Early life

Morse was born on May 18, 1931 in Newton, Massachusetts, the second child of Charles Morse and Mary SIlver. He attended a number of different schools until finding his inspiration in Henry Lasker, a drama teacher at Newton High School. "He knew what I had burning in me and wanted to express." Upon graduation, he left home for New York City to fulfill his ambition of becoming an actor, joining his elder brother Richard who was already studying acting at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse. With almost lightning speed he wound up with a role in The Proud and Profane (1956), a film starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr (although uncredited, he did manage to work for five to six weeks on the film at the lofty sum of $500 a week). Soon thereafter, he was cast as Barnaby Tucker in the original Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, and his career was off and running.

Career

Morse has earned multiple nominations and wins for Tony, Drama Desk and Emmy awards over a period of five decades. He is well known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway, as well as roles in movies and television shows. Perhaps best known for his role as young 1960s New York City businessman J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway production and 1967 film version of the Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Morse gained new prominence in the late 2000s for his recurring role of elder 1960s New York City businessman Bertram Cooper on the AMC television show Mad Men.

Having already played Barnaby on Broadway, Morse reprised the role in the 1958 film adaptation of The Matchmaker, this time opposite Shirley Booth. That same year, he won the Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for Say, Darling. What was considered the final step toward full stardom was his performance as J. Pierrepont Finch in the Pulitzer Prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It won him the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical in 1962. He also starred in the 1967 movie version.

In 1964, Morse co-starred in the comedy film Quick, Before It Melts. In 1965, Morse appeared in the black comedy film The Loved One, a movie based on the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same name that satirized the funeral business in Los Angeles, in particular the Forest Lawn Cemetery. In 1967, he co-starred in A Guide for the Married Man, opposite Walter Matthau. In 1968, he appeared in the comedy Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? opposite Doris Day. In the same year, he appeared in the 1968 television series That's Life, which attempted to blend the musical genre with a situation comedy centered on newlyweds "Robert" and "Gloria" (played by E. J. Peaker). In 1987, Morse also appeared in the movie The Emperor's New Clothes, in which he played "The Tailor" starring Sid Caesar. Morse was in the original Broadway cast of Sugar, a 1972 musical stage adaptation of Some Like It Hot, for which he was nominated for another Tony. He won a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for his portrayal of Truman Capote in Tru (1989). In 1992, he recreated his performance for the PBS series American Playhouse and won the Emmy Award as Best Actor in a Miniseries or Special. In 1999, Morse was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame for his long career as a stage actor. In 2002, Morse was cast in the role of the Wizard of Oz in the San Francisco run of the musical Wicked, but quit the show before it opened on Broadway. He was replaced by Joel Grey.

Morse joined other performers, including Marlo Thomas, in creating the 1972 Free to Be... You and Me children's album.

He also provided the voice for the cartoon character Howler in Hanna Barbera's Pound Puppies.

Another famous role he played was Jack in the 1979 animated Rankin/Bass special Jack Frost. In The First Easter Rabbit, also by Rankin/Bass, he was the voice of the main character, Stuffy.

Morse has appeared in dozens of TV shows going back to the live days of television with the Kraft Theatre and General Electric Theatre. He appeared as Boss Hogg's devious nephew, Dewey Hogg, in The Dukes of Hazzard sixth season episode "How to Succeed in Hazzard" (1984). He had featured roles in the 1993 miniseries Wild Palms and the 2000 medical drama City of Angels.

Beginning in 2007, Morse took on a recurring role in the AMC dramatic series Mad Men as Bertram Cooper, a partner in the advertising agency Sterling Cooper, for which role he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

Personal life

Morse has been married twice and has five children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	The Proud and Profane	Casualty	Uncredited
1958	The Matchmaker	Barnaby Tucker
1963	The Cardinal	Bobby
1964	Honeymoon Hotel	Jay Menlow
1964	Quick Before It Melts	Oliver Cromwell Cannon
1965	The Loved One	Dennis Barlow
1967	Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad	Jonathan
1967	How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying	J. Pierpont Finch
1967	A Guide for the Married Man	Edward L. Stander
1968	Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?	Waldo Zirrer
1970	The Boatniks	Ensign Garland
1987	Hunk	Garrison Gaylord
1987	The Emperor's New Clothes	The Tailor
2002	It's All About You	Dr. Flowers
2012	The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez	Burt
2016	Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie	Walter Hoving

