fbpx
Wikipedia

André Morell

December 20, 2023

Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59), and as Doctor Watson in the Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).

André Morell
Born
Cecil André Mesritz

(1909-08-20)20 August 1909
London, England
Died28 November 1978(1978-11-28) (aged 69)
London, England
Years active1934–1978
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1960)​
Children1

He also appeared in the films The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Ben-Hur (1959), in several of Hammer's horror films throughout the 1960s and in the acclaimed ITV historical drama The Caesars (1968). His obituary in The Times newspaper described him as possessing a "commanding presence with a rich, responsive voice… whether in the classical or modern theatre he was authoritative and dependable."[1]

Biography edit

Early life and career edit

Morell was born in London, the son of André and Rosa Mesritz.[1][2] Prior to taking up acting professionally he trained as a motor engineer, while also participating in amateur theatrical productions.[2] He turned professional in 1934, initially acting under the name André Mesritz; he anglicised his surname to Morell in 1936, and adopted the latter name legally by deed poll in 1938.[2]

In 1938 he joined the Old Vic theatre company, and appeared in several of their high-profile productions both at their home theatre and on tour throughout Britain and across the rest of the world.[1] He appeared in Hamlet as Horatio opposite Alec Guinness in the title role, and as Alonso in John Gielgud's production of The Tempest.[1] He played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet mounted by the Old Vic company at Streatham in 1939, with Robert Donat as Romeo.[1] This was Morell's favourite role from his career.[1] His performance in the play was praised by The Times's critic as "a neat and carefully studied portrait; he is admirable in all his cynical and humorous passages", although the reviewer did add that "one could wish that he had left this manner for the speech about Queen Mab and addressed this, as a piece of direct poetry, directly to the audience."[3]

Towards the end of the 1930s he began appearing in films, making his debut on the big screen in 13 Men and a Gun (1938).[4] He appeared frequently in several early drama productions on the BBC's fledgling television service, featuring in such roles as Mr Wickham in Pride and Prejudice (1938) and Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac (1938).[4] The onset of the Second World War interrupted his acting career, and he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1940. He served with the regiment until 1946, by which time he had attained the rank of major.[1]

Major film and television roles edit

 
Morell in The Giant Behemoth

Morell returned to the theatre after the war, including another period at the Old Vic in the 1951–52 season.[1] The New Statesman's critic T. C. Worsley wrote of his performance in a star-studded revival of King Lear that "Mr Morell's Kent is the best I remember since Sir Ralph Richardson's."[5] Of his performance in the title role in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Timon of Athens, the Daily Mail wrote: "From his stage and screen performances we know him already as an eminently dependable actor, but last night he became a spectacular actor."

The same profile quoted Morell's catholic approach to stage assignments: "If a part is a good part and I feel I can enjoy playing it, it doesn't matter whether it's Shakespeare or modern farce … I'd hate to be bogged down in Shakespeare or classic theatre all my life. It's a good thing for an actor to do many different kinds of theatre, because it keeps his imagination stimulated."[citation needed]

However, he now increasingly began to win leading parts on television, and in 1953 was cast by the television director Rudolph Cartier in a play called It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer.[6] Cartier was impressed with Morell's performance in this play, and offered him the leading role in a science-fiction serial he was preparing with the writer Nigel Kneale, entitled The Quatermass Experiment. Morell considered the not-yet-completed script, but decided to decline the offer; the part went instead to his co-star from It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer, Reginald Tate.[6]

He did take one of the leading parts in another Cartier and Kneale production the following year, when he played O'Brien in their version of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, opposite Peter Cushing as Winston Smith.[7] This was a successful and controversial production which provoked much comment and debate;[8] Morell's part in it has been praised for his "coolly menacing performance [that] is at least equal to Cushing's."[8]

This successful collaboration with Cartier and Kneale resulted, four years later, in him once again being offered the role of Professor Bernard Quatermass for the pair's third serial in the series, Quatermass and the Pit, although on this occasion another actor – Alec Clunes – had already turned them down. This time Morell accepted the part, and is regarded by several critics as having provided the definitive interpretation of the character.[7][9] Morell personally found that in later years it was the role for which he was most often remembered by members of the public.[2]

As well as these and other television appearances, Morell gained several notable film roles towards the end of the 1950s. He appeared in two films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture; The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), as Colonel Green,[10] and Ben-Hur (1959) as Sextus.[11]

With Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, he played Arthur Conan Doyle's character Doctor John H. Watson, in Hammer Film Productions' version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (also 1959).[12] Morell was particularly keen that his portrayal of Watson should be closer to that originally depicted in Conan Doyle's stories, and away from the bumbling stereotype established by Nigel Bruce's interpretation of the role.[13] An earlier Hammer film in which Morell appeared was The Camp on Blood Island (1957).

