Robert Morley
Robert Morley (
May 26,
1908 -
June 3,
1992) was an Oscar-nominated British actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English
gentleman representing
the Establishment. In his
Movie Encyclopedia, film critic
Leonard Maltin describes Morley as "recognizable by his ungainly bulk, bushy eyebrows, thick lips, and double chin, […] particularly effective when cast as a pompous windbag".
Born
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley in
Semley, Wiltshire,
England, he attended
Wellington College,
RADA and made his
West End stage debut in
1929 and his
Broadway debut in
1938 but was soon won over to the big screen. A versatile actor who, especially in his younger years, played roles as divergent as those of
Louis XVI, for which he received an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actor(
Marie Antoinette,
1938),
Oscar Wilde (
1960) and a
missionary in
The African Queen (
1951), Morley personified the conservative Englishman in many comedy and
caper films. Later in his career, he received numerous critical accolades for "Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe?" Renowned for
repartee and generally being an eloquent conversationalist, Morley gained the epitheton of being a "
wit".
His son,
Sheridan Morley, is a well-known writer and critic.
Trivia:Peter Grant, later manager of Led Zeppelin, was often Morley's film stand-in.
Select filmography
Little Dorrit (1988) (Lord Decimus Barnacle)
Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV) (King of Hearts)
The Old Men at the Zoo (1982) (TV mini-series) (Lord Godmanchester)
The Human Factor (1980) (Dr Percival)
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (aka
Too Many Chefs) (1978) (Max)
Great Expectations (1974) (TV) (Uncle Pumblechook)
Theatre of Blood (1973) (Meredith Merridew)
Cromwell (1970) (The Earl of Manchester)
Hot Millions (1968) (Caesar Smith)
The Alphabet Murders (aka
The ABC Murders) (1965) (
Captain Arthur Hastings)
Life at the Top (1965) (Tiffield)
The Loved One (1965) (Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie)
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) (Lord Rawnsley)
Topkapi (1964) (Cedric Page)
Of Human Bondage (1964) (Dr. Jacobs)
Murder at the Gallop (1963) (Hector Enderby) (opposite
Margaret Rutherford)
Oscar Wilde (1960) (Oscar Wilde)
The Battle of the Sexes (1959) (Robert MacPherson)
The Doctor's Dilemma (1959) (Sir Ralph Bloomfield-Bonington)
Beau Brummell (1954) (
King George III)
Beat the Devil (1953) (Crook #1)
The African Queen (1951) (Reverend Samuel Sayer)
The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) (
Charles James Fox)
Major Barbara (1941) (Andrew Undershaft)
Marie Antoinette (1938) (
King Louis XVI)
Robert. My father by Sheridan Morley. London, 1993.
