Wolfe Morris

Who was Wolfe Morris?

Wolfe Morris was a British film and television actor, who played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in Ill Met by Moonlight. His grandparents were from Kiev and escaped the Russian pogroms, arriving in London in about 1890. The family moved to Portsmouth at the turn of the century. Morris was one of nine children born to Morry and Becky Morris. His younger brother, Aubrey Morris, is also an accomplished actor. His daughter Shona Morris became a stage actress.

In his career, spanning five decades, Morris appeared in almost 90 different films and TV shows, as well as appearing in numerous stage plays as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His best-known role on television was as Thomas Cromwell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. In preparation for it, he visited a number of English castles to study the characters' portraits. In 1968, he played Gollum in the BBC Radio dramatisation of The Hobbit. In 1975 Morris appeared alongside his younger brother Aubrey in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother.