Career
He appeared in many notable films, including, The Bushwackers (1952), and the title role of Kid Galahad in 1937. While filming Flight Angels (1940), Morris became interested in flying and became a pilot. With war in the wind, he joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942, leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war.
Flying the F6F Hellcat off the aircraft carrier United States Ship Essex, Morris shot down seven Japanese planes and contributed to the sinking of five ships.
Morris was considered by the Navy as physically "too big" to fly fighters. David McCampbell, imploring him for the chance to fly fighters.
Cdr. Following the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning stardom.
He continued to act in movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. Losing his boyish looks but not demeanor, Morris spent most of the fifties in low-budget westerns.
He made an unusual career move in 1957, making his Broadway debut as a washed-up boxing champ in William Saroyan"s The Cave Dwellers. He also appeared as a weakling Lieutenant Roget, one of the main characters, in Stanley Kubrick"son