Frank Morgan - wikipedia Frank Morgan For other people named Frank Morgan, see Frank Morgan ( disambiguation ). Frank Morgan Francis Phillip Wuppermann ( 1890 - 06 - 01 ) June 1, 1890 New York City, New York, U.S. September 18, 1949 ( 1949 - 09 - 18 ) ( aged 59 ) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. Cause of death Heart attack Resting place Green - Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York Alma mater Cornell University Occupation Actor Years active 1914 -- 1949 Spouse ( s ) Alma Muller ( m. 1914 -- 49 ) ( his death ) Children George Morgan ( 1916 -- 2003 ) Frank Morgan ( born Francis Phillip Wuppermann ; June 1, 1890 -- September 18, 1949 ) was an American character actor. He is best known as a Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer contract player and as the titular character in The Wizard of Oz ( 1939 ). Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life and death 4 Awards and honors 5 Filmography 6 Radio appearances 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Early life Morgan was born Francis Phillip Wuppermann in New York City, to Josephine Wright ( née Hancox ) and George Diogracia Wupperman. He was the youngest of six boys and five girls. The elder Mr. Wuppermann was born in Venezuela, but was brought up in Hamburg, Germany and was of German and Spanish ancestry. His mother was born in the United States, of English ancestry. The family earned its wealth distributing Angostura bitters, allowing Wuppermann to attend Cornell University where he joined Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and the Glee Club. He then followed his older brother Ralph Morgan into show business, first on the Broadway stage and then into motion pictures. Career Morgan and Madge Kennedy in Baby Mine ( 1917 ) After his film debut The Suspect ( 1916 ), he provided support to his friend John Barrymore in Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman ( 1917 ), an independent film produced in and about New York City. Morgan 's career expanded when talkies began, his most stereotypical role being that of a befuddled but good hearted middle - aged man. By the mid-1930s, Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer had been so impressed by Morgan that they signed him to a lifetime contract. Morgan 's best remembered film performance, playing five roles, is in The Wizard of Oz ( 1939 ), where he played the carnival huckster `` Professor Marvel '', the Gatekeeper at the Emerald City, the coachman of the carriage drawn by `` The Horse of a Different Color '', the Guard who initially refuses to let Dorothy and her friends in to see the Wizard, and the Wizard himself. Morgan was cast in the role on September 22, 1938. W.C. Fields was originally chosen for the role of the Wizard, but the studio ran out of patience after protracted haggling over his fee. An actor with a wide range, he was equally effective playing comical, befuddled men such as Jesse Kiffmeyer in Saratoga ( 1937 ) and Mr. Ferris in Casanova Brown ( 1944 ), as he was with more serious, troubled characters like Hugo Matuschek in The Shop Around the Corner ( 1940 ) and Professor Roth in The Mortal Storm ( 1940 ). MGM 's 1946 film The Great Morgan was written with the story centering on Frank Morgan. In the 1940s, Morgan co-starred with Fanny Brice in one version ( of several different series ) of the radio program Maxwell House Coffee Time, aka The Frank Morgan - Fanny Brice Show. During the first half of the show Morgan would tell increasingly outlandish tall tales about his life adventures, much to the dismay of his fellow cast members. After the Morgan segment there was a song, followed by Brice as ' Baby Snooks ' for the last half of the show. In 1947, Morgan starred as the title character in the radio series The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy. He also recorded a number of children 's records, including the popular Gossamer Wump, released in 1949 by Capitol Records. Like most character actors of the studio era, Morgan was sought out for numerous motion picture roles. One of his last roles was as Barney Wile in The Stratton Story ( 1949 ), a true story about a ballplayer ( played by James Stewart ) who makes a comeback