Chester Morris
| Chester Morris | |
|---|---|
in Corsair (1931)
|
|
| Born |
John Chester Brooks Morris February 16, 1901 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 11, 1970 (aged 69) New Hope, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Barbiturate overdose |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1917–1970 |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) |
William Morris Etta Hawkins |
John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Chester Morris is best remembered today for portraying Boston Blackie, a criminal-turned-detective, in the modestly budgeted Boston Blackie film series of the 1940s.
Chester Morris was born John Chester Brooks Morris in New York City, one of four children of Broadway stage actor William Morris and stage comedian Etta Hawkins. Morris dropped out of school and began his Broadway career at 15 years old opposite Lionel Barrymore's The Copperhead. He made his film debut in the silent comedy-drama film An Amateur Orphan (1917).
After appearing in several more Broadway productions in the early 1920s, Morris joined his parents, sister and two brothers, Gordon and Adrian (who also became a film actor), on the vaudeville circuit. The family's act consisted of a comedy sketch entitled "The Horrors of Home". Morris toured with his family for two years before returning to Broadway with roles in The Home Towners (1926) and Yellow (1927). While appearing in the 1927 play Crime, Morris was spotted by a talent agent and was signed to a film contract.
Morris made his sound film debut in the 1929 film Alibi, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He followed with roles in Woman Trap (1929), The Case of Sergeant Grischa (1930) and The Divorcee, starring Norma Shearer in 1930. Later that year, Morris was cast as one of the leads (with Wallace Beery and Robert Montgomery) in the M-G-M prison drama The Big House. For the next two years, he worked steadily in films for United Artists and M-G-M and was cast opposite Jean Harlow in the 1932 comedy-drama Red-Headed Woman.
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