In 1960, Morell appeared as Judge Brack in a production of Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler at the Oxford Playhouse.[1] Starring opposite him in the title role was the film actress Joan Greenwood. They fell in love and flew in secret to Jamaica, where they were married, remaining together until his death.[14]

Later career edit

Morell continued to appear in Hammer's horror films in the ensuing decade. He had parts in the Shadow of the Cat (1960), She (1964, again with Peter Cushing) and its sequel The Vengeance of She (1967), the lead in The Plague of the Zombies (1965), and The Mummy's Shroud (1966).[4] He also starred with Cushing in Hammer's Cash on Demand, playing the same role he had played opposite Richard Vernon in the original TV play, The Gold Inside, but turned down the opportunity of reprising the title role in Hammer's feature film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit (1967).[15]

Morell continued to act successfully on television throughout the decade, with guest roles in episodes of series such as The Avengers (1963 and 1965), Danger Man (1965), Doctor Who (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve 1966), The Saint (1965)[4] and in The Caesars (1968) in a prominent role as the Roman emperor Tiberius.

In 1969, he became the vice president of Equity, the trade union for British actors and performers. He then served as president of the organisation for a year from 1973–74.[1] During this time he was involved in a dispute in which Equity threatened to expel Laurence Olivier as a member due to comments he made in a newspaper feature about the possibility of forming a breakaway union.[16] The union also suffered from financial problems, and Morell continued to warn against destructive divisions amongst the members when he stepped down as president.[17]

Despite his involvement in union business he continued to be a busy working actor. He appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975) as a nobleman friend of the title character. His last television work was an episode of the ITV series The Professionals in 1978, the year of his death. The animated film version of The Lord of the Rings, in which he voiced the character of Elrond, was released the same year, but his final film work was not seen until the year after his death. This was as the judge in The First Great Train Robbery.[4]

Morell, who smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day until he gave up in 1976, died from lung cancer in London on 28 November 1978, at the age of 69. He and his wife Joan Greenwood had a son, Jason Morell, who also became an actor, appearing in films such as Mrs Brown (1997, as Lord Stanley) and Wilde (also 1997, as Ernest Dowson).[18]

Filmography edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Mr Andre Morell - Stage, film and television actor". The Times. 30 November 1978. p. 19.
  2. ^ a b c d Pixley, p. 30.
  3. ^ "Streatham Hill Theatre - 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare". The Times. 4 October 1939. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b c d e "André Morell". IMDb. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  5. ^ According to a 1996 profile by Jonathan Rigby
  6. ^ a b Murray, pg. 28.
  7. ^ a b Murray, pg. 67.
  8. ^ a b Duguid, Mark. "Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)". Screenonline. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  9. ^ Sangster, Jim; Paul Condon (2005). "The Quatermass series". TV Heaven. London: HarperCollins. pp. 596–601. ISBN 0-00-719099-9.
  10. ^ "Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) - Cast". Screenonline. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  11. ^ "Ben-Hur (1959)". IMDb. from the original on 12 April 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  12. ^ "The Hound of the Baskervilles - A Filmography". bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  13. ^ Kinsey, Wayne (2002). Hammer Films - The Bray Studios Years. Richmond: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. p. 133. ISBN 1-903111-11-0.
  14. ^ "Obituary of Miss Joan Greenwood, The voice that intrigued generations". The Times. 3 March 1987.
  15. ^ Murray, p.95
  16. ^ Gosling, Kenneth (24 June 1974). "Equity may expel Lord Olivier". The Times. p. 2.
  17. ^ "Equity chief fears 'destructive' union clash". The Times. 12 May 1975. p. 2.
  18. ^ "Jason Morell". IMDb. Retrieved 3 May 2007.

