English character actor Robert Morley was born on May 26, 1905 in Simley, Wiltshire. His parents predicted his career as a diplomat, and in his youth Morley received a good education: he graduated from Wellington College in Berkshire, studied in Germany, France and Italy, but later preferred the craft of an actor and entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1929, he made his London debut, starring in Oscar Wilde, and in 1938 appeared in the same role on Broadway. In the same 1938, he first
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English character actor Robert Morley was born on May 26, 1905 in Simley, Wiltshire. His parents predicted his career as a diplomat, and in his youth Morley received a good education: he graduated from Wellington College in Berkshire, studied in Germany, France and Italy, but later preferred the craft of an actor and entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1929, he made his London debut, starring in Oscar Wilde, and in 1938 appeared in the same role on Broadway. In the same 1938, he first tried his powers in the cinema, starring in the Hollywood historical drama Marie Antoinette (Dir. Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke), where he played the stupid Dauphin Louis XVI. The debut was very impressive - the following year for this role he was nominated for the Oscar as the best supporting actor.
Full, broad-faced Morley was endowed with a kind of acting charm and a great sense of humor. He played many comedic roles, both in comedies and in adventure films, most often appearing on screen as conservative gentlemen. He also performed well in the roles of arrogant aristocrats and royalty, such as King George III in Curtis Bernhardt (1954), Louis XI in Quentin Dorward (1955, Richard Thorpe), and the Earl of Manchester in Cromwell (1970, Ken Hughes). Having once played Oscar Wilde on the stage, in 1960 he again returned to this role in the film of the same name directed by Gregory Ratoff.
Since 1940, Morley was married to Joan Buckmaster, the daughter of Hollywood movie star Gladys Cooper. They had three children, one of them Sheridan Morley later became a well-known critic and writer (he owns biographies of John Gilgud, Ingrid Bergman, Noel Coward and David Niven). In 1950, the actor received the title of Commander of the British Empire. Morley was also known as the author of a number of plays. One of them, the family drama Edward, My Son, co-written with Noel Langley, ran on Broadway from 1948-1949. The main role in this Broadway play was played by Morley himself, and in the film version, staged by American director John Cukor in 1949, it was performed by the famous Hollywood actor Spencer Tracy.
The actor starred a lot, both in the UK and in the United States, having played many memorable character roles during his life. Morley's acting work includes missionary Sayer in The African Queen (1951, John Huston), faint-hearted Mr. Elmeyer in The Exile of the Isles (1951, Carol Reed), operetta author William Gilbert in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953, Sidney Gilliat), con artist Peterson in Shame the Devil (1953, John Huston), theater critic Meredith Meredew in The Blood Theater (1973, dir.) and many others. For his role as overweight fat foodie Max in Tedd Kotcheff’s black comedy Who Kills Europe’s Best Chefs? (1978), Morley won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association prize and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award. He continued to act until the late eighties and died in Wargrave, Berkshire on June 3, 1992 after a stroke.
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