Harry Morgan (born Bratsberg ) was born in April 10, 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Won an Emmy as an outstanding supporting actor in 1980 and TV Land Award for "The coolest crime fighting team" in the film "Dragnet 1967" in 2006 and is best known for participation in more than 100 films.
He was born in an immigrant family from Scandinavia. Shortly after Harry's birth, the family moved to Muskegon, Michigan where Norwegian was the prime language at the time. Harry most likely realized his talent to be in front of an audience in high school where he was a statewide debating champion. He had an incredible stage presence and a powerful voice--which later ensured his career as an actor.
He started acting in 1937 at the age of 22, as a member of Group Theatre in New York City and appeared in Clifford Odets play "Golden Boy". Five years later his screen debut followed - in the movie "To the shores of Tripoli". He was recognized as a promising actor and he continued to play significant roles in big screen names such as The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Dragonwyck (1946), The Big Clock (1948), High Noon (1952). His future career went on smoothly; during the next 20 years he starred in more than 70 films, then the number decreased to about 8 films for every ten years. He has also appeared in various TV roles and he is known as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H (1975-83), Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys (1960-62) and December Bride (1954-1959) and Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967-70).
Many of the films starring Harry Morgan have been nominated for various awards, including the prestigious Academy Award, but Morgan has only received an Emmy and a TV Land Award during his career. For the people raised in the mid-20th century, Harry Morgan was known for his incredibly powerful voice. Furthermore, he played in such a large number of films that it eventually ensured him popularity from the audience, just because everyone knew him. For the newer generation, Harry Morgan is less known, but he did participate in such popular TV shows as "Renegade", "The Twilight Zone" and even "The Simpsons" as a guest voice actor.
Apart from his screen career, he has also had a successful private life. His first marriage was from 1940 to 1985 when the wife Eileen Detchon died. They had four sons from their marriage. Then, in 1998, Harry Morgan was married to Barbara Bushman Quine. Harry's son Charles Morgan says that Harry Morgan's background on the stage, and particularly with the Group Theater, afforded him a stature that others did not have, and helped him land parts in films by John Ford, Stanley Kramer, Henry Hathaway and Fred Zinneman.
Having had an incredibly long career, Harry can be recognized by almost anyone who has watched the movies of the 1940's – 1980's. His latest appearance on television was in the "M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion" in 2002 and his latest appearance on the big screen was in 1999 in the "Crosswalk". Harry Morgan is written in history as an extremely successful and powerful actor during many years and it is possible we will yet see him on TV or the big screen again.
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