Vic Morrow

Morrow was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Harry Morrow ({{ne|Morozoff}}), an electrical engineer, and Eugenia "Jean" (née Barmachenko).{{cite book |last=Donnelley |first=Paul |title=Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries |publisher=Omnibus |year=2003 |page=504 |isbn=0-7119-9512-5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/New-York/Victor-Morozoff_dk0gx|title=Victor Morozoff in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®|website=Ancestry.com}} Harry and Eugenia were Russian Jewish immigrants.{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=Amber |title=The Story Of Vic Morrow And His Gruesome Death During The ‘Twilight Zone’ Movie Accident |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/vic-morrow |website=AllThatsInteresting |access-date=27 May 2025}} Morrow dropped out of high school when he was 17 and enlisted in the United States Navy.{{cite web|url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=EventExt&ID=246523|title=Morrow, Victor Harry, S1c|website=Together We Served|accessdate=February 4, 2022}} Morrow and his family lived in Asbury Park, New Jersey for many years.{{cite web|url=https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/toms-river/jersey-shore-native-vic-morrow-remembered-40-years-after-tragic-death/|title=Jersey Shore Native Vic Morrow Remembered 40 Years After Tragic Death|website=Micromedia Publications|date=July 22, 2022 |accessdate=July 22, 2022}}

After his military service, Morrow earned his diploma through attending night school and enrolled at Florida Southern College on the G.I. Bill, intending to study pre-law. While there, he became interested in acting after appearing in a student production of I Remember Mama.{{cite web |last1=Wingham |first1=Loraine |title=VIC MORROW Biography |url=http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/personnel/morrow_BIO.html |website=jodavidsmeyer.com |access-date=27 May 2025}} He dropped pre-law to study at Mexico City College, where he acted in bilingual performances of plays by writers including Shakespeare and Moliere. He then relocated to New York City, where he worked in theatre before joining Paul Mann's acting workshop for two years. Per his instructor's request, he did not act professionally during this time, instead driving taxis to make money.

Morrow attracted attention playing Stanley Kowalski in a touring production of A Streetcar Named Desire.{{cite news|author=Schallert, E.|date=November 17, 1954|title=Moss Hart to write duchin story; video man plans features|work=Los Angeles Times }} His first movie role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955), playing a thug student who torments teacher Glenn Ford.

It was made by MGM, who then put Morrow in Tribute to a Bad Man (1956). Morrow appeared on television, guest starring on shows like The Millionaire, Matinee Theatre, Climax!, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Restless Gun, Trackdown, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Magnum P.I. and Telephone Time.

Morrow had support roles in Men in War (1957), directed by Anthony Mann, and was third billed in Hell's Five Hours (1958). He starred alongside Elvis Presley and an all-star supporting cast including Walter Matthau and Carolyn Jones in the movie King Creole (1958), directed by Michael Curtiz. Mann asked him back for God's Little Acre (1958).

A Man Called Sledge is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film starring James Garner in an extremely offbeat role as a grimly hardened thief, and featuring Dennis Weaver, Claude Akins and Wayde Preston. The film was written by Vic Morrow and Frank Kowalski, and directed by Morrow in Techniscope.

However Morrow remained mostly a television actor, appearing in Naked City, Wichita Town, The Rifleman, The Lineup, Johnny Ringo, The Brothers Brannagan, The Law and Mr. Jones, The Lawless Years, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, General Electric Theatre, Target: The Corruptors, The Tall Man, Outlaws, Bonanza, and The Untouchables.

He was cast in the early Bonanza episode "The Avenger" as a mysterious figure known only as "Lassiter" – named after his town of origin – who arrives in Virginia City. He helps save Ben and Adam Cartwright from an unjust hanging, while eventually gunning down one sought-after man, revealing himself as the hunter of a lynch mob who killed his father. Having so far killed about half the mob, he rides off into the night, in an episode that resembles the later Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter. Morrow later appeared in the third season Bonanza episode "The Tin Badge".{{cite book |last=Lentz |first=Harris M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O85kAAAAMAAJ |title=Television Westerns Episode Guide: All United States Series, 1949–1996 |date=1997 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-7386-1 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=}}{{Rp|page=44}}

Mann used Morrow a third time in Cimarron (1960), again tormenting Glenn Ford. He took on Audie Murphy in Posse from Hell (1961).

