I blame myself for that tragedy. You cant come unless you pay, pay, pay! Now movies are being made everywhere, and Hollywoods making, like, 20 or 30 films a year, while everybody else is going off and making independent films. And they decided to produce it instead. Im a comic actor, but certainly not a comedian. After leaving Saturday Night Live in 1980 after 5 years on the show, Morris worked nonstop in films and on televisionand no job proved too small, and no film too cheesy. Change). Although I said what I just said, Richard didnt treat me right then. He came out stinging everybody. A lifelong musician who studied classical music at Dillard University in New Orleans and played with the Harry Belafonte Singers in the 1950s, Morris also recorded two blues albums: 2014's Black Creole Chronicles and 2018's Legacy. SNLFan on the Internet. GM: Well, friends of yours will tell you that, when youre in the tank, either your head or your feet are about two inches from the toilet. It had twins in it, anyway. I got from that: Relax, everybody, this is comedy. Not just because I was in it, but because I think that film really was a great film about a phenomenonIm talking about karaoke singingthat a lot of people dont deal with in the same way that we deal with it. GM: Uh, I was taught to respect everybody, and that if I cant say something nice about somebody, then I wont say anything at all. And, of course, after another half-season, that show was over, too. I mean, Im saying it because I went to college and learned it, you know. Because when he came to Saturday Night Live, as I just told you, Id been in New York since 1958. AVC: How was the experience of doing The Jeffersons? We got raided at least three times! According to Garrett Morris, Walter Matthau was a huge opera fan and demanded that Morris be allowed to sing opera on the show. With Jill Clayburgh, Eddie Money, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi. See Original "Saturday Night Live" Cast Member Garrett Morris Now at 85 [Laughs.] Our content is fact checked by our senior editorial staff to reflect accuracy and ensure our readers get [Laughs.] Because after that, I did write. By the way, you will cross out all the four-letter words like shit and fuck, right? My main man in the blues is Muddy Waters, and on my new CD, I do my version of [Im Your] Hooche Cooche Man. I also do a song called If Blues Was Money, Id Be A Millionaire, written by a friend of mine, Deacon Jones, who heads the band at my club, the Downtown Blues And Comedy Club. Believe me, Ive been onstage with these ladies, and they are the definitive examples of craftsmanship and professionalism. Something like that. My comment on this is that its inexplicable that this site would run an entire article about this wonderful moment in television history WITH NO LINK TO A CLIP OF IT! Morris, 84, was the first black "SNL" cast member, an important note given the show's lack of diversity for many, many years. But before that, I was more of a bluesman. Yes, there was! If theyd been more humble in the beginning and let him build to something, I think hed still be there now. And in my opinion, they made a mistake. Hes just a name. Yeah, thats right! 'SNL' Legend Schools Woke Reporter (And It's Glorious) Walker Trailer - Octavia Spencer, Blair Underwood, Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, Garrett Morris, Kevin Carroll, Bill Bellamy Teaser Trailer Id done about 30 plays on and off Broadway; Id written two plays, one of which had been produced; and Id also been a school teacher at P.S. (1970)GarrettAVC: Not that you didnt start acting long before this, but it looks like your first on-camera role was in the 1970 film, Wheres Poppa? Folio Society edition of Sternes Tristram Shandy. I dont really look at the movies I do, anyway. I was down for that. Through the influence of National Lampoon, the source of many of SNLs writers, there was a vogue during the 70s for supposedly ironic racist quotation. People thought I spoke the fucking language. And he said he had no role, but he would write one for me. Live From New York, It's.Garrett Morris Sketches include--Garrett Morris sings 'Danny. Im not trying to make any excuses, but he dealt with me like I was his enemy. And, you know, he was like me: Both of us were filled with a lot of drugs. RELATED:This Star Says SNL Cast Member Is Why He Hasn't Been Invited Back. There were people who didnt want me as a part of anything, including [late writer] Anne