Robert, My Father

Actor, director and writer Robert Morley (1908-1992) lived an exciting, colorful life, and his son has captured its essence in this loving biography. Morley decided to become an actor after seeing Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma and was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He gained fame by playing the notorious title role in the brothers Leslie and Sewell Stokes's Oscar Wilde on the London stage and soon came to the attention of Hollywood. He was nominated for an Oscar for his first American film, Marie Antoinette. Married in 1940 (to Joan, daughter of Gladys Cooper), Morley spent most of the war years on the London stage. After the armistice he went on to perform in such films as Major Barbara, The African Queen, Beat the Devil and Around the World in Eighty Days (he appeared in 84 films in all). He also published 11 books and wrote, or coauthored, 10 plays. Later in life he would become well known as the advertising voice of British Airways. The book also contains many anecdotes about his fellow actors, including Rex Harrison, Peter Bull, Humphrey Bogart and John Huston. A fine theatrical biography. Photo(Sept.)