Actor, dancer, singer and comedian Robert Morse died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was an old guy with 90 years of strenuous living to his credit.
The last time I saw Morse, he was a young guy. There were beads of sweat on his forehead. It was 1967 and he was working the crowd on the set of a local TV comedy show.
Morse was on that day. He was going for laughs and he was going for them with the intensity of a rocket launch. He was doing what mid-life folks do – he was striving.
I’m old now. And so was Morse when he died. Those strenuous middle years are behind us. Did Morse ever let go of that ferocity? Did he achieve a bit of equanimity in the years before he died?
I have some ideas about that. I share them at “Robert Morse – Sweaty at 36, Sublime at 83.”
And now, a hearty farewell to the fireball that was Robert Morse.