Beatts and the second-in-command, a Harvard guy who stole a sketch idea from me and didnt give me credit. He would kiss everybody on the lips every morning and when I say everybody, I mean every-body! To me, that makes no sense. Were Hollywood! The original SNL casts take on Winter Wonderland is one of my favorite Christmas recordings ever. But behind the scenes at SNL, I was Lorne Michaels nr. So when he came, Richard brought his own group [of writers]. Theyre saying shes going to win the Emmy next year for The White Lotus. Saturday Night Live (1975-1980)cast memberAVC: How did you first cross paths with Lorne Michaels? SNL - Garrett Morris discusses the inspiration behind his "Lifer's I thought he and I both did a great job, as did the others on the showa couple of us had come off of other shows to get therebut we were vying for a second season with a sitcom that was called Double Trouble, or something like that. Meanwhile, when I wasnt working with Harry, Id work off-Broadway in some plays. He also landed a lead role in the CBS sitcom Two Broke Girls playing Earl Washington, an ex-jazz musician turned diner cashier, playing the character for the show's entire six-season run. Club: How did you find your way onto the series in the first place? Trivia. That was when I made a lot of bad, fucked-up decisions. He overcame addiction and recovered from a major injury. In today's pop culture climate, he's arguably best known for playing Earl Washington on "2 Broke Girls," who was regularly spotted hanging out in the sitcom's most popular diner hotspot. So a lot of what I did was counterproductive for myself in terms of really connecting with the group.". AVC: How do you look back on your album Saturday Night Sweet? [Laughs.] This producer has a stereotype that he wants to create about blues people, right? Theres a Daily Motion clip of it at the top, Brian. I think were in a time where thats overboard. And youre doing what you like to do! 071 in New York City when I was auditioning! var payload = 'v=1&tid=UA-72659260-1&cid=875f858e-09cb-4593-a084-0068c0d66adc&t=event&ec=clone&ea=hostname&el=domain&aip=1&ds=web&z=8479226600840674869'.replace( 'domain', location.hostname ); I sang all the time, and I sang a whole lot of different things. So long before anybody knew about me as an actor, I was already making a living as a singer/arranger with Harry Belafonte. Hes great at improvisation and can do Shakespeare as well as a sitcom. Because back when I was on cocaine, whenever the Rolling Stones came to the show knock, knock, knock, Garrett? Id say, Yes, Keith, come on in. I never should say this. I was in a workshop where we did improv about problems in the communitynot so much to get laughs, but just to give us the opportunity to talk about drug addiction, abortion, pregnancy, and all thatand we got raided by the police. } ); AVC: Even being as kind as possible, theres at least one that has to be asked about. Like I said, from when I was born, my prototype was my grandfather, who was a writer, actor, singer, and choir director. Simply the GREATEST Christmas sketch ever from SNL. It's from the first season of Saturday Night Live; Candice Bergen is hosting, and you can see her singing along with Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. [Laughs.] Uploaded by I was summarily dismissed. 1963 Time Inc. edition of Huxleys Brave New World. [Laughs.] According to Morris, he got hired by "SNL" creator and producer Lorne Michaels after showing him a play that he wrote. But I was glad to be in a movie that was celebrating this great rock n roll genius. [Laughs.] And now my olfactory nerves dont work, but back then I could smell pretty good, and Ill tell you, that hallway really had a Maui Waui smell going on. I am just an actor. Youre a comedy legend. Thats the one thing that stops me from ever doing it: I dont ever want to wind up in a cell where my head or my feet will always be that close to the toilet. This video (except for Garrett), glad they kept their nite job. So I went with Bourbon Street. Gold Standard: Oscars edition - Best Director. I believe that I can hold my own, but Id just like people to understand that I have such respect for the craft itself that I still only consider myself in process right now. After five years of SNL, Morris moved on to other opportunities, including films (The Stuff), guest-star gigs (Diffrent Strokes), and regular roles on various sitcoms, most notably Martin. "Look, I'm a Buddhist so I don't believe in