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Garrett Morris: Saturday Night Live
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The long, prolific but doubtlessly personally frustrating career of Garrett Morris offers some sobering lessons about the often problematic position of the African American character player in mainstream entertainment. As one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players during the glory days of NBC's landmark youth-oriented comedy-variety series, "Saturday Night Live" (1975-80), Morris found fame and fortune but little respect. His on-air antics were deemed demeaning and stereotypical by many members of the black community....
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Though he's best known as one of Saturday Night Live's original Not Ready For Prime Time Players--he was a member from 1975 to 1980--Garrett Morris has worked regularly in a variety of media since joining The Harry Belafonte Singers in 1958. An actor, writer, singer, and activist, Morris spent much of the last decade working on sitcoms (Roc, Martin, Cleghorne!, The Jamie Foxx Show), stage plays (Porgy And Bess, Showboat), and small films (Black Scorpion, Twin Falls Idaho) while recovering from a 1994 shooting that shattered a vertebra and nearly left him paralyzed. In his latest role, the 64-year-old steals scenes in Jackpot, a quirky road movie by Twin Falls Idaho's Michael and Mark Polish. Morris recently spoke to The Onion A.V. Club about casting, self-hypnosis, and the racial makeup of Jesus Christ and Beethoven.
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[One] of Julliard's illustrious alumni, Garrett Morris' first significant professional job was as performer and arranger with the Harry Belafonte singers. Morris went on to appear in such Broadway productions as Porgy and Bess, Hallelujah Baby, and Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. He ... wrote two plays, The Secret Place and Daddy Picou and Marie LeVeau. His first film gig was as a makeup artist on This Property is Condemned (1967); he made his movie acting bow in 1970. After a season's worth of supporting appearances on the 1973-74 sitcom Roll Out, Morris was hired as one of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on NBC's Saturday Night Live. After his SNL stint, Morris could be seen in film supporting roles, most amusingly as "Famous Amos" takeoff Chocolate Charlie in the otherwise indifferent 1985 horror film The Stuff.
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Morris disappeared from public life for a few years after the original cast departed "Saturday Night Live" in 1980. Having apparently surmounted his drug problems, Morris resurfaced in the early 80s. His second play, "Daddy Picou and Marie Le Veau", was produced in 1982. He returned to TV in telefilms and guest shots before assuming a regular supporting role in the sitcom "It's Your Move" (NBC, 1984-85). Shifting to crime drama, Morris joined the cast of NBC's "Hunter" from 1986-89 as street hustler/informer Sporty James. He subsequently became a fixture playing regulars and recurring roles in sitcoms targeted to black audiences including "Roc" (Fox, 1991-92), "Martin" (Fox, 1992-94), "Cleghorne!"
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By 1975, despite nearly twenty years of performing credits, Morris was still struggling. Like many working actors, he belonged to various professional associations. However, it was his membership in the Writer's Guild that propelled Morris from bit parts in films and off-Broadway plays to national celebrity and a permanent place in television culture. NBC was putting together the comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The show's producer, Lorne Michaels, had appealed to the Writer's Guild for apprentice writers that could be hired at a discounted rate. The Guild sent Morris.
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