I feel like posting some photos and facts about Howard Morris over the next few days. Here's Howie in the 1962 movie, Boys' Night Out. It's one of those not-wonderful movies with a wonderful cast. The main thing it meant to Howie's life, apart from his near-encounter with Kim Novak, was that it convinced him his future was in Hollywood, not New York, and it prompted him to move out here. He immediately got busy with loads of TV work and animation voiceover jobs. His first Hanna-Barbera gig was playing interplanetary rock star Jet Screamer on an episode of The Jetsons, and he wound up in almost every H-B show for the next few years until the day he told Joe Barbera to perform an anatomically-impossible feat. Maybe I'll tell that story in the next few days.
In the sixties, Howie worked darn near every day, and turned down three jobs for every one he could squeeze in. Working on camera in his first three years in Hollywood, he did episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ensign O'Toole, The Twilight Zone, Alcoa Premiere and The Dick Van Dyke Show, to name but a few. I'm told his Van Dyke Show ran this morning on TV Land. It's the one where Rob and Laura go to an auction, accidentally buy a painting by "Artanis" and then call in an art expert named Holldecker (Howie) to appraise it. He also directed several episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as directing and appearing on The Andy Griffith Show.
Howie also directed a number of episodes of Hogan's Heroes. He told me once that he originally got involved with the show when he was asked to audition for the role of Colonel Klink, which at that point was a somewhat different role than it became. The way Howie explained it, they wanted him to play Klink until Werner Klemperer came in to read for a different role. The producers decided to install Klemperer as Klink and Howie wound up directing instead, which he preferred. Now, I can't swear this story is true. At least, I don't think it's the way they recount it in the "official" histories of the show. But it's the way Howie said it was, and the one time I met Werner Klemperer, he seemed to think that's how it happened. He also added that as a director, Howie was invaluable in helping actors who needed to feign a German accent and he said that if you listen to the episodes Howie directed, you can hear some of the actors "doing" a Howard Morris dialect.
And not only that but didja know Howie directed the pilot of Get Smart? And that he was largely responsible for the casting of Ed Platt as The Chief in that series? I told this story back on this page.
I'll post more about Howie in the next few days…and don't think for a moment I'm doing it for your benefit. It's for me. I miss the guy.