By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
GARRETT MORRIS is one of those people who can truly lay claim to being a survivor. In spite of a number of life-threatening situations, the actor, comedian and singer is still going strong.
In 2023, he spoke to TASTY CLIPS on the eve of his 86th birthday in an exclusive, two-part interview joking, “I wished for old age, but I did not wish for arthritis. My memory is going back and forth. I remember only the sexy parts … and I don’t remember the names, even then.”
The New Orleans native first sang in a gospel quartet at age 5 for his Baptist minister grandfather, before turning to the blues and going on to school and earning a degree in music. Then he “started singing opera and all that.”
Upon graduating, he jetted to New York City where he was homeless for six weeks due to a dysfunctional family situation. Through the understanding intervention of both a Black cop and a judge, Morris was placed at the YMCA until he got a job with the Harry Belafonte Singers.
Subsequent gigs, including one with playwright/poet Amiri Baraka, led to about 30 shows on Broadway including “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death,” before the opportunity to join what would become a landmark show arrived in 1975.
“(‘Saturday Night Live’ producer) Lorne Michaels first hired me as a writer,” Morris recalled. “As time passed, he asked me to bring in Black actors because he wanted one for the (cast). Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Lorraine Newman said, ‘Wait a minute, Garrett is an actor, too.’ They told him I did a movie, ‘Cooley High.’ He watched it and that’s how I became one of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.”
Memorable characters such as Dominican baseballer Chico Escuela followed during his five-year run. In fact, he was the first person to play Marvel’s Ant-Man, which was not lost on Paul Rudd, who portrays him in the movie franchise.
Of their special encounter, Morris recalled: “Paul, being the beautiful man he was, actually came to my Winnebago, knocked on the door and said ‘Garrett Morris, I just wanted to meet you,’” which later turned into an appearance in the second film in the series.
When asked if he still watches “SNL,” Morris said not as much.
“Sometimes when people like Dave Chappelle or someone I think I’m going to enjoy is on I look at it, but it doesn’t do for me what it used to do,” he said.
Recurring roles on “The Jeffersons,” “Hunter,” and “Roc” followed before Morris was cast as radio station owner Stan Winters on the sitcom “Martin,” starring Martin Lawrence in 1992.
He was on the show for three years until he was shot and nearly killed in an attack in South Los Angeles. Due to the remarkable efforts of Dr. Randy Hawkins, he came out of a coma, underwent several major operations and was in the hospital for a few months when he got a script from Lawrence in which Stan sells the station and moves to China.
“Basically, Martin fired me while I was already in the hospital,” Morris said, “and I didn’t understand that because I never had an argument with him. Whenever anyone questioned me about it, I would tell the truth.
“I believe that is the reason why I wasn’t in the reunion: because Martin didn’t appreciate the fact that I never lied about the fact that I was fired while I was still in the hospital,” he added. “It was almost as if he was rushing to get rid of me. So I believe that’s the reason I wasn’t in it.”
“Let me say this,” he continued. “Martin is a comic genius as far as I’m concerned. He’s an extraordinary, gifted, funny man. … Having said that, some of the most talented people I ever worked with were in that show. I’m not without great praise for his comic ability, but I never lied about the fact that when I was at my lowest ebb, he didn’t support me.”
The following year, Morris landed the role of Uncle Junior on “The Jamie Foxx Show” and subsequently enjoyed a six-season run as Earl on “2 Broke Girls” before being inducted in 2024 into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Additionally, he has been working on his autobiography.
“I do a page a day writing,” he said. “I got that from James Baldwin, may he live forever, because he said that’s what he would do. He’d write a little bit and in a month, he would pick up the pieces and see what he had. When I get through the police will probably come to my door and arrest me, because I’ll be telling everything.”
“The thing is if you’re in the business we’re in, you have to maintain a certain thing in your head about self-esteem. You can’t let them rob (you of it). All you have is yourself. If you lose yourself, what is it about? So, for me, the joy of my life is that I believe I’ve maintained myself.”
For more than 11 years, Bill Vaughan has kept Wave readers up to date with the latest news in entertainment. Now, we are collecting some of those past columns into what we call the Best of Tasty Clips. To contact Vaughan, visit his social media pages on Facebook and Instagram or @tasty_clips, on X @tastyclips, and on LinkedIn to William Vaughan.