Morrow was cast as soldier-engineer Lt. Robert Benson in the 1962 episode, "A Matter of Honor", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. The story focuses on Benson's fiancé, Indiana (Shirley Ballard), who tries to persuade him to boost their income by selling inside Army information to criminal real estate moguls like Joseph Hooker (Howard Petrie). Trevor Bardette and Meg Wyllie were cast in the roles of Captain and Mrs. Warner.{{Rp|page=124}}

Morrow had his first leading role in Portrait of a Mobster (1961) playing Dutch Schultz.{{cite news|author=MacMINN, A.|date=January 13, 1963|title=Camera angles|work=Los Angeles Times}}

He continued as mostly a television actor, appearing in Death Valley Days, Alcoa Premiere, and Suspense.

File:Vic Morrow Combat 1965.jpg

Morrow was cast in the lead role of Sergeant "Chip" Saunders in ABC's Combat!, a World War II drama, which aired from 1962 to 1967.{{cite news|title=Combat' Star Finds It's Hard to Sleep on the Set|author=Humphrey, Hal|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 20, 1964|page=B22}} Pop culture scholar Gene Santoro has written:

{{blockquote|TV's longest-running World War II drama (1962–1967) was really a collection of complex 50-minute movies. Salted with battle sequences, they follow a squad's travails from D-Day on – a gritty ground-eye view of men trying to salvage their humanity and survive. Melodrama, comedy, and satire come into play as top-billed Lieutenant Hanley (Rick Jason) and Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) lead their men toward Paris ... The relentlessness hollows antihero Saunders out: at times, you can see the tombstones in his eyes."{{cite journal |url= http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA249135702&v=2.1&it=r&p=EAIM&sw=w |last= Santoro |first= Gene |title= Infantrymen on the Small Screen |journal= World War II |location= Leesburg, Virginia |publisher= Weider History Group |volume= 25 |issue= 6 |date= March–April 2011 |page= 69 |access-date= August 24, 2013}}}}

His friend and fellow actor on Combat!, Rick Jason, described Morrow as "a master director" who directed "one of the greatest anti-war films I've ever seen". He was referring to the two-part episode of Combat! entitled Hills Are for Heroes, which was written by Gene L. Coon.

Morrow also worked as a television director. Together with Leonard Nimoy, he produced the 1965 film Deathwatch, an English-language film version of Jean Genet's play Deathwatch (title in {{langx|fr|link=no|Haute Surveillance}}), adapted by Morrow and Barbara Turner, directed by Morrow, and starring Nimoy.DRAMA BY GENET WILL BE FILMED. (November 27, 1962). New York Times

After Combat! ended, Morrow played the lead in Target: Harry (1969), the pilot for a proposed series that was not picked up; Roger Corman directed.

In 1969 he set up his own company, Carleigh, which was named after his daughters Carrie Ann and Jennifer Leigh.{{cite news|last=Martin|first=B.|title=Carleigh productions buys two properties|date=October 25, 1969|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|156298595}}}}

Morrow wrote and directed a spaghetti Western, produced by Dino DeLaurentiis, titled A Man Called Sledge (1970) and starring James Garner, Dennis Weaver and Claude Akins. After Deathwatch, it was Morrow's first and only big screen outing behind the camera. Sledge was filmed in Italy{{Citation needed |date=February 2021}} with desert-like settings that were highly evocative of the Southwestern United States.

Morrow guest starred in The Immortal, Dan August, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Sarge, McCloud, and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law.

In the 1970s Morrow starred in some television movies including A Step Out of Line (1971), Travis Logan, D.A. (1971) (playing the title role), River of Mystery (1971), The Glass House (1972), The Weekend Nun, Tom Sawyer (1973), and Nightmare (1974).

He guest starred in Ironside, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Mission: Impossible, The FBI, Love Story, The Streets of San Francisco, and Police Story.

Morrow appeared in two episodes of Australian-produced anthology series The Evil Touch (1973), one of which he also directed.

He played the wily local sheriff in director John Hough's road classic Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, as well as the homicidal sheriff, alongside Martin Sheen, in the television film The California Kid (1974), and The Take (1974).

Morrow had the lead in Funeral for an Assassin (1975). He had key roles in Death Stalk (1975), Wanted: Babysitter (also called Scar Tissue; 1975), The Night That Panicked America (1975), Treasure of Matecumbe (1976) and had a key role as aggressive, competitive baseball coach Roy Turner, in the comedy The Bad News Bears (1976).