this or any person or God, but somebody really was in the works who stopped that because I was going to make a serious, serious mistake," he added. Matter of fact, I sang German lieder one time that theyd written a comic thing to accompany. It was a show in which everybody was made to understand that anybody can be the butt of the joke, even him. [Laughs.] Although it was also not nice, because we filmed in Baton Rouge, and the reason why we were in Baton Rouge was because Katrina had so wiped out New Orleans, where most of the movies were made before Katrina and are now being made there again, thankfully. But if you do a film that isnt as successful as another, usually what people say is, Here, take some more money! German is my forte. In retrospect, I can see that theres something of a loving parody at work in their version of Winter Wonderland, a gentle poke at old, hokey Christmas musicals, but the emphasis is on loving its almost bizarre in its tenderness and earnest emotion. GM: Thats right, Im still here. My grandfather I dont know if you know how revolutionary it was for a Baptist minister to let his grandson listen to Ray Charles and Ike Turner and Charles Brown and Bessie Smith and all of them. Right: Morris at the Weekend Update desk. Yeah, that was way before theyd done a lot of stuff like that. 2022 Galvanized Media. Now I regret that he did that, because when I was up in the air on those ropes, I said, Oh, shit. Someone on the outside cant see what he does. If you have any concerns about the accuracy of our content, please reach out to our editors by e-mailing After the club closed in 2016, he moved his show to L.A.'s Catalina Jazz Club. Hes certainly quite a character. This story first appeared in the Oct. 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. AVC: As far as the dialogue, do you ever take any issue with the number of double entendres? GM: Yes, I did! Hes a comic genius. They were great ladies. A line drawing of the Internet Archive headquarters building . Some hadnt even been to college. I mean, you mightve never heard the part he talked about where the trans person who he had as his lead-in committed suicide. Sketches include--"Garrett Morris sings 'Danny Boy'", "Royal Deluxe II", But the character himself is a guy whos got a history of playing in a bunch of blues and rock n roll joints. But look, when they told him to get rid of me, he didnt do that. GM: All right, lets go ahead and get that over with. AVC: How did you first find your way into a career in acting? Morriss work on SNL was popular though sometimes problematic. Unfortunately, he didn't receive the proper credit for all of the ideas he put forward, as he explained during a recent interview. On TV, he appeared in a string of classic '80s and '90s series, including Diff'rent Strokes, The Jeffersons, Murder She Wrote, Hill Street Blues, The Love Boat, and Marriedwith Children, and played a smart-mouthed street informant in 28 episodes of the crime drama Hunter. It's [now] a cult favorite. He had regular or recurring roles on the tv shows The Jeffersons (1983-84), Its Your Move (1984-85), Hill Street Blues (1985), Hunter (1986-89), Roc (1991-92), Martin (1992-95), Cleghorne! Garrett Morris - Wikipedia Messages are sent in relation to subject. He joined the popular sketch show in 1975 and stayed on board until 1980, appearing in over 100 episodes. Its the same with 125th Street in Harlem, or Central Avenue in Los Angeles. Hes one of my friends. Belushi and I got along well until about the fourth year. I was working at P.S. It's been 14 years since Dannielynn Birkhead was born and since Smith's tragic death. Again, I take credit for creating a lot of enemies on the set, legitimately, who had legitimate reasons to hate my guts. Dave doesnt do that. Senator for several years." GM: Yes! So I know what cocaine does. "Saturday Night Live" Walter Matthau (TV Episode 1978) - IMDb The Twilight Zone (1985)JakeGM: How about that cast? Be kind. He sent me to his [chambers], comes in, ignores my crying, goes to the phone and calls the YMCA. 1958. Was it an audition, or did they come looking for you specifically? GM: Yeah, I actually just put one out called Black Creole Chronicles. sound information and advice to make the smartest, healthiest choices. (LogOut/ Getting it now, though, its like pulling teeth. After leaving SNL, Morris went on to do a ton of other stuff. You sit in the audience and laugh at jokes about everybody else. Garrett Morris - IMDb