Career and The Wizard of Oz
His first film was The Suspect in 1916. In 1917 he provided support to his friend John Barrymore in Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman, an independent film produced in and about New York City. Morgan's career expanded when talkies began, his most stereotypical role being that of a befuddled but good hearted middle-aged man.
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1934's The Affairs of Cellini, where he played the cuckolded Duke of Florence and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1942's Tortilla Flat, where he played a simple Hispanic man. By the mid-1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had been so impressed by Frank Morgan that they signed him to a lifetime contract. Other movies of note include Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, The Great Ziegfeld, The Shop Around the Corner, The Human Comedy, The Mortal Storm, The White Cliffs of Dover, Green Dolphin Street and many more. He also recorded a number of children's records, including the popular Gossamer Wump, released in 1949 by Capitol Records.
Like most character actors of the studio era, Frank Morgan was sought out for numerous roles in many motion pictures. One of his last roles was as Barney Wile in The Stratton Story, a true story about a ballplayer (played by James Stewart) who makes a comeback after having his leg amputed due to a hunting accident.
Morgan's most famous performance was in The Wizard of Oz (1939), in which he played the carnival huckster "Professor Marvel" with a horse named Sylvester, the Gatekeeper of the Emerald City, the coachman of the carriage drawn by "The Horse of a Different Color", Doorman leading to the Wizard's hall, the apparition of the Wizard as a monstrous disembodied Head, and the Wizard himself. Morgan was cast for the role on September 22, 1938. W. C. Fields was originally chosen for the role of the Wizard, but the studio ran out of patience after protracted haggling over his fee.
His last film Key to the City was released posthumously in 1950. In it Morgan played Fire Chief Duggan. His character was the third lead, after Gable's and Young's characters.
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