after having his leg amputated due to a hunting accident. His final film Key to the City ( 1950 ) was released posthumously, in which he played Fire Chief Duggan. He was the third lead, after Clark Gable and Loretta Young. Morgan as The Gatekeeper at the entrance to the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz Personal life and death Morgan married Alma Muller ( 1895 -- 1949 ) in 1914 ; they had one son. Their marriage ended with his death in 1949. He was widely known to have had a drinking problem, according to several who worked with him, including actress Margaret Hamilton ( the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz ) and Oz historian Aljean Harmetz. Morgan sometimes carried a black briefcase to work fully equipped with a small mini-bar. Morgan 's niece Claudia Morgan ( née Wuppermann ) was a stage and film actress, most notable for playing the role of Vera Claythorne in the first Broadway production of Agatha Christie 's And Then There Were None. Morgan was also a brother of playwright Carlos Wupperman, who was killed in the Rhineland in 1919 while on duty there with the Army of Occupation. Wupperman had only one play produced on Broadway, The Triumph of X which opened at the Comedy Theater in New York City on August 24, 1921, but ran for only 30 performances. The production starred Morgan, and also featured Helen Menken as the female lead. Also in the production for his first Broadway outing was Robert Keith, father of actor Brian Keith and one - time husband of Theater Guild actress Peg Entwistle. Entwistle committed suicide by jumping from the Hollywood Sign in 1932. Morgan died of a heart attack on September 18, 1949, while filming Annie Get Your Gun ( he was replaced by Louis Calhern ). His death came before the 1956 premiere televised broadcast on CBS of The Wizard of Oz, which would make him the only major cast member from the film who would not live to see the film 's revived popularity and become in the 1960s an annual holiday American television institution. He is buried in Green - Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. His tombstone carries his real name, Wuppermann, as well as his stage name. Awards and honors Morgan was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Actor for his role as the cuckolded Duke of Florence in The Affairs of Cellini ( 1934 ) and one for Best Supporting Actor for Tortilla Flat ( 1942 ), as a simple Hispanic owner of the dogs. Morgan has two stars dedicated to him on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California : one for motion pictures at 1708 Vine Street, and one for his work in radio at 6700 Hollywood Boulevard. Both were dedicated on February 8, 1960. Filmography The Suspect ( 1916 ) The Daring of Diana ( 1916 ) The Girl Philippa ( 1916 ) A Modern Cinderella ( 1917 ) A Child of the Wild ( 1917 ) The Light in Darkness ( 1917 ) Baby Mine ( 1917 ) Who 's Your Neighbor ? ( 1917 ) Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman ( 1917 ) The Knife ( 1918 ) At the Mercy of Men ( 1918 ) The Gray Towers Mystery ( 1919 ) The Golden Shower ( 1919 ) Manhandled ( 1924 ) Born Rich ( 1924 ) The Crowded Hour ( 1925 ) The Man Who Found Himself ( 1925 ) Scarlet Saint ( 1925 ) Love 's Greatest Mistake ( 1927 ) Belle of the Night ( 1930 ) ( short subject ) Dangerous Nan McGrew ( 1930 ) Queen High ( 1930 ) Laughter ( 1930 ) Fast and Loose ( 1930 ) Secrets of the French Police ( 1932 ) The Half - Naked Truth ( 1932 ) The Billion Dollar Scandal ( 1933 ) Luxury Liner ( 1933 ) Hallelujah, I 'm a Bum ( 1933 ) Reunion in Vienna ( 1933 ) The Kiss Before the Mirror ( 1933 ) The Nuisance ( 1933 ) When Ladies Meet ( 1933 ) Broadway to Hollywood ( 1933 ) Best of Enemies ( 1933 ) Bombshell ( 1933 ) Broadway to Hollywood ( 1933 ) The Cat and the Fiddle ( 1934 ) Sisters Under the Skin ( 1934 ) Success at Any Price ( 1934 ) The Affairs of Cellini ( 1934 ) A Lost Lady ( 1934 ) There 's Always Tomorrow ( 1934 ) By Your Leave ( 1934 ) The Mighty Barnum ( 1934 ) The Good Fairy ( 1935 ) Enchanted April ( 1935 ) Naughty Marietta ( 1935 ) Lazybones ( 1935 ) Escapade ( 1935 ) I Live My Life ( 1935 ) The Imperfect Lady ( 1935 ) The Perfect Gentleman ( 1935 ) The Great Ziegfeld ( 1936 ) Piccadilly