References edit

  • Murray, Andy (2006). Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale (paperback). London: Headpress. pp. 192 pages. ISBN 1-900486-50-4.
  • Pixley, Andrew (2005). The Quatermass Collection – Viewing Notes. London: BBC Worldwide. pp. 48 pages. BBCDVD1478.
  • Rigby, Jonathan (1996). Andre Morell: Best of British. Visual Imagination, London: Shivers issue 28. ISSN 0965-8238.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to André Morell.
  • André Morell at IMDb

December 20, 2023
andré, morell, cecil, andré, mesritz, august, 1909, november, 1978, known, professionally, english, actor, appeared, frequently, theatre, film, television, from, 1930s, 1970s, best, known, screen, roles, were, professor, bernard, quatermass, television, serial. Cecil Andre Mesritz 20 August 1909 28 November 1978 known professionally as Andre Morell was an English actor He appeared frequently in theatre film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s His best known screen roles were as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit 1958 59 and as Doctor Watson in the Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959 Andre MorellMorell as Doctor Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959 BornCecil Andre Mesritz 1909 08 20 20 August 1909London EnglandDied28 November 1978 1978 11 28 aged 69 London EnglandYears active1934 1978SpouseJoan Greenwood m 1960 wbr Children1He also appeared in the films The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 and Ben Hur 1959 in several of Hammer s horror films throughout the 1960s and in the acclaimed ITV historical drama The Caesars 1968 His obituary in The Times newspaper described him as possessing a commanding presence with a rich responsive voice whether in the classical or modern theatre he was authoritative and dependable 1 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life and career 1 2 Major film and television roles 1 3 Later career 2 Filmography 3 Footnotes 4 References 5 External linksBiography editEarly life and career edit Morell was born in London the son of Andre and Rosa Mesritz 1 2 Prior to taking up acting professionally he trained as a motor engineer while also participating in amateur theatrical productions 2 He turned professional in 1934 initially acting under the name Andre Mesritz he anglicised his surname to Morell in 1936 and adopted the latter name legally by deed poll in 1938 2 In 1938 he joined the Old Vic theatre company and appeared in several of their high profile productions both at their home theatre and on tour throughout Britain and across the rest of the world 1 He appeared in Hamlet as Horatio opposite Alec Guinness in the title role and as Alonso in John Gielgud s production of The Tempest 1 He played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet mounted by the Old Vic company at Streatham in 1939 with Robert Donat as Romeo 1 This was Morell s favourite role from his career 1 His performance in the play was praised by The Times s critic as a neat and carefully studied portrait he is admirable in all his cynical and humorous passages although the reviewer did add that one could wish that he had left this manner for the speech about Queen Mab and addressed this as a piece of direct poetry directly to the audience 3 Towards the end of the 1930s he began appearing in films making his debut on the big screen in 13 Men and a Gun 1938 4 He appeared frequently in several early drama productions on the BBC s fledgling television service featuring in such roles as Mr Wickham in Pride and Prejudice 1938 and Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac 1938 4 The onset of the Second World War interrupted his acting career and he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1940 He served with the regiment until 1946 by which time he had attained the rank of major 1 Major film and television roles edit nbsp Morell in The Giant BehemothMorell returned to the theatre after the war including another period at the Old Vic in the 1951 52 season 1 The New Statesman s critic T C Worsley wrote of his performance in a star studded revival of King Lear that Mr Morell s Kent is the best I remember since Sir Ralph Richardson s 5 Of his performance in the title role in Tyrone Guthrie s production of Timon of Athens the Daily Mail wrote From his stage and screen performances we know him already as an eminently dependable actor but last night he became a spectacular actor The same profile quoted Morell s catholic approach to stage assignments If a part is a good part and I feel I can enjoy playing it it doesn t matter whether