Cultureshark Remembers Barry Morse

I was set to attempt to write with at least some degree of insight and intelligence about the late Barry Morse, who passed away recently at the age of 89, but then I saw a fantastic piece online, something so good it makes me just want to jot down a few paragraphs, provide you the link, and get out of here.

I knew Morse almost exclusively as the obsessed, Javert-like Lt. Girard on "The Fugitive." He accumulated numerous other credits, of course, during a long career, but his crowning achievement was his brilliant stint on one of the best TV shows of all time. That's "The Fugitive," not "Space:1999," a show for which he was also known but one which I remember only because of how angry I got when WPIX suddenly replaced "Star Trek" with it one summer.

Morse provided introductions to "Fugitive" episodes on VHS some years ago. I saw rumors that he was eager to provide supplementary material on the DVD releases. I really hope someone arranged this before he died, but knowing how Paramount is cranking out so many of its old series bare-bones style, with zero extras, makes me fear they didn't take advantage of this resource.

Gerard was a bit of a prick from the audience's point of view; after all, he relentlessly pursued Richard Kimble for years even though we know the good doctor is innocent. I've been watching the earliest episodes on DVD, and even in the first handful, we see Kimble save Gerard's life--but still, the lawman won't give him a break.

But look at it from Gerard's point of view. He was just doing his job, trying to get an escaped convicted murderer back to face justice, right? Only he WASN'T just doing his job. It became more than that, and Morse (and the show's creative team) let us know from the beginning that there was more to it. I always thought that over the course of the series' 4 years, Morse built a fine, layered performance. He revealed the inner conflict Gerard faced while remaining outwardly rigid. I think Morse's haughty but occasionally just human enough portrayal created a memorable character who was by circumstance an excellent villain, yet was not off-putting enough to alienate the audience.

Steven Bowie's online appreciation is particularly fascinating. In his piece here, on a blog which I only just discovered, he talks about how hammy Morse could be in his early TV career. This blog post makes me want to seek out a lot more of Barry Morse's work, as I have a lot more to learn about the late actor. Bowie makes a great case that Morse held back early on to give room for the stubborn, single-minded fixation on catching Kimble to develop. He also provides an outstanding analysis on the Gerard character and how it shaped the series.

Speaking of having a lot to learn, one more note about the man: A good buddy of mine back in the day used to tell us of his connection to Barry Morse. At the time, I was aware of the awesomeness of "The Fugitive," but looking back, I don't know if I ever really acknowledged how cool it was to have any kind of connection to someone who created such a great TV character. If you're reading this now somehow, my man, my bad. It was very cool, indeed.