Tributes for Actress Cherry Morris, Dead at 79
deb...@comcast.net
Tributes for Alba Actor Cherry Morris, Dead at 79
Colleagues of the late actress Cherry Morris - who worked extensively
with the Royal Shakespeare Company and, most recently, at the National
Theatre - have paid tribute to the woman they described as a great
actress, a great company member and a great friend.
Morris was performing alongside Penelope Wilton and Deborah Findlay at
the National in David Hare's new version of Lorca's The House of
Bernarda Alba, directed by Howard Davies, when she was taken ill with
cancer. She died on 21 July 2005, aged 79, just over a week before the
show finished its repertory season in the NT Lyttelton on 30 July.
Toby Whale, head of casting at the National, said: "Cherry was ill at
the matinee on 28 April, and then had to be in hospital after that, so
sadly she missed the rest of the show's run, which finished at the
end of July." She had previously appeared at the National in Howard
Katz. Whale said: "Cherry was a fantastic actress and woman,
respected by audiences and her peers equally."
Morris joined the RSC for more than 20 plays, including Richard III,
Night of the Soul, Tales from Ovid, The Family Reunion and The Merry
Wives of Windsor. She also performed in The Crucible and Fen for
Sheffield Crucible, and Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night at the Donmar
Warehouse and in New York. On television, Morris appeared in Peak
Practice, Casualty, Doctors, and Footballers' Wives. Her radio credits
included Old Dog and Partridge and A Song for Edmond Shakespeare.
The RSC will be holding memorial services (dates to be confirmed) in
London and Stratford for the actress, whose first play with the company
was Romeo and Juliet directed by Peter Hall in 1961.
Current RSC artistic director Michael Boyd said: "Cherry was one of
those actors whose lifetime of theatre-making was interwoven into the
very fabric of the RSC. Her life force, extraordinary skill and
generosity of spirit will be sorely missed."
Boyd's predecessor Adrian Noble added: "For Cherry, her faith, her
art and her conduct were all of a piece, inseparable, almost
indistinguishable, all bound together by a bounty of love and duty and
talent. Authentic, emotionally charged, intelligent and clear as a
bell. She was incapable of acting badly." And RSC associate director
Gregory Doran observed: "She was a great actress, a great company
member, a great friend and we will miss her."
Morris' agent, Maxine Hoffman, said: "She was a wonderful person and a
superb actress who never stopped working, and I will miss her
terribly."