Wolfe Morris

{{Short description|English actor (1925–1996)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Wolfe Morris

| image = Actor_Wolfe_Morris.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_name = Woolf Steinberg

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|1|5|df=y}}

| birth_place = Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|7|21|1925|1|5|df=y}}

| death_place = Camden, London, England, United Kingdom{{Cite web|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+deaths+1837-2007&firstname=wolfe&firstname_variants=true&lastname=steinberg&eventyear=1996&eventyear_offset=2|title=Search Results for England & Wales Deaths 1837–2007 | findmypast.co.uk|website=findmypast.co.uk}}

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1955–1995

| spouse =

| parents = Morry Steinberg
Becky Steinberg

| relatives = Aubrey Morris (brother)

}}

Wolfe Morris (born Woolf Steinberg,{{Cite web|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+births+1837-2006&firstname=w&lastname=steinberg&eventyear=1925&eventyear_offset=0&county=hampshire|title=Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006 | findmypast.co.uk|website=findmypast.co.uk}} 5 January 1925 – 21 July 1996) was an English actor,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/50811/Wolfe-Morris/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804010128/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/50811/Wolfe-Morris/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-08-04|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide|author=Sandra Brennan|date=2015|title=Wolfe Morris}}{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9502E3D61F3FEF34BC4052DFBF668383649EDE|title=The Camp on Blood Island (1958) Double Bill of Melodrama Is Offered|first=Richard W.|last=Nason|date=18 September 1958}} who played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in Ill Met by Moonlight. His grandparents were from Kiev and escaped the Russian pogroms, arriving in London in about 1890.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-aubrey-morris-actor-1-3833989|title=Obituary: Aubrey Morris, actor|website=The Scotsman}} The family moved to Portsmouth at the turn of the century. Morris was one of nine children born to Becky (née Levine) and Morry Steinberg. His younger brother, Aubrey Morris, was also an accomplished actor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/16/aubrey-morris|title=Aubrey Morris obituary|first=Gavin|last=Gaughan|date=16 July 2015|work=The Guardian}} His daughter Shona Morris became a stage actress.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/wolfe-morris-p50811|title=Wolfe Morris | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}

Morris trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1943.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rada.ac.uk/profiles/wolfe-morris/|title=Wolfe Morris – RADA|website=rada.ac.uk}} In his career, spanning five decades, he appeared in almost 90 different films and TV shows, as well as appearing in numerous stage plays as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His best-known role on television was as Thomas Cromwell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. In preparation for it, he visited a number of English castles to study the characters' portraits.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-wolfe-morris-1362661.html|title=Obituary: Wolfe Morris|date=10 September 1996|website=The Independent}} In 1968, he played Gollum in the BBC Radio dramatisation of The Hobbit, and later starred as the mad waxworks owner in the Amicus horror anthology film The House That Dripped Blood (1970).{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2e8a67c8f5d24ec2b649ba38c7982daa|title=The Hobbit|date=15 October 1968|issue=2344|pages=29|via=BBC Genome}} His other films included The Abominable Snowman (1957), The Camp on Blood Island (1958), I Only Arsked! (1958), Nine Hours to Rama (1963), The Best House in London (1969), The Mackintosh Man (1973), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), The Message (1976), Cuba (1979), and The London Connection (1979).