William Morris

William Morris was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 1, 1861, the son of Henry and Maria Lloyd Morris. He began his career at the age of 14 with the Boston Museum Stock Company in the season of 1875-1876 in the production of Ferreol. Later, he was in the companies of Augustin Daly, Madame Modjeska (in the late 1870s and again 1888-1890), Minnie Maddern Fiske (on tour 1886-1887), and Daniel and Charles Frohman. He took his own company on extensive tours, including engagements in the West Indies and South America. During his long stage career the actor was seen on Broadway in Little Miss Brown, The Concert, He Comes Up Smiling, and numerous other productions. Morris remained on the stage almost continuously from the season of 1875-1876 until 1924 and was seen before the footlights on a number of later occasions as well, including The Unknown Warrior in New York in 1928 and The Vinegar Tree in San Francisco in 1932.

Although William Morris was primarily a stage actor, but in 1915 he played a part in a Thanhouser film, Monsieur Lecoq. An article in The New Rochelle Pioneer, July 24, 1915, noted that he had just joined the Thanhouser forces, having recently been on Broadway in The Family Cupboard and other successes. His son Chester, to whose biography refer, appeared in the 1917 Thanhouser release of An Amateur Orphan. In later years, William Morris was seen in several films between his stage engagements, such pictures including Brothers (1930), The Convict’s Code (1930), Behind Office Doors (1931), Gang Busters (1931), and The Washington Masquerade (1932). William Morris was married to actress Etta Hawkins, of Aurora, Illinois, in October 1891 (she died on July 13, 1945) and was the father of actor sons Gordon, Adrian, and Chester Morris, and an actress daughter, Wilhelmina (Mrs. Harold Kusell). William Morris died of a heart attack on January 11, 1936 in Los Angeles, California.