (aged 84)
Reading, Berkshire
Years active 1928-1989
Spouse(s) Joan Buckmaster (1940-1992)

Robert Morley CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an Oscar-nominated English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment. In 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". More politely, Ephraim Katz in his International Film Encyclopaedia describes Morley as a "a rotund, triple-chinned, delightful character player of the British and American stage and screen."

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[edit] Life and work

He was born Robert Adolph Wilton Morley in Semley, Wiltshire, England. Morley attended Elizabeth College (an independent school in Guernsey), followed by RADA, and made his West End stage debut in 1929 in Treasure Island at the Strand Theatre and his Broadway debut in 1938 in the title role of Oscar Wilde at the Fulton Theatre. Although soon won over to the big screen, Morley remained both a busy West End star and successful author, as well as tirelessly touring.

A versatile actor, especially in his younger years, he 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 gave Oscar-worthy performances in Oscar Wilde (1960) and as a missionary in The African Queen (1951).

As a playwright he co-wrote and adapted several plays for the stage, having outstanding success in London and New York with Edward, My Son, a gripping family drama written in 1947 (with Noel Langley) in which he played the central role of Arnold Holt. But the disappointing film version, directed by George Cukor at MGM Elstree in 1949, instead starred the miscast Spencer Tracy, who turned Holt, an unscrupulous English businessman, into a blustering Canadian expatriate.

Morley also personified the conservative Englishman in many comedy and caper films. Later in his career, he received critical accolades for Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?. Renowned for repartee and for being an eloquent conversationalist, Morley gained the epitheton of being a "wit".

Morley was honoured by being the first King of Moomba appointed by the Melbourne Moomba festival committee and, in typical humility, he accepted the crown in bare feet.[1] [2] Morley was in Australia touring his one-man show, The Sound of Morley.

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 was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1957. He was also offered a Knighthood during the Wilson government but declined it. He died in Reading, Berkshire from a stroke, aged 84.

[edit] Theatre career

[edit] Select filmography

[edit] Biography

  • Morley, Robert; Sewell Stokes (1966). Robert Morley "Responsible Gentleman". Heinemann. 
  • Morley, Sheridan (1993). Robert, My Father. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ Moomba - A festival for the people PDF pp 18 & 22 Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm & Hilary Ericksen (2006)
  2. ^ photo of Robert Morley accepting King of Moomba crown Melbourne Herald newspaper

[edit] External links

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