Robert Morley, English Character Actor And Author, Dies

LONDON - Robert Morley, a portly character actor and playwright, died today after suffering a stroke over the weekend. He was 84.

One of the actor's sons, Sheridan Morley, a theater critic, journalist and biographer, said his father died peacefully at a hospital in Reading, west of London. The actor's wife, Joan, son Wilton, daughter-in-law Margaret and grandchildren were at his bedside.

Morley was a quintessential English actor. In his later years, he also used his aristocratic English accent to encourage thousands of Americans to fly to London on British Airways.

Morley's first big success on stage was in the title role of "Oscar Wilde," which he reprised in New York in 1938.

One of his last film appearances was in "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" in which he played a corpulent gourmand.

His film career began in 1937. Among his hits were "Gilbert and Sullivan," "Major Barbara," "Topkapi," "Around the World in 80 Days," "Beat the Devil," "The African Queen," "The Loved One," "Life at the Top" and "Orient Express."

He wrote eight plays and five books of reminiscences. He wrote for Punch and Playboy.

But he claimed not to have worked. "Anyone who works is a fool," Morley once said. "I don't work - I merely inflict myself on the public."

Morley was insouciant about the prospect of death.

"You always look at a script to see if you are being written out too soon. You look at the last few pages to see if you are there at the end," he said a 1990 interview. "It's the same with life. You want to make sure you are there at the end and have the last line."