In the late 1970s Morrow worked increasingly in miniseries such as Captains and the Kings (1977), Roots and The Last Convertible (1979), as well as guest starring on shows like Bronc, Hunter, The Littlest Hobo, and Charlie's Angels.

He returned to directing, helming episodes of Quincy, M.E. as well as Lucan and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Morrow had the lead in The Ghost of Cypress Swamp (1977), the Japanese film Message from Space (1978) and The Evictors (1979). He was in TV movies The Man with the Power (1977), The Hostage Heart (1977), Curse of the Black Widow (1977), Wild and Wooly (1978), Stone (1979), and Paris (1980)

Morrow made Humanoids from the Deep (1980) for Roger Corman and The Last Shark (1981); and had a regular role in the series, B.A.D. Cats (1980).

Morrow's last roles included guest roles in Charlie's Angels, Magnum, P.I., and the films 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1981) and Abenko Green Berets (1982).

From 1957 to 1964, Morrow was married to actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner.{{Cite book|first=William|last=Schoell|title=Creature Features|year=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476610726|page=65}} They had two daughters, Carrie Ann Morrow (d. 2016){{cite news |last1=Carroll |first1=Rory |title=‘I have countless stories’: Jennifer Jason Leigh on lucky breaks, lotharios and late motherhood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/04/jennifer-jason-leigh-tarantino-woody-allen-family-patrick-melrose |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=4 June 2018}} and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. He married Gale Lester in 1975; they separated just prior to Morrow's death in July 1982.{{Citation needed |date=April 2024}}

Morrow fell out with his daughter Jennifer after his divorce from her mother. She changed her last name to Leigh and they were still estranged at the time of his death.Wallace, David. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20083345,00.html "For Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fast Times Are Slowed by Personal Tragedy"]. People. October 18, 1982. Vol. 18, No. 16. Leigh stated in a 2018 interview: "my father was very difficult ... We were not close. It’s hard. I don’t really talk about my father publicly, because there are a lot of people that really love him very, very much – his work as an actor. I don’t want to disabuse them [of] their admiration.” Leigh named a desire to understand her father as well as her sister Carrie, who she described as a "drug addict", as inspirations for her to pursue acting.

Morrow had a much closer relationship to his other daughter Carrie; according to her widow Kathy Lopez, Carrie had encouraged Morrow to continue to pursue different acting opportunities and take the role in The Twilight Zone during filming of which he was killed. Lopez stated that Carrie "felt responsible for encouraging him. Survivor’s guilt. They were best friends. They were really, really close."{{cite news |last1=Vosseller |first1=Bob |title=Jersey Shore Native Vic Morrow Remembered 40 Years After Tragic Death |url=https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/toms-river/jersey-shore-native-vic-morrow-remembered-40-years-after-tragic-death/ |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=Jersey Shore Online |date=22 July 2022}}

While living in New York, Morrow befriended fellow actor Louis Gossett, Jr., who later worked with him in Roots. Gossett Jr., who played Fiddler in the series, would later describe Morrow as his "good friend" and "one of the greatest actors ever". He recounted that before filming a scene in Roots in which Morrow's character whips Kunta Kinte (portrayed by Levar Burton), Morrow apologized to both Gossett Jr. and Burton for the scene's nature. Though the whip was in reality made of felt, Gossett Jr. was so moved by the scene, which he described as the most emotional scene of his career, that he improvised Fiddler's famous next line, "there's gonna be another day" as he comforted Kunta.{{cite news |last1=Sedman |first1=Gina |title=Oscar, Emmy & Golden Globe Winning Louis Gossett Jr. Unites The World Through Love, Unity & Charity! |url=https://www.theindieposts.com/spotlight-covers/louis-gossett-jr-interview |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=The Indie Posts |date=20 July 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Tracey |title=Louis Gossett Jr. |url=https://edgemagonline.com/article/louis-gossett-jr/ |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=Edge Magazine}}{{cite news |last1=Dockterman |first1=Eliana |title=Louis Gossett Jr. on the Original Roots and the Black History That’s Yet to Be Filmed |url=https://time.com/4346637/louis-gossett-jr-roots-history/ |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=Time |date=25 May 2016}}

