Actor Robert Morse, who won a Tony Award as a hilariously brash corporate climber in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and a second one a generation later as the brilliant, troubled Truman Capote in "Tru," has died. He was 90.
Morse died at his home Wednesday after a brief illness, said David Shaul of BRS/Gage Talent Agency.
The boyishly handsome Morse first made his name on Broadway in the 1950s, and landed some roles in Hollywood comedies in the 1960s. "I consider myself an actor - shyly," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1964. "I love acting. It's a great use of body and mind... With all humility, you hope that you are doing something worthwhile."
More recently, he played the autocratic and eccentric leader of an advertising agency in "Mad Men," AMC's hit drama that debuted in 2007. The role earned him an Emmy nomination in 2008 as best guest actor in a drama series.
"He radiated a wicked joy; it was impossible to watch him without instantly sharing his giddy delight," wrote playwright Paul Rudnick.
Morse was already well-established on Broadway, with two Tony nominations to his credit, when he became nationally famous at age 30 as the star of Abe Burrows and Frank Loesser's smash 1961 Broadway satire of corporate life, "How to Succeed...". The show won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for best musical and ran for more than three years.
Morse's bright-eyed J. Pierrepont Finch was a master of corporate backstabbing - with a toothy grin - as he went from Manhattan window washer to titan at the World Wide Wicket company with the help of a little "how-to" paperback on office politics.
The musical's song titles suggest the button-down, pre-feminist business world: "The Company Way," a theme song for yes-men; "A Secretary Is Not a Toy," a song that winks at office dalliance; "Coffee Break," a tribute to caffeine; and the hymn Finch sings to himself: "I Believe in You." Finch toadies up to the aging boss, played by 1920s crooner Rudy Vallee, by joining in the old man's college fight song, "Grand Old Ivy."
"Imagine a collaboration between Horatio Alger and Machiavelli and you have Finch, the intrepid hero of this sortie into the canyons of commerce," The New York Times wrote. "As played with unfaltering bravura and wit by Robert Morse, he is a rumpled, dimpled angel with a streak of Lucifer."
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