Frank Morgan

At 59 years old, Frank Morgan has this physical status:

Francis Phillip Wuppermann (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949), also known as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor on radio, stage, and film.

He was best known for his appearances in films starting in 1916 and continuing into several sound films during the 1930s and 1940s, most as a veteran actor in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Frank Wupperman and Francis Morgan were both briefly identified early in his career.

Early life

Morgan was born in New York City on June 1, 1890, to Josephine Wright (née Hancox) and George Diogracia Wuppermann. He was the youngest of 11 children and had five brothers and five sisters. Mr. Wuppermann was born in Venezuela but was raised in Hamburg, Germany, and was of German and Spanish descent. His mother was born in the United States and of English origins. Ralph Morgan, his brother, was also an actor on stage and film. The family earned their fortune by selling Angostura bitters, allowing Wuppermann to attend Cornell University and join Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and the Glee Club.

Personal life and death

Morgan married Alma Muller in 1914; they had one son, George. They were married before Frank's death in 1949. Morgan was widely known to be an alcoholic, according to several people who worked with him, including Margaret Hamilton and Aljean Harmetz. Morgan would often bring a black briefcase to work, but he was also equipped with a small mini-bar.

Claudia Morgan (née Wuppermann) was a stage and film actress, and his brother, Carlos Wuppermann, was a playwright.

Morgan died as a result of a heart attack on September 18, 1949, just after the filming of Annie Get Your Gun began. Louis Calhern had him substituted in his role as the Buffalo Bill. His death occurred before the film's premiere televised broadcast on CBS, making him the only major cast member of the film who did not live to see how it would be a national television institution. Morgan is buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. Wuppermann's real name, as well as his stage name, are included in his tombstone.

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Career

In Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1917), an independent film made in and around New York City, Morgan appeared with John Barrymore. Since talkies began, his career soared. Although the befuddled middle-aged man's stereotypical role was reprised, he appeared in films like When Ladies Meet and Enchanted April. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was so impressed by Morgan that they promised him a lifetime deal. Morgan is best known for his role in The Wizard of Oz (1939), in which he appeared as the Wizard and five other characters, the Emerald City guard, and the Wizard's frightening face projection. Morgan appeared in the role on September 22, 1938. W. C. Fields was originally intended for the Wizard's role, but the studio ran out of patience after wrangling over his fee. Morgan, a versatile actor with a diverse cast, appeared in Casanova Brown (1937) and Mr. Ferris in Casanova Brown (1940), as he was with more serious, troubled characters such as Hugo Matuschek (1940) and Willie Grogan in The Human Comedy (1943). Frank Morgan, the familiar bumbler, appears in MGM's musical comedy film The Great Morgan (1946), a compilation film starring Frank Morgan ostensibly as himself but playing the recognizable bumbler.

In 1936, Morgan appeared in Dimples alongside Shirley Temple as Professor Appleby. Morgan appeared in one of many versions (of many others) of the radio program Maxwell House Coffee Time, also known as the Frank Morgan-Fanny Brice Show in the 1940s. Morgan would increasingly tell outlandish tall tales about his life experiences during the first half of the series, much to the dismay of his coworkers. For the last half of the program, there was a melody and then Brice as 'Baby Snooks.' Morgan began alone for a year with The Frank Morgan Show as Brice left to perform in her own program in 1944. Morgan appeared in The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy, a 1947 radio show. Gossamer Wump, who was first released in 1949 by Capitol Records, appeared on several children's recordings, including the popular Gossamer Wump. Morgan was recruited after for a variety of supporting roles, much like the most well-known character actors of the studio era. In The Stratton Story (1949), Barney Wile portrays a baseball player (James Stewart) who returns from a hunting accident after losing his leg. Key to the City (1950) was his last film and was released posthumously.

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