Richard Morris

Richard Morris (14 May 1924 - 27 April 1996) was an American film and television screenwriter, director, and actor known for his work on such television series as The Loretta Young Show (1953-1961), Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958), and Private Secretary (1954-1956).

Richard Morris was born as Richard H. Morris on May 14, 1924, in Burlingame, California. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles for one year and studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in Manhattan, New York.

Morris served with the Special Services during World War II.

His first film was director Frederick De Cordova's 1951 comedy film Finders Keepers, starring Tom Ewell and Julie Adams. In the same year, he made his acting debut with a minor, uncredited role of "Taif" in Rudolph Maté's The Prince Who Was a Thief (starring Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie)

In the years 1954-1960, he wrote for several episodes (around 50) of The Loretta Young Show. Of those, he also directed around 48 episodes. For the 1956 episode The Pearl, Morris was nominated for "Best Teleplay Writing - Half Hour or Less" at the 1957 Primetime Emmy.

In 1954-56, he also wrote for four episodes of the television series Private Secretary.

In 1967, Morris wrote the screenplay for George Roy Hill's musical-comedy Thoroughly Modern Millie, starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore. The film, which was based on the 1956 British musical named Chrysanthemum by Neville Phillips and Robin Chancellor, won Morris the "Best Written American Musical" award at the 1968 Writers Guild of America awards.

As a screenwriter, his last credit appeared on the first show of the talk show Late Night with David Letterman. The episode, which aired on 1 February 1982, had Bill Murray and Don Herbert as guests.

In 2002, Morris and Dick Scanlan authored Thoroughly Modern Millie, a musical based on the 1967 film of the same name, for which Morris had written the screenplay. For the musical, both Morris and Scanlan were nominated for the 2002 Tony Award.

Richard Morris died on April 27, 1996, in Los Angeles, California.