Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Quincy M.E.
S8.E23
All episodesAll
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Whatever Happened to Morris Perlmutter?

  • Episode aired May 4, 1983
  • TV-PG
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
66
YOUR RATING
Jack Klugman in Quincy M.E. (1976)
CrimeDramaMystery

A formerly famous theatre star dies at the end of a robber's gun. Her sister (Rosemary DeCamp), Quincy, and Monahan look for the killer. Her agent, Morris Pearmutter, looks for a comeback in... Read allA formerly famous theatre star dies at the end of a robber's gun. Her sister (Rosemary DeCamp), Quincy, and Monahan look for the killer. Her agent, Morris Pearmutter, looks for a comeback in the circumstances.A formerly famous theatre star dies at the end of a robber's gun. Her sister (Rosemary DeCamp), Quincy, and Monahan look for the killer. Her agent, Morris Pearmutter, looks for a comeback in the circumstances.

  • Director
    • Sam Egan
  • Writers
    • Sam Egan
    • Glen A. Larson
    • Lou Shaw
  • Stars
    • Jack Klugman
    • Garry Walberg
    • John S. Ragin
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    66
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sam Egan
    • Writers
      • Sam Egan
      • Glen A. Larson
      • Lou Shaw
    • Stars
      • Jack Klugman
      • Garry Walberg
      • John S. Ragin
    • 3User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jack Klugman
    Jack Klugman
    • Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
    Garry Walberg
    Garry Walberg
    • Lt. Frank Monahan
    John S. Ragin
    John S. Ragin
    • Dr. Robert Asten
    Val Bisoglio
    Val Bisoglio
    • Danny Tovo
    • (credit only)
    Robert Ito
    Robert Ito
    • Sam Fujiyama
    Joseph Roman
    • Sgt. Brill
    Rosemary DeCamp
    Rosemary DeCamp
    • Eugenia Winston
    Steven Keats
    Steven Keats
    • Roland Davies
    Woodrow Parfrey
    Woodrow Parfrey
    • Jimmy
    William Sylvester
    William Sylvester
    • David Stillwell
    David Sheiner
    David Sheiner
    • Producer
    • (as David S. Sheiner)
    Keenan Wynn
    Keenan Wynn
    • Morris Perlmutter
    Anita Gillette
    Anita Gillette
    • Dr. Emily Hanover
    Warren Munson
    Warren Munson
    • Harold
    Patti Karr
    • Miriam
    Louise Lewis
    Louise Lewis
    • Violet Winston
    • (as Louise Fitch)
    Borah Silver
    Borah Silver
    • Hugo Dreiser
    John Papais
    • Lyle
    • Director
      • Sam Egan
    • Writers
      • Sam Egan
      • Glen A. Larson
      • Lou Shaw
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was the last "real" Quincy episode broadcast. The following episode was a failed "back-door" pilot.
    • Goofs
      Whenever a live broadcast of a staged play is planned the final run through rehearsal is recorded just in case there is a technical problem or if a lead actor is unable to perform for the live performance. This common practice is conveniently forgotten in order to create the dilemma faced in this story.

    User reviews3

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    3/10
    Is this Quincy or Highway to Heaven??
    The opening scenes of Whatever Happened to Morris Pearlmutter begin with an elderly woman coming downstairs to a robbery in progress where the intruder shoots and kills her. Her sister who is upstairs rushes down upon hearing the gunshot and comes face to face with the killer leaving the home. When the victim is brought into the coroner lab, Quincy (Jack Klugman) recognizes her as Violet Watson (Louise Lewis), a former theater actress who often performed with the surviving sister, Eugenia (Rosemary DeCamp). The police work with Eugenia in trying to identify the killer through mugshots to no avail, but she later sees a photo of a prominent young man in the newspaper who she is certain is the murderer. This wild claim is met with skepticism by the police who believe she is either mistaken or in the early stages of Alzheimer's like her sister.

    Another plot of this episode revolves around Morris Pearlmutter (Keenan Wynn), a friend and fellow actor who worked with the sisters many years ago and makes a grand entrance at the funeral. He has continued to work as an actor in bit parts but then receives a big break when he is cast as the lead in a live televised theater-style production. The only problem is that there is a great deal of dialogue for his character and his memory not being as sharp as it once was, he struggles to remember his lines during rehearsals which leads to doubt as to whether he will be able to pull off the performance.

    While there is a murder investigation featured in this episode as the audience does not see the face of the murderer in the opening scenes, this is completely relegated to the background and the entire focus becomes Morris and his struggles as an aging man/struggling actor no longer feeling relevant or able to perform like he used to. Since this is Quincy and not Highway to Heaven where we saw countless stories about older people struggling with aging issues and battling others to remain independent, the murder investigation should have been front and center with Morris in the background and not the opposite. Keenan Wynn gives a solid performance as Morris in this episode, but none of these scenes or the storyline fit with this show and all of it would have been better suited by playing out with Michael Landon's angel character.

    Another complaint I have is the stupidity of the opening scenes. Violet Watson walks down the stairs having an imaginary conversation with Cecil DeMille and is speaking loudly enough where anyone in the vicinity should be able to hear her, but somehow the burglar in the room at the bottom of the stairs with an open doorway does not. Even when she enters the room and he finally realizes she is there, she again says something nonsensical due to her condition and he shoots her. Wouldn't what she said have signaled that she was senile and why would you take the unnecessary risk of shooting her? But then when her sister comes downstairs and faces the killer realizing and reacting to what was happening, he just looks at her and leaves. Why would you kill one eyewitness, the clearly incompetent one, but then leave another, the clearly lucid one who could identify and put you way?? I just felt that this was so ridiculous and unbelievable.

    Sadly, it seems the show has completely lost focus at this point and I would not recommend this episode unless you are a huge Keenan Wynn fan or have an appreciation of Highway to Heaven type stories.
    helpful•3
    1
    • rayoflite24
    • Jul 20, 2015

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 4, 1983 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Production companies
      • Glen A. Larson Productions
      • Universal Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.