Jim ( 1936 ) Dancing Pirate ( 1936 ) `` Naughty Marietta '' ( 1936 ) Trouble for Two ( 1936 ) Dimples ( 1936 ) The Last of Mrs. Cheyney ( 1937 ) The Emperor 's Candlesticks ( 1937 ) Saratoga ( 1937 ) as Jesse Kiffmeyer Sunday Night at the Trocadero ( 1937, short ) Beg, Borrow or Steal ( 1937 ) Rosalie ( 1937 ) Paradise for Three ( 1938 ) Port of Seven Seas ( 1938 ) The Crowd Roars ( 1938 ) Sweethearts ( 1938 ) Broadway Serenade ( 1939 ) The Wizard of Oz ( 1939 ) Henry Goes Arizona ( 1939 ) Balalaika ( 1939 ) The Shop Around the Corner ( 1940 ) Broadway Melody of 1940 ( 1940 ) The Ghost Comes Home ( 1940 ) The Mortal Storm ( 1940 ) Boom Town ( 1940 ) Hullabaloo ( 1940 ) Keeping Company ( 1940 ) The Wild Man of Borneo ( 1941 ) Washington Melodrama ( 1941 ) Honky Tonk ( 1941 ) The Vanishing Virginian ( 1942 ) Tortilla Flat ( 1942 ) White Cargo ( 1942 ) The Human Comedy ( 1943 ) A Stranger in Town ( 1943 ) Thousands Cheer ( 1943 ) The White Cliffs of Dover ( 1944 ) Kismet ( 1944 ) ( narrator ) Casanova Brown ( 1944 ) Yolanda and the Thief ( 1945 ) The Great Morgan ( 1946 ) Courage of Lassie ( 1946 ) as Harry MacBain The Cockeyed Miracle ( 1946 ) Lady Luck ( 1946 ) Green Dolphin Street ( 1947 ) Summer Holiday ( 1948 ) The Three Musketeers ( 1948 ) The Stratton Story ( 1949 ) The Great Sinner ( 1949 ) Any Number Can Play ( 1949 ) Key to the City ( 1950 ) as Fire Chief Duggan Radio appearances Year Program Episode / source 1940 Screen Guild Players The Shop Around the Corner See also Biography portal Film portal Radio portal List of actors with Academy Award nominations References Jump up ^ Obituary Variety, September 21, 1949, page 63. Jump up ^ The National cyclopaedia of American biography : being the history of the... - James Terry White - Google Books. Books.google.ca. Retrieved September 18, 2012. Jump up ^ Playbills to Photoplays - New England Vintage Film Inc Society, New England Vintage Film Society, Inc. - Google Books. Books.google.ca. Retrieved September 18, 2012. Jump up ^ http://irishmafia.us/morgan.html Jump up ^ Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity - Twelfth Edition, p. 377 : Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, 1985. Jump up ^ Slon, Michael ( 1998 - 01 - 01 ). Songs from the Hill : A History of the Cornell University Glee Club. Cornell University Glee Club. ISBN 9780962010316. Jump up ^ `` Frank Morgan at Hollywood 's Irish Mafia ''. Retrieved 18 September 2009. Jump up ^ Theater Review by Alexander Woollcot New York Times, August 25, 1921. Jump up ^ `` Internet Broadway Database ''. Archived from the original on 2012 - 07 - 25. ^ Jump up to : Doug Fuhrmann, `` Pop Culture History : Wizard of Oz televised ( 1950s ), The Daily Journal.com April 6, 2009. Accessed 24 August, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Those Were The Days ''. Nostalgia Digest. 41 ( 3 ) : 32 -- 39. Summer 2015. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Morgan. Frank Morgan on IMDb Frank Morgan at the TCM Movie Database Frank Morgan at the Internet Broadway Database Frank Morgan at Find a Grave VIAF : 66665791 LCCN : n85376787 ISNI : 0000 0003 6861 1679 GND : 135498988 SUDOC : 067132928 BNF : cb14033952s ( data ) MusicBrainz : 5057db5d - afe9 - 4fc9 - b0c2 - 60c6c90292f2 BNE : XX4580782 IATH : w6f19s3g Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_Morgan&oldid=803104751 '' Categories : 1890 births 1949 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male silent film actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City Cornell University alumni Hispanic and Latino American actors Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer contract players California Republicans Burials at Green - Wood Cemetery American people of German descent American people of English descent 20th - century American male actors Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Articles with IBDb links Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Aragonés Asturianu Català Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog ไทย Edit links This page was last edited on 30 September 2017, at 13 : 48. 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Question: who played the wizard in the wizard of oz
Answer: Frank Morgan