Rick Jason, co-star of Combat!, wrote in his memoirs that Morrow "had an absolute dislike of firearms. He used a Thompson submachine gun in our series, but that was work. In any other respect he'd have nothing to do with them."{{cite web |url= http://www.scrapbooksofmymind.com/vic_morrow.htm |author= Jason, Rick |author-link= Rick Jason |date= July 2000 |title= Scrapbooks of My Mind: A Hollywood Autobiography |publisher= www.scrapbooksofmymind.com |access-date= August 24, 2013}}

{{Main|Twilight Zone accident{{!}}Twilight Zone accident}}

In 1982, Morrow was cast in a feature role in Twilight Zone: The Movie in a segment directed by John Landis. Morrow was playing the role of Bill Connor, a racist who is taken back in time and placed in various situations where he would be a persecuted victim: as a Jewish man in Vichy France, a black man about to be lynched by the Ku Klux Klan and a Vietnamese man about to be killed by U.S. soldiers.

In the early morning hours of July 23, 1982, Morrow and two child actors, seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were filming on location in California in an area that was known as Indian Dunes near Santa Clarita. They were performing a scene for the Vietnam sequence, in which their characters attempt to escape out of a deserted Vietnamese village from a pursuing U.S. Army helicopter. The helicopter was hovering about {{convert|24|ft|m}} above them when a fireball from special effect pyrotechnic explosions reportedly caused damage to the helicopter rotor and caused the tail rotors to separate from the aircraft{{cite web |url=http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR84-14.pdf |title=NTSB Accident Report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305010558/http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR84-14.pdf |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |location=Washington, D.C. |work=National Transportation Safety Board |url-status=usurped |date=July 23, 1982 }} causing the helicopter to plummet and crash on top of them, killing all three instantly. Morrow and Le were decapitated and mutilated by the helicopter rotor blades, while Chen was crushed by a helicopter skid.{{cite book |title=Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego and the Twilight Zone Case |publisher=Arbor House/Morrow | year=1988 |access-date=July 9, 2013 |last1=Farber |first1=Stephen |last2=Green |first2=Marc |pages=394 |isbn=9780877959489 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkGbAAAAMAAJ}}

Morrow's daughters sued several parties for negligence and wrongful death and were each awarded an out-of-court settlement of $850,000 by Warner Bros. Studios.{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/12/29/Vic-Morrows-daughters-settle-lawsuit/3425441522000/ |title=Vic Morrow's daughters settle lawsuit |website=United Press International |date=December 29, 1983 |access-date=May 22, 2024}} Landis and four other defendants, including the helicopter pilot Dorcey Wingo, were charged with involuntary manslaughter but were ultimately acquitted after a ten-month trial.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/30/us/all-5-acquitted-in-3-deaths-on-film-set.html |title=ALL 5 ACQUITTED IN 3 DEATHS ON FILM SET |last=Cummings |first=Judith |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 30, 1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020000954/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/30/us/all-5-acquitted-in-3-deaths-on-film-set.html |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |access-date=May 22, 2024}} The parents of Le and Chen also sued and settled out of court for $2 million each.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-03-me-2683-story.html |title=Settlements Reported in Two Families' Civil Suits Over 'Twilight Zone' Deaths |last=Feldman |first=Paul |website=Los Angeles Times |date=June 3, 1987 |access-date=May 22, 2024}}

Morrow's remains are interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.{{Cite web|date=|title=Calisphere: Funeral for Vic Morrow|url=https://calisphere.org/item/d09729336eb47e2e7098b02fea3f2a38/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200851/https://calisphere.org/item/d09729336eb47e2e7098b02fea3f2a38/|archive-date=September 28, 2018|access-date=|website=calisphere.org}} The epitaph for his grave, written by Carrie Ann Morrow, reads "I loved him as 'Dad'; to everyone else he was 'Vic'".{{cite web |title=Vic Morrow |url=https://www.classicmoviehub.com/facts-and-trivia/star/vic-morrow/page/1/ |website=Classic Movie Hub |access-date=27 May 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Ellenberger |first1=Allen |title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory |date=2001 |publisher=McFarland Incorporated Publishers |isbn=0786450193}}

{{Reflist}}

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• {{IMDb name}}
• {{Tcmdb name}}
• [http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/personnel/MORROW_credits.html Filmography]
• [http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/personnel/Peabodys_Place-4.html Article on Twilight Zone tragedy, written by friend and COMBAT! co-star Dick 'Little John' Peabody]
• {{Find a Grave}}

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Category:1929 births

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Category:Western (genre) television actors