Johnnie Morris (June 15, 1887 – October 7, 1969) was an American actor and comedian who began his career in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and then worked in the movies.

Biography

Morris was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1905, he was hired by Gene Leroy to be part of the Leroy Trio, a Vaudeville act which featured Leroy as a drag singer with two teenage singers supporting him. The other member of the group was a 15-year-old Julius Marx in his professional debut. The Trio first performed at the Ramona Theatre, in

Grand Rapids, MI Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

on July 16, 1905. The diminutive actor played newsboys, jockeys, and characters named 'Peewee' in a film career that lasted from 1912 to 1942. One of his most notable roles was that of Pappy Yokum in the 1940 film version of ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...

''. He died on October 7, 1969 in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

Partial filmography

* '' Love and Learn'' (1928) - Bum (as Johnny Morris) * '' The Fifty-Fifty Girl'' (1928) * ''

The Street of Sin ''The Street of Sin'' (1928) is an American silent film directed by Mauritz Stiller. It starred Emil Jannings, Fay Wray and Olga Baclanova. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures. Preservation status The film is now considered a lost film.

'' (1928) * '' Big Money'' (1930) * '' Once in a Lifetime'' (1932) * ''

Sons of the Legion ''Sons of the Legion'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by James P. Hogan and starring Lynne Overman, Evelyn Keyes and Tim Holt. Its plot concerns a group of boys looking to start a S.A.L. squadron. However, because a boy's father wrongf ...

'' (1938) * '' The Gentleman from Arizona'' (1939) * ''

'' (1940) - Pappy Yokum

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Johnny 1887 births 1969 deaths American male comedians Vaudeville performers American male silent film actors American male film actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American comedians