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IMDbPro

Wayne Morris(1914-1959)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Wayne Morris
Criterion trailer
Play trailer3:04
Paths of Glory (1957)
15 Videos
99+ Photos
American actor who had early success as a sunny juvenile, but whose career declined following World War II, in which he was a highly-decorated hero. A native of Los Angeles, Morris played football at Los Angeles Junior College, then worked as a forest ranger. Returning to school, he studied acting at Los Angeles Junior College and at the acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse. A Warner Bros. talent scout spotted him at the Playhouse and he signed with the studio in 1936. Blond and open-faced, he was a perfect type for boy-next-door parts and within a year had made a success in the title role of Kid Galahad (1937). 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. Assigned to the carrier Essex in the Pacific, Morris shot down seven Japanese planes and contributed to the sinking of five ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Following the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning stardom. He continued to topline movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. Losing his boyish looks but not demeanor, Morris spent most of the Fifties in low-budget Westerns. A wonderful performance as a weakling in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) might have given impetus to a new career as a character actor, had Morris lived. However, he suffered a massive heart attack while visiting aboard the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard in San Francisco Bay and was pronounced dead after being transported to Oakland Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He was 45. His last film was not released until two years after his death.
BornFebruary 17, 1914
DiedSeptember 14, 1959(45)
BornFebruary 17, 1914
DiedSeptember 14, 1959(45)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos160

Timothy Carey, Bert Freed, Emile Meyer, Wayne Morris, and Joe Turkel in Paths of Glory (1957)
Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Kirk Douglas, Leon Briggs, Ira Moore, and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Kirk Douglas and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Ralph Meeker and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Ralph Meeker and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Kem Dibbs, Ralph Meeker, and Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Wayne Morris in Paths of Glory (1957)
Brenda Marshall and Wayne Morris in The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Brenda Marshall and Wayne Morris in The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Brenda Marshall and Wayne Morris in The Smiling Ghost (1941)

Known for

Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory (1957)
Paths of Glory
8.4
  • Lt. Roget
  • 1957
Brenda Marshall, Wayne Morris, and Alexis Smith in The Smiling Ghost (1941)
The Smiling Ghost
6.4
  • Lucky Downing
  • 1941
Bette Davis and Edward G. Robinson in Kid Galahad (1937)
Kid Galahad
7.2
  • Ward Guisenberry
  • Kid Galahad
  • 1937
Alan Hale, Bruce Bennett, Wayne Morris, and Janis Paige in The House Across the Street (1949)
The House Across the Street
6.0
  • Dave Joslin
  • 1949

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Webb Pierce, Marty Robbins, and Carl Smith in Buffalo Gun (1961)
    Buffalo Gun
  • New Comedy Showcase
  • Gardner McKay in Adventures in Paradise (1959)
    Adventures in Paradise
  • Bourbon Street Beat (1959)
    Bourbon Street Beat
  • The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952)
    The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
  • Troubleshooters (1959)
    Troubleshooters
  • "Eighty Yard Run, The" (Playhouse 90) Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. 1957 CBS
    Playhouse 90
  • Ty Hardin in Bronco (1958)
    Bronco
  • George Nader in The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1958)
    The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
  • Henry Fonda and Gene Barry in Bat Masterson (1958)
    Bat Masterson
  • Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958)
    Wanted: Dead or Alive
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)
    Alfred Hitchcock Presents
  • Peter Brown and John Russell in Lawman (1958)
    Lawman
  • Personal Report, Inc.
  • John McIntire in Wagon Train (1957)
    Wagon Train

Producer

  • Virginia Grey and Wayne Morris in Desert Pursuit (1952)
    Desert Pursuit
  • Lorna Gray and Wayne Morris in Yellow Fin (1951)
    Yellow Fin
  • Alan Hale Jr., Lola Albright, Wayne Morris, and Roland Winters in Sierra Passage (1950)
    Sierra Passage

Additional Crew

  • Lola Albright and Wayne Morris in Arctic Flight (1952)
    Arctic Flight

Videos15

Official Trailer
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Trailer 1:55
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Trailer 2:43
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Trailer 2:20
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Original Trailer
Trailer 1:43
Original Trailer

Personal details

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    • February 17, 1914
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • September 14, 1959
    • Oakland, California, USA(heart attack)
    • Patricia O'RourkeFebruary 18, 1942 - September 14, 1959 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    (2/16/49) Radio: Appeared in NBC University Theater's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's "All The King's Men".
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    During World War II Morris was a Navy fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Essex. He flew 57 missions in an F6F Hellcat and shot down seven Japanese aircraft, becoming one of the war's first aces. He finished with the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was a recipient of four awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross and two awards of the Air Medal.
  • Quotes
    Every time they showed a picture aboard the Essex, I was scared to death it would be one of mine. That's something I could never have lived down." On his wartime experiences: "As to what a fellow thinks when he's scared, I guess it's the same with anyone. You get fleeting glimpses in your mind of your home, your wife, the baby you want to see. You see so clearly all the mistakes you made. You want another chance to correct those mistakes. You wonder how you could have attached so much importance to ridiculous, meaningless things in your life. But before you get to thinking too much, you're off into action and everything else is forgotten.

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