Born in
Kentucky, Morris obtained a
Bachelor of Arts in English and art from the
University of Dayton, as well as a
Master of Fine Arts in playwriting from the
Catholic University of America. He taught both high school and college theater before becoming a professional actor relatively late in life and relocating to
New York City. "I moved to New York so I could find out what it was like to be a professional actor because my students were all asking questions and all I had was academic knowledge. I didn't have any real professional knowledge."
Michael Patrick King, one of Morris's students, and
Lisa Kudrow wrote his role in
The Comeback with him in mind; King asked him to audition. Morris also had notable guest appearances in such series as
Will & Grace,
How I Met Your Mother,
Better Things and
2 Broke Girls. The Season 2 episode of
Better Things entitled "Eulogy" features a pre-credits on screen dedication to his memory. It was his last filmed role. Morris died on May 30, 2017, at age 77. ==References==