Chester Morris

Chester Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American film and radio actor, starring in the 1940s detective series Boston Blackie and participating in the Boston Black radio shows in the 1940s..

His full name was John Chester Brooks Morris, and he was born in New York City to stage actors William Morris and Etta Hawkins. Morris made his Broadway acting debut at the age of 17 in Lionel Barrymore's The Copperhead.

His film career began in 1917 with the film An Amateur Orphan. Morris was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for his work in Alibi (1929), directed by Roland West. He also starred in two other West-directed films, The Bat Whispers (1930) and Corsair (1931).

In 1930 he appeared in the prison film The Big House, but by the end of the decade his career was on the wane, leading him to act in B-movies such as Smashing the Rackets (with Edward Pawley, in 1938) and Five Came Back (1939). His career was revived between 1941 and 1949, when he played the character Boston Blackie in 14 low-budget films produced by Columbia Pictures, the first of which was Meet Boston Blackie. He also played the detective in a radio show series.

Morris was also known for being a magic show enthusiast. He often performed as a magician on his personal tours and in promotion of his films. Unlike many stars who simply said a few words to the audience before the screening of the films, Morris enjoyed doing a full-blown magic and vaudeville act, even using live animals. During World War II he performed hundreds of free magic shows for the United Service Organizations at Army and Navy camps and hospitals. In 1944 a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was named "The Chester and Lili Morris" in honor of himself and his wife and their contribution to the U.S. war effort. Morris also contributed original tricks to magician's publications, often incorporating the magic tricks into his film performances, as in "Boston Blackie and The Law" (1946).

Morris married Suzanne Kilborn on September 30, 1927, and divorced in November 1939. They had two children, Brooks and Cynthia. He later married Lillian Kenton Barker on November 30, 1940, with whom he had a son, Kenton.

Chester Morris was severely afflicted with cancer when he committed suicide while occupying a room at the former Holiday Inn in New Hope, Pennsylvania by taking an overdose of barbiturates. He died in 1970. At the time of his death he was working on a stage adaptation of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered.