Michael Morrison

Michael was born in Huntington, West Virginia. An avid writer since childhood, his first experiences as an actor were at Marshall University in 1970, the year of the fateful airplane crash, as portrayed in Warner Bros., "We Are Marshall", in which Michael lost a dear friend. His early success on the University stage there, under the guidance and direction of Prof. Clayton R. Page, led to years of performances in regional and summer theatre, before catching the eye of Oscar-winning producer/actor John Houseman, who directed him in Los Angeles, and gave him his first screen role in "The Paper Chase". Michael's unique acting ability to truthfully portray characters well beyond his years onstage led to his repertoire of award-nominated and winning roles, such as silent star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams' "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", and more recently Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's "Black Coffee" and Mellersh Wilton in "Enchanted April". He attributes his success in creating these characters to his great acting teachers/ muses - Oscar nominee/ winners Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight,and the great Kim Stanley, who he also befriended during her final years in Hollywood. In addition to his work on episodic television and film, Michael was one of Bob Hope's television comedy ensemble players from 1985 - 90, where he appeared as numerous characters in skits alongside Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Phyllis Diller, Tony Randall, Danny Thomas, George Burns, and the great Mr. Hope himself. Michael has continued to write through the years, and has had two of his own plays produced and successfully received in Hollywood, as well as the production of a radio script for NPR, based on his own experiences, called "Appalachian Moon". His life was also loosely used for the subject of a book by author Ray Hobbs, called "Unforgettable", a fictional account of a chameleon-like actor who assumes the life of each character he plays, and in doing so, lives several lifetimes. Michael currently resides in Hollywood, with his pitbulls, Molly, Chata, and Emma, where he spends his time in between roles writing plays and occasionally teaching acting classes. He is a member of sci-fi author Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company, where he has enjoyed many highly acclaimed stage performances in Ray's productions.