Author: Richard Morris
Born: 14 May 1924
Died: 27 April 1996
Bio: Richard Morris was born in Burlingame, California. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles for a year before serving with the special services division of the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan. At the same time, he wrote sketch comedy. His comedy writing was spotted by a talent scout from Universal Studios, and he moved to Los Angeles, where he wrote the screenplays for "Finders Keepers" (1951) and "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair" (1952). In the mid-1950s he started writing for television, and in 1955 he became the head writer and director of "The Loretta Young Show." He left the show in 1960 when "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" was produced on Broadway, returning to screenwriting in the mid-1960s. His greatest success was the screenplay for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967), which won the Writers Guild Award for best American musical.