Morris was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York, the son of Hugo and Elsie (née Theobald) Morris.[1] His father was a rubber company executive. Morris attended New York University on a dramatic arts scholarship.[2]
He came to prominence in appearances on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (a live sketch comedy series appearing weekly in the United States, from 1950 to 1954). In April 1954, Morris joined Caesar and Carl Reiner in "This Is Your Story," an 11-minute takeoff on Ralph Edwards's This Is Your Life. Morris claimed it was his favorite sketch role.[4]
Though the competition is stiff, many feel that this sketch is the funniest that “Your Show of Shows” ever did . . . . That night nearly sixty years ago, the show produced what is probably the longest and loudest burst of laughter—genuine laughter, neither piped in nor prompted—in the history of television.
Never afraid to have talented people around him, Caesar is actually upstaged here by his second second banana (that is, after Reiner): Howard Morris, who plays Duncey’s long-lost Uncle Goopy, who, overcome with emotion, repeatedly clings to and slobbers over his favorite nephew. Shamelessly milking the moment, Morris throws in all sorts of extra embraces, even clinging to his leg as a lumbering Caesar drags him to the couch. It was a dangerous thing to do, but evidently Morris felt he could do it.[5][6]
This opinion was shared by The New York Times[7] and Hollywood.com,[8] among others. Conan O'Brien tweeted in 2014, "Saw this Sid Caesar sketch when I was a kid. It made me want to make people laugh."[9]Billy Crystal later called it a defining early influence: "That's how I used to go to bed. I'd grab my dad's leg, and he'd drag me to bed like Sid Caesar."[4] The sketch can be viewed here, Morris enters at the 4:14 mark. He also appeared twice in 1957 in episodes of the short-lived NBC comedy/variety showThe Polly Bergen Show. He notably played the wily and over-the-top mountain man character Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show. Also, he played George, the TV mechanic in the episode, "Andy and Helen Have Their Day." (He had lampooned southern accents while in the army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.)
He also appeared in several Broadway shows including the highly regarded 1960 revival of Finian's Rainbow as Og the leprechaun opposite Bobby Howes as Finian. He played the role of Schmidlap in Way... Way Out and appeared in the movie, Boys' Night Out (1962).
Voice acting
Morris was first heard in animated cartoons in the early 1960s. He and Allan Melvin teamed up for a 50-episode King Features Syndicate series, Beetle Bailey, for which he and Melvin co-wrote a number of episodes. He provided the voices for Gene Deitch's Academy Award-winning Munro, about a four-year-old boy who was drafted into the Army.
Beginning in 1962, Morris played a variety of voices in many Hanna-Barbera series including The Jetsons as Jet Screamer who sang the "Eep opp ork ah ah!" song,[10] (said to be Morris' first work for Hanna-Barbera) and The Flintstones. He was the original voice of Atom Ant and provided the voice of Mr. Peebles in The Magilla Gorilla Show, teaming up again with Allan Melvin who performed the voice for Magilla. In another series, Morris was heard as the voice of Breezly Bruin which was similar in tone with the Bill Scott vocalization of Bullwinkle. Morris had a disagreement with Joseph Barbera prior to production of the 1966–1967 season of Magilla Gorilla and Atom Ant and all of his voices were recast, mostly using Don Messick. Years later, the two men reconciled and Morris was back doing those voices and others. He also lent his voice to Forsythe "Jughead" Jones on Filmation's series The Archies through the life of the franchise, 1968–1977. Moreover, he was the voice of Leonard Blush, "The Masked Singer" - he had a skin condition - as well as the regular voice of the Mount Pilot radio station's host on The Andy Griffith Show.
Mel Brooks occasionally cast Morris in his films. For example, he played Brooks' mentor psychiatrist Dr. Lilloman in the comedy High Anxiety (1977), the emperor's court spokesman ("Here, wash this!") in History of the World, Part I (1981), and played a bum named Sailor living in the streets in Life Stinks (1991).
He appeared on "The Love Boat" (S8 E13) as "has been" comedian Billy Banks in a Christmas-themed vignette "Santa, Santa, Santa" which aired on 12/15/1984. In 1986, he reprised his famous role as Ernest T. Bass in the highly-rated television movie Return to Mayberry. In 1989, he guest starred on Murder, She Wrote. From 1997 to 1999, he voiced Flem on Cow and Chicken.
Personal life
Morris was married and divorced five times.[12] He was first married to Mary Helen McGowan from 1945 to 1962. He married his second wife, Dolores A. Wylie, later in 1962; the marriage lasted until 1977 when they divorced.[12] He had three daughters and a son, along with three grandchildren.[12]
Death
On May 21, 2005, Morris died of congestive heart failure, at the age of 85.[12] At his funeral, the "Uncle Goopy" sketch was shown; among the eulogizers was Carl Reiner, who praised Morris's ability to improvise.[13] He is entombed in Laurel Gardens Wall crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963–1965) – 5 episodes – The Ballad of the Betty Lou / A Nice, Friendly Game of Cards / Scratch My Car and Die / The Return of Edwin Carp / The Case of the Pillow
The Andy Griffith Show (1964) – 8 episodes – Barney's Bloodhound / The Darling Baby / Andy and Helen Have Their Day / Three Wishes for Opie / Otis Sues the County / My Fair Ernest T. Bass / Barney's Physical / Family Visit
