Bill Morey (December 19, 1919 – December 10, 2003) was an American character actor.Harris M. Lentz III
''Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture''
McFarland, 2004 page 279 He was perhaps best known for portraying Oscar in the 1990s sitcom, ''

The John Larroquette Show ''The John Larroquette Show'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 2, 1993, until October 30, 1996. Created by Don Reo, the show was a star vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on '' ...

''.

Biography

Early life

Morey was born on December 19, 1919 in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran.

Career

Morey began his career in the 1940s, performing on stage and radio. He moved to

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population wa ...

because of the Cherry County Playhouse, where he acted their productions during the 1950s and early 1960s. In addition, he acted in and directed productions at the Civic Theater, the former name of what is now the Old Town Playhouse during the early 1960s. Morey also worked in local radio and television while residing in Traverse City. Morey was awarded the 1970

Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater sta ...

for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in ''Janus'' at the

Pheasant Run Playhouse Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It was there when he was discovered by Michael Ritchie, who cast Morey in his first feature role in ''

Prime Cut ''Prime Cut'' is a 1972 American action crime film produced by Joe Wizan, directed by Michael Ritchie from a screenplay written by Robert Dillon, and starring Lee Marvin, who portrays a mob enforcer from the Chicago Irish Mob sent to Kansas ...

'' (1972). From then on, Morey moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 1974 where he continued to work in film and television until his retirement in 2001.

Personal life and death

Morey was first married to a woman by the name of Chris. They met while both were employed by the WWJ television station in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. He was also the father of sons Christopher and Michael and daughter Dianne. On December 10, 2003, Morey died of natural causes at the age of 83 in a Santa Monica hospital.

Partial filmography

*''

'' (1972) *''

Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...

'' (1975) - Deacon *'' The Onion Field'' (1979) - Lawyer #1 *''Whitcomb's War'' (1980) *'' Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb'' (1980) - General of the Army

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

*''This House Possessed'' (1981) - Robbins *'' Some Kind of Hero'' (1982) - Major Ryan *'' Brainstorm'' (1983) - James Zimbach *''Ghost Warrior'' (1984) - Doctor Carl Anderson *''Omega Syndrome'' (1986) - Dr. Lloyd Pearson *'' Real Men'' (1987) - Millard Cunard *'' Elvira, Mistress of the Dark'' (1988) - Mr. Rivers *''

Big Man on Campus ''Big Man on Campus'' (also known as ''The Hunchback of UCLA'' and ''The Hunchback Hairball of L.A.'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1989 comedy film directed by Jeremy Kagan, and written by and starring Allan Katz. It is loosely based on ''The Hunch ...

'' (1989) - Dean Crawford *'' Dad'' (1989) - Hal McCarthy

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morey, Bill American military personnel of World War II 1919 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American male actors People from Framingham, Massachusetts People from Traverse City, Michigan People from Los Angeles