Malcolm

Terence Morgan
Terence Morgan, who died on August 25 aged 83, was a
familiar figure on stage and screen in the 1940s and 1950s
after being discovered by Laurence Olivier; later he became
well known to television viewers for his role as Sir Francis
Drake.

A handsome man, he first came to notice as Laertes to
Olivier's Hamlet in the 1948 screen version of the play -
his skilled swordsmanship was a particular feature of his
performance.

He went on to specialise in playing the ne'er do well, the
plausible louse or the gang-leader, and was given some
dramatic exits: Dance Little Lady (1954) saw him fry in the
conflagration at the end; The Scamp (1957) had him suffer a
fatal fall down a flight of stairs; another fall had
dispatched him in Turn the Key Softly (1953); and in
Forbidden Cargo (1954), he attempted to drive across Tower
Bridge as it was opening and drowned in the Thames.

Terence Morgan was born at Lewisham, south-east London, on
December 8 1921. On leaving school he earned £1 a week as a
clerk in an insurance firm before winning a scholarship to
Rada. He served in the Army for two years before being
invalided out.

His first professional appearance was at the Theatre Royal,
Windsor, in The Astonished Ostrich. He later played in
repertory at Letchworth.

It was when Olivier was impressed by his performance in the
West End in There Shall Be No Night that his career began to
take off - Olivier gave Morgan the role of Cain in Thornton
Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth, with Vivien Leigh, in 1945.

Morgan spent a season with the Oliviers at the New Theatre,
playing parts in Sheridan and Shakespeare. He then toured
Australia and New Zealand with the company.

After appearing in the film version of Hamlet he did a
further season at the Old Vic. Having decided to move into
films, he played the hero in Shadow of the Past (1950). He
was then a dashing St Gerard in Captain Horatio Hornblower
RN (1951).

Having returned to the stage in Frou Frou (New Lindsay
Theatre) and The Martin's Nest (Westminster), Morgan
embarked on his career as a charismatic bounder. In Encore
(1951) he was Syd Cotman, who forced his frail wife nightly
to dive from a great height into shallow water on the French
Riviera; he was the insensitive father in Mandy (1952) and a
flashy rotter in Street Corner (1953).

He was permitted a few sympathetic roles, such as in Always
a Bride and The Steel Key, both in 1953; he rescued Trilby
from Svengali's clutches in 1954; and was the impoverished
Irish baronet in The March Hare (1955), a whimsical story
about horse-racing.

The English Stage Company claimed Morgan for The Country
Wife at the Adelphi in 1957, and a year later he was in the
two-hander Double Cross at the Duchess, with Dulcie Gray.

Morgan starred as Sir Francis Drake in the television series
of the same name, screened in 1961-62; Drake's ship, Golden
Hind, was a converted former motor fishing vessel which had
been used during the Second World War as a harbour launch.
He later appeared in films such as The Shakedown (1959),
Piccadilly Third Stop (1960) and The Penthouse (1967).

Thereafter parts were harder to come by; but in 1986 he gave
a haunting performance on television as an ageing,
homosexual matinée idol being blackmailed in an episode of
King and Castle.

Terence Morgan was married to the actress Georgina Jumel for
58 years; she and their daughter survive him.

alan gowdy

Malcolm I think etiquette and fairness demand that you ought to credit the source (Daily Telegraph) of the obituary.

"Don't forget... one of petrol, two of meths"

MrDrakesDuck

Sad news, I've always enjoyed watching him.

I particularly like <span style="color:red">March Hare</span> & <span style="color:blue">It's a Wonderful World</span>. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clapping.gif[/img]

"I thought I had to shoot Germans, not chew 'em"

Jim

Funny how the memory fails, because I thought I had read, years ago, that he had died of a heart attack! Clearly, I was mistaken. RIP Mr Fisher.

Good morning boys.

Rennie

Very sad news. Another actor who shold have gone on to stardom. I do know one lady member who is going to be gutted to receive this news.

Jim

See what I mean about memory? That should have been Mr Morgan [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blushing.gif[/img]

Good morning boys.

Rob Compton

Jim - who are you again? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rotfl.gif[/img]

rgds
Rob [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

Jim

Err.... give me a minute - it's on the tip of my, err... tongue! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

Good morning boys.

smudge

More sad news... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif[/img]

TM was a great player of caddish villains and lounge lizards - much like in one particular film that jumps to memory, PICCADILLY THIRD STOP.

Only recently Mrs Smudge and I were enjoying the recent DVD release of SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.

RIP Mr. Morgan

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Malcolm

Yes! You are so right, I do apologise

GSMCTM

T.M. was one of my favourites. So very sorry to hear the sad news. A much better actor than some of the roles he was given to play. I wrote to him a few years ago and received a lovely letter from his wife.

Marky B

His name rings a bell,but I can't put a face to it - can anyone help?
Ta Ta
Marky B
[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

MrDrakesDuck

"I thought I had to shoot Germans, not chew 'em"

Marky B

Thank you,sir,it is all coming back to me [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif[/img]
Ta Ta
Marky B [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

Steve Crook

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]-->Sailor's motto. Never chuck out the slops bucket to windward.
It's all coming back to me!

Steve