Morgan Conway

Birthday: 1903-03-16
Deathday: 1981-11-16
Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Morgan Conway (March 16, 1903 in Newark, New Jersey – November 16, 1981 in Livingston, New Jersey) was an American actor, best known for his portrayals of Dick Tracy.

Born Sydney Conway, he was educated at Columbia University in New York City. He arrived in Hollywood just in time to get on the ground floor of the industry's burgeoning labor movement. Conway was one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild. His first film appearance was in the 1934 film Looking for Trouble.

For many years he freelanced, working for various studios in bits or supporting roles. His most familiar appearance from this period is probably in Charlie Chan in Reno (1939).

By the mid-1940s he was a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures, and he was chosen to portray Chester Gould's comic-strip detective Dick Tracy in a pair of feature films: Dick Tracy and Dick Tracy vs. Cueball. RKO's earliest publicity photos posed Conway in profile, hoping to emulate Gould's square-jawed caricatures. Although this screen Tracy didn't resemble the print Tracy physically, Conway's dramatic interpretation was faithful; he gave the role an understated, businesslike quality totally in keeping with a police procedural. Morgan Conway is considered by many (including Dick Tracy writer Max Allan Collins) to be the best screen Dick Tracy.

Morgan/Sydney Conway left the motion picture industry and returned to New Jersey, where he died of lung cancer at the age of 78.

Credits

Year Title Character
1946-12-10 Vacation in Reno Joe
1946-11-22 Dick Tracy vs. Cueball Dick Tracy
1946-05-04 Badman's Territory Captain William 'Bill' Hampton
1946-04-01 The Truth About Murder Lester Ashton
1945-12-01 Dick Tracy Dick Tracy
1943-12-24 Jack London Richard Harding Davis
1943-11-24 Canyon City Craig Morgan
1943-08-09 Tornado Gary Linden
1942-09-15 Bells of Capistrano Stag Johnson
1942-05-07 A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen Ray Stafford
1940-07-12 Millionaires in Prison James Brent
1940-06-15 A Fugitive from Justice 'Julie' Alexander
1940-06-07 Brother Orchid Philadelphia Powell
1940-06-07 The Saint Takes Over Sam Reese
1940-06-05 Florian Kingston
1939-12-09 Private Detective Nat Flavin
1939-10-27 Sued for Libel Albert Pomeroy
1939-10-20 Television Spy Carl Venner
1939-07-28 The Spellbinder Mr. Carrington
1939-06-23 Grand Jury Secrets Thomas Reedy
1939-06-16 Charlie Chan in Reno George Bentley
1939-03-04 Secret Service of the Air Henchman Ed Powell
1939-02-11 Wings of the Navy Tommy - Duty Officer
1939-01-24 Blackwell's Island Steve Cardigan
1939-01-24 North of Shanghai Bob Laird
1939-01-21 Off the Record Lou Baronette
1938-11-02 Illegal Traffic State's Attorney Ryan
1938-07-08 Crime Ring Ray Taylor
1938-05-19 Sinners in Paradise Harrison Brand
1938-04-29 The Nurse from Brooklyn Inspector Donohue
1934-09-01 Happy Landing Frank Harland
1934-03-28 Looking for Trouble Dan Sutter