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	The Secret Storm	Jerry Ames #1	Unknown episodes
1955	Goodyear Playhouse	N/A	Episode: "Man on Spikes"
1956	The Alcoa Hour	Jiya	Episode: "The Big Wave"
1956	Matinee Theatre	Larry	Episode: "Eye of the Storm"
1957	Matinee Theatre	Frank Wilson	Episode: "Rain in the Morning"
1959	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Phil	Episode: "Touché"
1959	Play of the Week	Gustave	Episode: "Thieves Carnival"
1960	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Len	Episode: "Hitch Hike"
1960	Play of the Week	Professor Pearson	Episode: "The Velvet Glove"
1961	Shirley Temple's Storybook	Drum Carpenter	Episode: "Rebel Gun"
1961	Naked City	Richy Wilkin	Episode: "Sweet Prince of Delancey Street"
1968-1969	That's Life	Robert Dickson	26 episodes
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Fred Philpotts	Episode: "The Day They Hanged Kid Curry"
1971	Night Gallery	Roger Blacker	Episode: "Marmalade Wine"
1971	Love, American Style	N/A	Episode: "Love and the Ledge"
1974	Love, American Style	Everett	Episode: "Love and the Forever Tree"
1976	The First Easter Rabbit	Young Stuffy (voice)	Television movie
1978	The Stingiest Man in Town	Young Scrooge (voice)	Television movie
1978	Fantasy Island	Barney Shore	Episode: "The Island of Lost Women"
1979	Jack Frost	Jack Frost (voice)	Television movie
1979	Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July	Jack Frost (voice)	Television movie
1982	All My Children	Harry the Bookie	Episode: "20 July 1982"
1982	The Good Book	N/A	Unknown episodes
1983	Monchhichis	Moncho (voice)	Unknown episodes
1983	One Day at a Time	Frank Sampson	Episode: "Worried Heart"
1983	Masquerade	N/A	Episode: "Pilot"
1984	Calendar Girl Murders	Nat Couray	Television movie
1984	The Fall Guy	Sky Kelly	Episode: "Rabbit's Feet"
1984	The Dukes of Hazzard	Dewey Hogg	Episode: "How to Succeed in Hazzard"
1984	Tales of the Unexpected	Stephen Shaw	Episode: "Sauce for the Goose"
1985	Murder, She Wrote	Marc Faber	Episode: "Broadway Malady"
1985	Trapper John, M.D.	Honest Wayne McIntyre	Episode: "A False Start"
1985	The Twilight Zone	Cupid	Episode: "Ye Gods"
1986	You Again?	Officer Morton	Episode: "The Lush Life"
1986-1987	Pound Puppies	Howler (voice)	25 episodes
1990	Masquerade	N/A	Television movie
1991	ProStars	N/A	Unknown episodes
1992	Tiny Toon Adventures	Goopy Geer (voice)	Episode: "Two-Tone Town"
1992	American Playhouse	Truman Capote	Episode: "Tru" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1993	Wild Palms	Chap Starfall	3 episodes
1995	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Dootch (voice)	Episode: "Where Have All the Monsters Gone?"
1995	Here Come the Munsters	Grandpa	Television movie
1997	Rugrats	Mr. Koch (voice)	Episode: "Faire Play"
1997	Superman	Desaad (voice)	Episode: "Father's Day"
1997	Union Square	Santa Claus	Episode: "Jack Gets a Hot Tip"
1998	Suddenly Susan	Uncle Bert	Episode: "The Thanksgiving Episode"
1999	The Wild Thornberrys	Jake (voice)	Episode: "Two's Company"
2000	City of Angels	Edwin O'Malley	14 episodes
2006	I Did Not Know That	Nick Rabinowitz	Television movie
2007-2015	Mad Men	Bertram Cooper	58 episodes Satellite Award for Best Cast - Television Series Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2007	Jeff Ltd.	Ron	Episode: "Too Many Hens in the Foxhouse"
2014	Sofia the First	Marshak / Gnuckles (voice)	2 episodes
2014	The Legend of Korra	Governor (voice)	Episode: "After All These Years"
2016	American Crime Story	Dominick Dunne	6 episodes
2016	Animals.	Old Phil (voice)	Episode: "Flies."

[ Source: Wikipedia ]