Wayne Morris

Wayne Morris (born Bert DeWayne Morris Jr. February 17, 1914 – September 14, 1959) was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace. He appeared in many films, including Paths of Glory (1957), The Bushwackers (1952), and the title role of Kid Galahad (1937).
Early life and career
Morris was born in Los Angeles County, California to Bert DeWayne Morris and Anna Lorea Morris (Fitzgerald). He attended Los Angeles City College and was a fullback on that school's varsity football team. He gained acting experience through his work at the Pasadena Playhouse.
His film debut came in China Clipper (1936). He played the title character of Kid Galahad (1937), a story of a young prizefighter that featured some of Hollywood's biggest stars, Bette Davis, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart. His career flourished in films like Brother Rat, which starred Ronald Reagan, and in Bogart's only horror film, The Return of Doctor X (1939).
Military service
While filming Flight Angels (1940), Morris became interested in flying and became a pilot. With war in the wind, he joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942, leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war.
Morris was considered by the Navy as physically 'too big' to fly fighters. After being turned down several times as a fighter pilot, he went to his uncle-in-law, Cdr. David McCampbell, imploring him for the chance to fly fighters. Cdr. McCampbell said "Give me a letter." He flew the F6F Hellcat off the aircraft carrier USS Essex with the VF-15 (Fighter Squadron 15), the famed "McCampbell Heroes."
A December 15, 1944 Associated Press news story reported that Morris was "credited with 57 aerial sorties, shooting down seven Japanese Zeros, sinking an escort vessel and a flak gunboat and helping sink a submarine and damage a heavy cruiser and a mine layer." He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals.
Later career
After the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning stardom. He continued to act in movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. Losing his boyish looks but not demeanor, Morris spent much of the 1950s in low-budget westerns, but also appeared as the cowardly Lieutenant Roget, one of the main characters, in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957).
In 1957, Morris made his Broadway debut as a washed-up boxing champ in William Saroyan's The Cave Dwellers.
On television, Morris starred in a 1956 episode of Science Fiction Theater, "Beam of Fire". In 1958, Morris appeared in Gunsmoke as "Nat", a groom almost shot to death. Wayne Morris played "Captain Hathaway" in 1959 on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (in the episode "The Sea Captain").
Personal life
Morris was first married to tobacco heiress Leonora (Bubbles) Schinasi; the couple later divorced. Eighteen months later, Morris married the 19-year-old Patricia Ann O'Rourke at the Long Beach, California Naval Air Base February 25, 1942. He had two daughters and a son.
Death
Aged 45, Morris died of a coronary occlusion September 14, 1959, aboard the .
Awards and decorations
During his naval service, Morris earned the following decorations:
Filmography
China Clipper (1936) as Navigator on Clipper
Here Comes Carter (1936) as Bill
Polo Joe (1936) as Spectator (uncredited)
King of Hockey (1936) as Bill 'Jumbo' Mullins
Smart Blonde (1937) as Railroad Information Clerk (uncredited)
Once a Doctor (1937) as Sailor on 'Nirvana' (uncredited)
Land Beyond the Law (1937) as Dave Massey (Credits) / Dave Seymour
Kid Galahad (1937) as Ward Guisenberry / Kid Galahad
Submarine D-1 (1937) as 'Sock' McGillis
The Kid Comes Back (1938) as Rush Conway
Love, Honor and Behave (1938) as Ted Painter
Men Are Such Fools (1938) as Jimmy Hall
Valley of the Giants (1938) as Bill Cardigan
Brother Rat (1938) as Billy Randolph
The Kid from Kokomo (1939) as Homer Baston
The Return of Doctor X (1939) as Walter Garrett
Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) as Billy Randolph
Double Alibi (1940) as Stephen Wayne
An Angel from Texas (1940) as Mac McClure
Flight Angels (1940) as Artie Dixon
Gambling on the High Seas (1940) as Jim Carter
Ladies Must Live (1940) as Corey Lake
The Quarterback (1940) as Jimmy Jones and Billy Jones
I Wanted Wings (1941) as Tom Cassidy
Badmen of Missouri (1941) as Bob Younger
Three Sons o' Guns (1941) as Charley Patterson
The Smiling Ghost (1941) as Lucky Downing
Deep Valley (1947) as Jeff Barker
The Voice of the Turtle (1947) as Comm. Ned Burling
The Time of Your Life (1948) as Tom (Joe's stooge and friend)
The Big Punch (1948) as Chris Thorgenson
John Loves Mary (1949) as Lt. Victor O'Leary
A Kiss in the Dark (1949) as Bruce Arnold
The Younger Brothers (1949) as Cole Younger
Task Force (1949) as McKinney
The House Across the Street (1949) as Dave Joslin
Johnny One-Eye (1950) as Dane Cory
The Tougher They Come (1950) as Bill Shaw
Stage to Tucson (1951) as Barney Broderick
Sierra Passage (1950) as Johnny Yorke
The Big Gusher (1951) as Kenny Blake
The Bushwhackers (1951) as Marshal John Harding
Yellow Fin (1951) as Mike Donovan
Desert Pursuit (1952) as Ford Smith
Arctic Flight (1952) as Mike Wien
Star of Texas (1953) as Texas Ranger Ed Ryan / Robert Larkin
The Marksman (1953) as Deputy Marshal Mike Martin
The Fighting Lawman (1953) as Deputy Marshal Jim Burke
Texas Bad Man (1953) as Walt
Riding Shotgun (1954) as Deputy Sheriff Tub Murphy
The Desperado (1954) as Sam Garrett
The Master Plan (1954) as Maj. Thomas Brent
Two Guns and a Badge (1954) as Deputy Jim Blake
The Green Carnation (1954) as Gary Holden
Port of Hell (1954) as Stanley Povich
Lord of the Jungle (1955) as Jeff Wood
Lonesome Trail (1955) as Dandy Dayton
Cross Channel (1955) as Tex Parker
The Gelignite Gang (1956) as Jimmy Baxter
The Crooked Sky (1957) as Mike Conlin
Paths of Glory (1957) as Lieutenant Roget
Plunder Road (1957) as Commando Munson
Official Detective (1958, Episode: "The Cover-Up") as Holmes
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959) (Season 4 Episode 15: "A Personal Matter") as Bret Johnson
Buffalo Gun (1961) as Roche (final film role)
References
Further reading
Hoyt, Edwin P. McCampbell's Heroes: the Story of the U.S. Navy's Most Celebrated Carrier Fighter of the Pacific.
Wise, James. Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
External links
1914 births
1959 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American World War II flying aces
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Aviators from California
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Recipients of the Air Medal
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
United States Naval Aviators
United States Navy officers
United States Navy pilots of World War II
Warner Bros. contract players
Deaths from coronary artery disease