Actor Barry Morse died 2 February 2008 in London, England. Born Herbert Morse on 10 June 1918 in London’s East End, he was best known as Lt. Philip Gerard, the detective who relentlessly pursued Richard Kimble through four seasons of The Fugitive in the 1960s. His death was confirmed by friend Robert E. Wood, who co-authored Morse’s autobiography, Remember With Advantages: Chasing “The Fugitive” and Other Stories From an Actor’s Life (published by McFarland & Company in 2007).
Gerard appeared in only 37 of the 120 episodes, though he was credited with 115 (his image was used in the opening credits, and his threatened appearance was always a possibility). And after the series ended, Morse joked that he was “the most hated man in America.”
Wood said of his iconic role, “Little old ladies would come up to him in airports and whack at him with their purses, screaming, ‘Why didn’t you leave the man alone?’ When Barry went into a restaurant or a hotel, people would say ‘Oh, you just missed him, lieutenant; he went that-a-way.”
Morse’s main genre connection was playing Prof. Victor Bergman on Space: 1999 (he appeared in 24 episodes in 1975 and 1976). His other genre appearances included roles in: Taxman (1999), Memory Run (1996), TekWar (1994), The Birthday Dragon (1992), The Railway Dragon (1988), Covenant (1985), Murder by Phone (1982), Funeral Home (1980), The Changeling (1980), The Martian Chronicles (1980), The Shape of Things to Come (1979), Welcome to Blood City (1977), The Ugly Little Boy (which he also directed, 1977), and Asylum (1972). He also made appearances on: Space Island One (1998), Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1995), Dracula: The Series (1990), The Ray Bradbury Theater: “Touched with Fire” (1990), The Twilight Zone (1988), The Starlost (1973), The Invaders (1968), The Outer Limits (1964), and The Twilight Zone (1962).
Morse received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London when he was 15. He made his London stage debut in 1941 in a play called School for Slavery. He went on to play hundreds of parts on stage and on screen over seven decades.
In 1939, Morse married Canadian actress Sydney Sturgess (who died in 1999). Their daughter Melanie died in 2005. Morse is survived by his son, Hayward, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.