Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow | |
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Morrow in 1962 | |
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
Years active | 1958–present |
Website | karenmorrow |
Karen Morrow (born December 15, 1936) is an American singer and actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an
Early life and Broadway career
Morrow was born in Chicago and raised in Des Moines, Iowa by parents who were both classical singers. As a teenager, she heard recordings by actress/singer
After graduating from
Asked why so many of the Broadway shows that she appeared in were flops, Morrow said "I've analyzed this, trying to think of why I've had so many flops. I keep coming back to my contemporaries...it was always the ones who could sing but also had something extra, something interesting about themselves...I think with me, I was just a singer with a big voice and I was pleasant, and that can only take you so far."[8]
Later years
From 1969, she lived in Los Angeles, where she worked on local cable in a short-lived series titled Singin' that co-starred her friend and peer Nancy Dussault and appeared regularly on The Jim Nabors Hour (1969), The Merv Griffin Show, The Tonight Show and Match Game. She won an Emmy Award (with Nancy Dussault) for the PBS program "Cabaret Tonight".
Other TV work included appearances on Girl Talk (1968), Love, American Style (1973/two episodes), Medical Center (1974), Paul Sand in Friends & Lovers (1974), Karen (1975/two episodes), Starsky & Hutch (1976), Tabitha (1977), Alice (1979), Friends (1979), Ladies' Man (1980), The Love Boat (1979 and 1982/two episodes), Too Close for Comfort (1983), Trapper John, M.D. (1983), Goodnight, Beantown (1984), Falcon Crest (1988/two episodes), Murder, She Wrote (1988–1989), Night Court (1989) and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996–97).
Morrow appeared in three TV movies: Eve Wister in I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982), Martha Biggs in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), and Mrs. Turner in Cage Without a Key (1975).[9]
She was also a regular on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.
Her stage work outside of New York has included Parthy in Show Boat (1997, national tour of the 1994 Broadway production),
She can be heard on the 2002 concept album Miss Spectacular, a studio recording of an unproduced work by Jerry Herman, with whom she has worked and recorded extensively.[12] Other albums include An Evening with Jerry Herman (1998).
Morrow taught musical theatre performance at UCLA and continues to teach master classes in performance and audition skills. She is a member of the faculty of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[13][14]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1962 | The Red Skelton Show | Guest Vocalist | episode: "One Good Intern Deserves Another" |
1969–1970 | The Jim Nabors Hour | Blanche | episodes #1.2, #1.15 |
1973 | Love, American Style | Elizabeth / Mrs. Sommers | segments: "Love and the Vertical Romance", "Love and the Odd Couples" |
1974 | Medical Center | Norma | episode: "The World's Balloon" |
Paul Sand in Friends & Lovers | Trudy | episode: "Maid in the Snow" | |
1975 | Cage Without a Key | Mrs. Turner | TV movie |
Karen | Cerita | episode: "A Day in the Life" | |
1976 | Good Heavens | Lila | episode: "Jack the Ribber and Me" |
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble | Martha Biggs | TV movie | |
Starsky & Hutch | Mitzi Graham | episode: "Nightmare" | |
1977–1978 | Tabitha | Aunt Minerva | main role (12 episodes) |
1979 | Alice | Ina Simpson | episode: "Alice's Decision" |
Friends | Pamela Richards | main role (5 episodes) | |
The Love Boat | Daphne Knox | Episode: "The Grass Is Always Greener/Three Stages of Love/Oldies but Good" | |
1979–1980 | Password Plus |
Herself | March 1979 and October 1980 |
1980 | That's Me, Too | Værtshusgæst | movie |
1980–1981 | Ladies' Man | Betty Brill | main role (16 episodes) |
1982 | The Love Boat | Ruth Gaylor | Episode: "Baby Talk/My Friend, the Executrix/Programmed for Love" |
I Was a Mail Order Bride | Eve Whister | TV movie | |
1983 | Too Close for Comfort | Karen Day | episode: "The Yearning Point" |
Trapper John, M.D. | Karen | episode: "May Divorce Be with You" | |
Goodnight, Beantown | Pauline | 2 episodes: "Invasions of Privacy", "Valerie's Fan" | |
1988 | Falcon Crest | Bernice Haberman | 2 episodes: "Hornet's Nest", "A Madness Most Discreet" |
1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Gladys | episode: "Double Exposure" |
Night Court | Amanda Caswell | episode: "For Love or Money" | |
1997 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Nana | episode: "Sweet Charity" |
References
- ^ "Karen Morrow". Duke University; Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.
- ^ a b Longden, Tom. "Famous Iowans: Karen Morrow" Des Moines Register, accessed August 2, 2016
- ISBN 978-0786457311, p. 411
- Lortel Archives, accessed August 2, 2016
- ^ " 'The Most Happy Fella' 1966" Ovrtur.com, accessed August 2, 2016
- ^ " 'The Selling of the President' Broadway" Playbill (vault), accessed August 2, 2016
- ^ " 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' Broadway Cast" Playbill (vault), accessed August 2, 2016
- ^ Pela, Robert L. "Teacher, Teacher" Phoenix New Times, October 12, 2006
- ^ " 'Cage Without a Key' Overview" Turner Classic Movies, accessed August 2, 2016
- ^ Glaser, Blair and Lefkowitz, David. "Three 'Show Boat's Sail into U.S. Cities" Playbill, June 2, 1997
- ^ Mandelbaum, Ken. "Ken Mandelbaum's MUSICALS ON DISC: 'Follies' on Disc" Playbill, April 12, 1998
- ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Jerry Herman's 'Miss Spectacula' Gets All-Star Studio Cast Recording June 11" Playbill, April 2, 2002
- ^ Profile of Morrow at the US Performing Arts website[dead link]
- ^ "Songfest" Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine