Vic Morrow


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Vic Morrow
Born February 14, 1929
New York City, New York, United States
Died July 23, 1982 (aged 53)
Indian Dunes, Ventura County, California, United States

Victor "Vic" Morrow (February 14, 1929 – July 23, 1982) was an American actor.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Morrow was born in the Bronx, New York to a middle class Jewish family.[1] His father was an electrical engineer. Morrow dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17.

Career

Morrow's first movie role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). After this movie, he went into television. He appeared from 1960-1961 as Joe Cannon in three episodes of NBC's The Outlaws with Barton MacLane. On October 6, 1961, he guest starred in the ABC television series Target: The Corruptors! with Stephen McNally and Robert Harland.

He was cast in the lead role in ABC's Combat!, a World War II drama which aired from 1962-1967. He also worked as a television director. After Combat! ended, he worked in several films. Morrow appeared in two episodes of Australian-produced anthology series The Evil Touch (1973), one of which he also directed. He memorably played the homicidal sheriff alongside Martin Sheen in the 1974 TV film The California Kid, and had a key role in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears. He also played Injun Joe in 1973 telefilm Tom Sawyer which was filmed in Upper Canada Village. A musical version was released in theaters that same year.

Death

Morrow, along with two young children My-Ca Dinh Le (aged 7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (aged 6), died on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982). At the time of his death, Morrow was playing the role of Bill Connor, a bigot who was taken back in time and placed in various situations where he would be a persecuted victim: a Jewish Holocaust victim, a black man about to be lynched by the Ku Klux Klan, and a Vietnamese man about to be killed by United States soldiers.

Morrow, My-Ca Dinh Le, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen were shooting a scene for the Vietnam sequence of Twilight Zone: The Movie. They were running from a pursuing helicopter. The helicopter was flying at a low level when pyrotechnic explosions caused the helicopter to lose control and crash on top of the three.[2] Morrow and Le were both decapitated by the blades; Chen was fatally crushed underneath the helicopter's landing skid. The helicopter crew received minor injuries.

Morrow is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. [3]

The Twilight Zone: The Movie controversy

Due in part to the deaths of Morrow, Le, and Chen, the children's illegal hiring to circumvent child labor laws, and the nighttime schedule during which the children were worked without supervision, child labor laws were reformed, as were safety regulations on movie sets in the state of California. Litigation over the deaths lasted well over a decade. Director John Landis and other defendants, which included producer Steven Spielberg and pilot Dorsey Wingo, were ultimately acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. The parents of My-Ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen sued and settled out of court for $2 million each. Morrow's children, Carrie Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, also sued and likewise settled for an undisclosed amount.

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1955 Blackboard Jungle Artie West
1956 The Millionaire Joey Diamond TV, 1 episode
Climax! Ted TV, 1 episode
1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Benny Mungo TV, 1 episode
1958 King Creole Shark
God's Little Acre Shaw Walden
1959 Naked City David Greco TV, 1 episode
The Rifleman Brett Stocker TV, 1 episode, "The Letter of the Law"
1960 The Barbara Stanwyck Show Leroy Benson TV, 1 episode
Cimarron Wes Jennings
1961 Portrait of a Mobster Dutch Schultz
1962 The New Breed Belman TV, 1 episode
1962-1967 Combat! Sergeant Chip Saunders TV, 152 episodes
1969 Target: Harry Harry Black Alternative titles: What's In it For Harry?, How to Make It
1970 The Immortal Sheriff Dan W. Wheeler TV, 1 episode
Dan August Steve Harrison TV, 1 episode
1971 Hawaii Five-O Edward Heron TV, 1 episode, "Two Doves and Mr. Heron"
Mannix Eric Latimer TV, 1 episode
Sarge Lt. Ross Edmonds TV, 1 episode
1972 McCloud Richard TV, 1 episode
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Andy Capaso TV, 1 episode
Mission: Impossible Joseph Collins TV, 1 episode
1973-1974 Police Story Sergeant Joe LaFrieda TV, 3 episodes
The Evil Touch Purvis Greene TV, 2 episodes
The Streets of San Francisco Vic Tolliman TV, 2 episodes
1974 Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry Cpt. Franklin
1975 The Night That Panicked America Hank Muldoon Television movie
1976 Captains and the Kings Tom Hennessey Miniseries
1977 Roots Ames Miniseries
1978 Wild and Wooly Warden Willis Television movie
1978-1980 Charlie's Angels Lt. Harry Stearns TV, 2 episodes
1979 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Arioch TV, 1 episode
The Evictors Jake Rudd
1980 Humanoids from the Deep Hank Slattery Alternative titles: Humanoids of the Deep, Monster
B.A.D. Cats Capt. Eugene Nathan TV, 9 episodes
1981 Magnum, P.I. Police Sergeant Jordan TV, 1 episode
1982 Fantasy Island Douglas Picard TV, 1 episode
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie Bill Connor Died during filming

Award nominations

Year Result Award Category Film or series
1963 Nominated Emmy Awards Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) Combat!

References

  1. ^ About Vic Morrow
  2. ^ Ventura County Coroner Department autopsy reports
  3. ^ Vic Morrow at Findagrave.com

External links

Persondata
NAME Morrow, Vic
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morrow, Victor
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City, New York
DATE OF DEATH July 23, 1982
PLACE OF DEATH Indian Dunes, Ventura County, California






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