it s Shakespeare or modern farce I d hate to be bogged down in Shakespeare or classic theatre all my life It s a good thing for an actor to do many different kinds of theatre because it keeps his imagination stimulated citation needed However he now increasingly began to win leading parts on television and in 1953 was cast by the television director Rudolph Cartier in a play called It Is Midnight Dr Schweitzer 6 Cartier was impressed with Morell s performance in this play and offered him the leading role in a science fiction serial he was preparing with the writer Nigel Kneale entitled The Quatermass Experiment Morell considered the not yet completed script but decided to decline the offer the part went instead to his co star from It Is Midnight Dr Schweitzer Reginald Tate 6 He did take one of the leading parts in another Cartier and Kneale production the following year when he played O Brien in their version of George Orwell s novel Nineteen Eighty Four opposite Peter Cushing as Winston Smith 7 This was a successful and controversial production which provoked much comment and debate 8 Morell s part in it has been praised for his coolly menacing performance that is at least equal to Cushing s 8 This successful collaboration with Cartier and Kneale resulted four years later in him once again being offered the role of Professor Bernard Quatermass for the pair s third serial in the series Quatermass and the Pit although on this occasion another actor Alec Clunes had already turned them down This time Morell accepted the part and is regarded by several critics as having provided the definitive interpretation of the character 7 9 Morell personally found that in later years it was the role for which he was most often remembered by members of the public 2 As well as these and other television appearances Morell gained several notable film roles towards the end of the 1950s He appeared in two films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 as Colonel Green 10 and Ben Hur 1959 as Sextus 11 With Cushing as Sherlock Holmes he played Arthur Conan Doyle s character Doctor John H Watson in Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles also 1959 12 Morell was particularly keen that his portrayal of Watson should be closer to that originally depicted in Conan Doyle s stories and away from the bumbling stereotype established by Nigel Bruce s interpretation of the role 13 An earlier Hammer film in which Morell appeared was The Camp on Blood Island 1957 In 1960 Morell appeared as Judge Brack in a production of Henrik Ibsen s play Hedda Gabler at the Oxford Playhouse 1 Starring opposite him in the title role was the film actress Joan Greenwood They fell in love and flew in secret to Jamaica where they were married remaining together until his death 14 Later career edit Morell continued to appear in Hammer s horror films in the ensuing decade He had parts in the Shadow of the Cat 1960 She 1964 again with Peter Cushing and its sequel The Vengeance of She 1967 the lead in The Plague of the Zombies 1965 and The Mummy s Shroud 1966 4 He also starred with Cushing in Hammer s Cash on Demand playing the same role he had played opposite Richard Vernon in the original TV play The Gold Inside but turned down the opportunity of reprising the title role in Hammer s feature film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit 1967 15 Morell continued to act successfully on television throughout the decade with guest roles in episodes of series such as The Avengers 1963 and 1965 Danger Man 1965 Doctor Who The Massacre of St Bartholomew s Eve 1966 The Saint 1965 4 and in The Caesars 1968 in a prominent role as the Roman emperor Tiberius In 1969 he became the vice president of Equity the trade union for British actors and performers He then served as president of the organisation for a year from 1973 74 1 During this time he was involved in a dispute in which Equity threatened to expel Laurence Olivier as a member due to comments he made in a newspaper feature about the possibility of forming a breakaway union 16 The union also suffered from financial problems and Morell continued to warn against destructive divisions amongst the members when he stepped down as president 17 Despite his involvement in union business he continued to be a busy working actor He appeared in Stanley Kubrick s Barry Lyndon 1975 as a nobleman friend of the title character His last television work was an episode of the ITV series The Professionals in 1978 the year of his death The animated film version of The Lord of the Rings in which he voiced the character of Elrond was released