The few times I got to speak with Robert Morse, I knew enough to not mention How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was the show (and movie) that really put him on the map and I did see him do it in a revival tour once and he was sensational. But I figured, "Everybody talks to him about that" and I thought he might appreciate that someone was aware of what else he'd done.
So I steered the conversation to The Loved One, which was one of the greatest "dark" comedy movies ever made. And I steered it to A Guide for the Married Man, which was like the quintessential, now-kinda-sexist sixties comedy film. And we talked about That's Life!, a short-lived ABC series that amazingly managed to present an original hour-long musical comedy every week.
And I asked him about things he'd done that I hadn't seen…like the Broadway show of Take Me Along. He was the juvenile lead and all through rehearsals and try-outs, his part kept getting whittled down because Jackie Gleason was the marquee star. Mr. Gleason was not about to let the reviews say that a young unknown stole the show from him…but it didn't work because they said that anyway. And I asked him about Tru, his then-recent Broadway triumph playing Truman Capote, which I wish I'd seen.
Mr. Morse was charming and engaging and very pleased to talk about all those other achievements. I suppose if I'd run into him more recently, he'd have been pleased that someone talked to him about gigs other than How to Succeed or Mad Men. It wasn't hard to do because he was terrific in so many things.