Trivia

His father was a trumpet player who left the family when Greg was three years old. He spent part of his youth in New York, where his mother was a secretary to A. Philip Randolph, the black labor unionist leader, civil rights activist and socialist politician, who in 1925 organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly African-American labor union.

Had three children: Phil Morris, Iona Morris and Linda Morris. Each of them have had show business careers. Phil and Iona both became actors and Linda became a film production executive. In early 2000, Iona performed a one-woman show to pay tribute to her father. The show, "For You", used the same title her father had used on a jazz album he released in the 1970s.

A serious car accident resulted in major reconstructive plastic surgery which severely curtailed his career in 1981. He finally reappeared on television after a long absence with a short-lived remake of Mission impossible, 20 ans après (1988), which also featured his son, Phil Morris, in 1989. Greg had a cameo role.

While playing his supporting role as "Lieutenant Dave Nelson" on Vegas (1978), he found the filming location in Nevada to his liking -- so much so that he and his wife, Lee Morris, eventually moved to Las Vegas.

Shortly before his death, he went to see the Mission: Impossible (1996) movie; he disliked it so much he walked out less than an hour after the film started.

Following his TV career peak, he refused to play stereotypical black characters and found it difficult to find parts to play or another starring role. These struggles led to eventual problem with alcohol.

Appeared in 166 of the 171 episodes of Mission impossible (1966), more than anyone else.

A lifelong smoker, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1990. It was then discovered he had a brain tumor, which was removed in 1991. In May of 1996 he stated he was cancer free but was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment by a maintenance worker in August of that same year.

Along with Bill Cosby and Ivan Dixon, he became among the first of America's black TV stars of the late 60s.

Along with Peter Lupus, he is one of only two Mission impossible (1966) cast members to stay with the series throughout its entire run.

While in Seattle he starred as Walter Lee in a local production of "A Raisin in the Sun". It was very successful and ran for six months going from three performances a week to the Broadway standard of eight. It culminated with four sold-out weekend performances at the now defunct 1600-seat Palomar Theatre. The stage show eventually went to Los Angeles where he found an entry to film and TV.

Morris joined the United States Army after high school, serving from 1952 to 1955. He then returned to his native Ohio where he worked for a time in a post office.

Checking out the Seattle theater scene in the early 1960s, he supported himself as a wine steward. He also worked at the Golden Lion, an upscale restaurant at Seattle's Olympic Hotel, as an Egyptian waiter and wearing a turban.

In 1983, he reprised his "Barney Collier" character in a spy spoof called "Mission Incredible", for an episode of The Jeffersons (1975).

Attended Ohio State University and then the University of Iowa, where he majored in drama but had not graduated by the time he moved to Seattle.

Fashion, Television, and Costume Designers Guild, most promising newcomer of 1968-1969, he also won an honorary degree from Miles College in 1969.

The movie Com-TAC 303 starring Billy Dee Williams, Greg Morris, Chad Everett, and Henry Fonda, began filming Jul 25, 1977, in the Mojave Desert, but shut down several weeks later when financing was withdrawn by the studio. The movie was about black fighter pilots during World War II.

Friends with Peter Graves.

He was a prominent opponent of Proposition 5, the California Clean Indoor Act of 1978, which would have mandated separate smoking & non-smoking sections in public facilities including restaurants & workplaces. He appeared in ads funded by Californians for Common Sense, a group funded by tobacco companies.

Morris was cremated. His ashes were given to his family.

Best remembered by the public for his role in Mission impossible (1966).

Father, with Lee Morris, of Phil Morris, Iona Morris and Linda Morris.

Graduate of Immanuel Lutheran College in Greensboro, NC. The college included residential high school, junior college and undergraduate programs for African Americans. It's not clear which program he was in. The college closed in 1961.

In a guest appearance on I've Got a Secret he played basketball against a seal.

Not related to Garrett Morris (of early 'Saturday Night Live' fame), despite a popular misconception.