the same year but his final film work was not seen until the year after his death This was as the judge in The First Great Train Robbery 4 Morell who smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day until he gave up in 1976 died from lung cancer in London on 28 November 1978 at the age of 69 He and his wife Joan Greenwood had a son Jason Morell who also became an actor appearing in films such as Mrs Brown 1997 as Lord Stanley and Wilde also 1997 as Ernest Dowson 18 Filmography edit13 Men and a Gun 1938 Kroty Many Tanks Mr Atkins 1938 Hart Ten Days in Paris 1940 Victor Three Silent Men 1940 Charles Klein Unpublished Story 1942 Marchand Against the Wind 1948 Abbot uncredited That Dangerous Age 1949 Doctor McCatcheon No Place for Jennifer 1950 William s Counsel Madeleine 1950 Dean of Falcuty Stage Fright 1950 Inspector Byard So Long at the Fair 1950 Doctor Hart Trio 1950 Dr Lennox in segment Sanatorium Seven Days to Noon 1950 Superintendent Folland The Clouded Yellow 1950 Secret Service Chief Chubb Flesh amp Blood 1951 Dr Marshall High Treason 1951 Supt Folland The Tall Headlines 1952 George Rackham Stolen Face 1952 David His Majesty O Keefe 1954 Alfred Tetins The Golden Link 1954 Supt Blake The Black Knight 1954 Sir Ontzlake Three Cases of Murder 1955 Dr Audlin Lord Mountdrago segment Summertime 1955 Englishman uncredited The Secret 1955 Chief Inspector Blake They Can t Hang Me 1955 Robert Isaac Pitt The Man Who Never Was 1956 Sir Bernard Spilsbury The Black Tent 1956 Sheik Salem ben Yussef The Baby and the Battleship 1956 Marshal Zarak 1956 Maj Atherton Interpol 1957 Commissioner Breckner The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 Colonel Green Diamond Safari 1958 Williamson Paris Holiday 1958 American Ambassador The Camp on Blood Island 1958 Col Lambert The Giant Behemoth 1959 Prof James Bickford The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959 Doctor Watson Ben Hur 1959 Sextus Cone of Silence 1960 Capt Edward Manningham Shadow of the Cat 1961 Walter Venable Cash on Demand 1961 Colonel Gore Hepburn The Human Jungle Woman of Straw 1964 Judge uncredited The Moon Spinners 1964 Yacht Captain She 1965 Haumeid The Plague of the Zombies 1966 Sir James Forbes Judith 1966 Haim The Wrong Box 1966 Club Butler uncredited The Mummy s Shroud 1967 Sir Basil Walden Dark of the Sun 1968 Bussier The Vengeance of She 1968 Kassim Julius Caesar 1970 Cicero 10 Rillington Place 1971 Old Bailey Judge Lewis Pope Joan 1972 Emperor Louis Barry Lyndon 1975 Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover The Slipper and the Rose 1976 Bride s Father The Message 1976 Abu Talib The Lord of the Rings 1978 Lord Elrond voice The First Great Train Robbery 1979 Judge final film role Footnotes edit a b c d e f g h i j Mr Andre Morell Stage film and television actor The Times 30 November 1978 p 19 a b c d Pixley p 30 Streatham Hill Theatre Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare The Times 4 October 1939 p 6 a b c d e Andre Morell IMDb Retrieved 3 May 2007 According to a 1996 profile by Jonathan Rigby a b Murray pg 28 a b Murray pg 67 a b Duguid Mark Nineteen Eighty Four 1954 Screenonline Retrieved 3 May 2007 Sangster Jim Paul Condon 2005 The Quatermass series TV Heaven London HarperCollins pp 596 601 ISBN 0 00 719099 9 Bridge on the River Kwai The 1957 Cast Screenonline Retrieved 3 May 2007 Ben Hur 1959 IMDb Archived from the original on 12 April 2007 Retrieved 3 May 2007 The Hound of the Baskervilles A Filmography bbc co uk 25 November 2002 Retrieved 3 May 2007 Kinsey Wayne 2002 Hammer Films The Bray Studios Years Richmond Reynolds amp Hearn Ltd p 133 ISBN 1 903111 11 0 Obituary of Miss Joan Greenwood The voice that intrigued generations The Times 3 March 1987 Murray p 95 Gosling Kenneth 24 June 1974 Equity may expel Lord Olivier The Times p 2 Equity chief fears destructive union clash The Times 12 May 1975 p 2 Jason Morell IMDb Retrieved 3 May 2007 References editMurray Andy 2006 Into the Unknown The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale paperback London Headpress pp 192 pages ISBN 1 900486 50 4 Pixley Andrew 2005 The Quatermass Collection Viewing Notes London BBC Worldwide pp 48 pages BBCDVD1478 Rigby Jonathan 1996 Andre Morell Best of British Visual Imagination London Shivers issue 28 ISSN 0965 8238 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andre Morell Andre Morell at IMDb Andre Morell profile at Quatermass org uk Nigel Kneale amp Quatermass Appreciation Site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Andre Morell amp oldid 1188070893, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.