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Famous Like Me > Actor > C > Morris Carnovsky

Profile of Morris Carnovsky on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Morris Carnovsky  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 5th September 1897
   
Place of Birth: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
   
Profession: Actor
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

Morris Carnovsky, one of America’s pre-eminent Shakespearean actors, was born in St. Louis on September 5, 1897. He was briefly associated with the Yiddish Theatre before attending Washington University. Opting for an acting career he appeared in dozens of Broadway shows. At age 39, he made his New York City stage debut in The God of Vengeance. Two years later, Carnovsky joined the Theatre Guild's acting company and appeared in such plays as Uncle Vanya, Saint Joan, The Brothers Karamazov and The Doctor's Dilemma. In 1931, he helped found the the Group Theatre which specialized in dramas. He earned acclaim for his portrayal of Mr. Bonaparte in Golden Boy in 1937. Later that year, after the Group Theatre disbanded, he went to Hollywood and made his motion-picture debut as Anatole France in The Life of Emile Zola. In 1943, he played a retired Norwegian school teacher, Sixtus Andresen, in Warner Bros. anti-Nazi film Edge of Darkness starring Errol Flynn. Carnovsky portrayed Papa Morris Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue in 1945. In Dead Reckoning in 1947 starring Humphrey Bogart, he played a villainous nightclub owner named Martinelli. In 1950, he portrayed Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac starring José Ferrer. Later that year, he played Dr. Raymond Hartley in the mystery The Second Women. This would be his last Hollywood film for almost two decades.

His screen career abruptly ended during the 1950’s when Carnovsky, along and his actress wife Phoebe Brand, went before the House Un-American Activities Committee after they had been named by director Elia Kazan as Communists. They refused to "name names" themselves and were subsequently blacklisted by Hollywood. He was, however, invited by actor John Houseman to join the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut, where he appeared in such parts as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and as Lear in King Lear. Later he appeared in a few more motion pictures, an Italian film Vu du pont (A View from the Bridge) in 1962 and The Gambler in 1974 starring James Caan. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979. Carnovsky died in Easton, Connecticut on September 1, 1992. His wife passed away on July 3, 2004.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Morris Carnovsky