Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Dig A Hole: Harry Morgan

Though they look nothing alike, it remained a major point of childhood consternation. Did Harry Morgan lend Cara Williams henpecked-support as Pete Porter on Pete and Gladys, or was that Henry Morgan, the droll, chain-smoking jokester who frequently sat with chin perched atop fist on the panel of I’ve Got a Secret?

Harry Morgan (L), Henry Morgan (R).

Adding to the bewilderment was that fact that for the first fifteen years of his career, Harry Morgan was billed as “Henry.” In order to avoid further confusion with the popular comic, Morgan eventually changed his screen name to Henry “Harry” Morgan and eventually Harry Morgan.

Long before Harry Morgan began accumulating Emmys for his role on MASH, a show I continue to channel-surf past, the distinction between the two men had been made clear, thanks in large part to Officer Bill Gannon, Jack Webb’s stolid “Man Friday” on Dragnet 1967-70, inclusive. There is a dash of surrealism to be found in the clipped, hypnotic manner in which director Webb cuts on every period, frequently reducing the dialog exchanges to somnambulistic back-and-forths.

Harry Bratsberg, born in Detroit, Michigan on April 10, 1915, wasn’t always the cuddly (but crusty) voice of moral rectitude the boob tube eventually type cast his as. After enjoying years of his television performances, the first time Morgan appeared to me on a movie screen was on horseback! It was a sixth-grade, 16mm presentation of The Ox-Bow Incident exclusively for members of the Daniel Boone Elementary School’s Boone Booster Club. Morgan appears in the small, but crucial role of a drifter caught up in a small town's lynch-mob mentality. It wasn’t more than five seconds after Morgan hit the screen before a prankster in the back of the auditorium let loose with a Dragnet-style, “DUM-DEE-DUM-DUM!”

Dane Clark and Harry Morgan in Frank Borzage's Moonrise.

If asked to single out a cherished Morgan role, I’d have to go with Billy Scripture (a precursor to To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley and The Last Picture Show’s Billy) in Frank Borzage’s miraculous Moonrise. Morgan plays Scripture, a harmless, but slightly addled mute, who becomes the object of Dane Clark’s delusional paranoia. The film, memorable for cinema's only psychological chase scene on a Ferris wheel, shows Morgan at his supporting best, adding just the right combination of menace and sympathy to make the small role a standout.

Harry Morgan died on Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. Just the facts: Morgan was a versatile and prolific character actor who had a great run. He will be missed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1uXrS2TFA

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room

Though they look nothing alike, it remained a major point of childhood consternation. Did Harry Morgan lend Cara Williams henpecked-support as Pete Porter on Pete and Gladys, or was that Henry Morgan, the droll, chain-smoking jokester who frequently sat with chin perched atop fist on the panel of I’ve Got a Secret?

Harry Morgan (L), Henry Morgan (R).

Adding to the bewilderment was that fact that for the first fifteen years of his career, Harry Morgan was billed as “Henry.” In order to avoid further confusion with the popular comic, Morgan eventually changed his screen name to Henry “Harry” Morgan and eventually Harry Morgan.

Long before Harry Morgan began accumulating Emmys for his role on MASH, a show I continue to channel-surf past, the distinction between the two men had been made clear, thanks in large part to Officer Bill Gannon, Jack Webb’s stolid “Man Friday” on Dragnet 1967-70, inclusive. There is a dash of surrealism to be found in the clipped, hypnotic manner in which director Webb cuts on every period, frequently reducing the dialog exchanges to somnambulistic back-and-forths.

Harry Bratsberg, born in Detroit, Michigan on April 10, 1915, wasn’t always the cuddly (but crusty) voice of moral rectitude the boob tube eventually type cast his as. After enjoying years of his television performances, the first time Morgan appeared to me on a movie screen was on horseback! It was a sixth-grade, 16mm presentation of The Ox-Bow Incident exclusively for members of the Daniel Boone Elementary School’s Boone Booster Club. Morgan appears in the small, but crucial role of a drifter caught up in a small town's lynch-mob mentality. It wasn’t more than five seconds after Morgan hit the screen before a prankster in the back of the auditorium let loose with a Dragnet-style, “DUM-DEE-DUM-DUM!”

Dane Clark and Harry Morgan in Frank Borzage's Moonrise.

If asked to single out a cherished Morgan role, I’d have to go with Billy Scripture (a precursor to To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley and The Last Picture Show’s Billy) in Frank Borzage’s miraculous Moonrise. Morgan plays Scripture, a harmless, but slightly addled mute, who becomes the object of Dane Clark’s delusional paranoia. The film, memorable for cinema's only psychological chase scene on a Ferris wheel, shows Morgan at his supporting best, adding just the right combination of menace and sympathy to make the small role a standout.

Harry Morgan died on Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. Just the facts: Morgan was a versatile and prolific character actor who had a great run. He will be missed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1uXrS2TFA

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Manzanita Canyon rain hikers

“People were wanting to see how bad it gets down there."
Next Article

Downtown's philosophical shoeshine man

Walter Clark – next to the Off Broadway Theater
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.