Anita Morris

Acting

Anita Morris

Born — Died

1943-03-14 — 1994-03-02

Place of birth

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

36 titles

Anita Rose Morris (March 14, 1943 – March 2, 1994) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She began her career performing in Broadway musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw and Nine, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.[1] During her career, Morris had starring roles in a number of films, include The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), Absolute Beginners (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Aria (1987), 18 Again! (1988), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) and A Sinful Life (1989). She had leading roles in two short-lived television series in 1980s: the NBC prime time soap opera Berrenger's (1985), and the Fox sitcom Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1987).

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 16 titles

Absolute Beginners poster
5.5

A musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel about life in late 1950s London. Nineteen-year-old photographer Colin is hopelessly in love with model Crepe Suzette, but her relationships are strictly connected with her progress in the fashion world. So Colin gets involved with a pop promoter and tries to crack the big time. Meanwhile, racial tension is brewing in Colin's Notting Hill housing estate...

Absolute Beginners

1986

Ruthless People poster
6.6

Sam Stone hates his wife Barbara so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers have to figure out how they're going get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.

Ruthless People

1986

Maria's Lovers poster
6.0

A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.

Maria's Lovers

1984

The Hotel New Hampshire poster
5.7

Over the course of several years beginning in the 1950s, a man and his oddball family run hotels in New England and Vienna, as unexpected events change their lives forever.

The Hotel New Hampshire

1984

18 Again! poster
5.6

81-year-old millionaire Jack Watson switches bodies with his 18-year-old grandson David, leading the two to experience life on opposite ends of the age spectrum. But when David, trapped in Jack's aged body, ends up in a coma, his grandfather must use his meager knowledge of the youth to prevent his family from pulling the plug.

18 Again!

1988

Bloodhounds of Broadway poster
5.7

On New Year's Eve 1928, in the New York underworld, a gambler sells his body to science, a gangster needs a transfusion, and a gambler is on the run

Bloodhounds of Broadway

1989

Aria poster
5.4

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Aria

1987

A Smoky Mountain Christmas poster
5.9

A country-western singer on a trip through the Tennessee mountains runs into a reclusive backwoodsman — and a witch.

A Smoky Mountain Christmas

1986

Martians Go Home poster
4.1

Song writer Mark Devereaux accidentally calls millions of green Martians to invade Earth. No they aren't dangerous, just wise-cracking, intrusive, pain in neck, annoyances. No one can escape their distracting influence. It's up to Mark to figure out how they got here, and most importantly, how to get rid of them before they drive everyone crazy!

Martians Go Home

1989

Blue City poster
4.8

Returning to the small Florida town where he grew up, Billy Turner learns that his father has been killed. With little help from the police, Billy will take matters into his own hands and go up against a ruthless local mob boss in a desperate search to find the killer.

Blue City

1986

So Fine poster
4.7

While trying to get his father out of a financial jam, a man comes up with an idea that turns into an unexpected overnight financial fashion success - the bottomless pants.

So Fine

1981

Night of 100 Stars II poster
6.8

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Night of 100 Stars II

1985

Big Blonde poster
6.0

High-spirited model Hazel decides that she should settle down in this stage play based on a Dorothy Parker short story. But her marriage to traveling salesman Herbie Morse fails to satisfy her due to his alcoholism and frequent absences. Dispirited and bored, Hazel turns to alcohol herself—and to other men—as her lively spirit sinks and her life begins a downward spiral.

Big Blonde

1980

No artwork available
10.0

An over-the-hill gumshoe reluctantly teams with worldly retired master thief to solve a string of art thefts and murders.

A Masterpiece of Murder

1986

The Magic Show poster
7.0

The Magic Show is a one-act musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Bob Randall. It starred magician Doug Henning. Produced by Edgar Lansbury, it opened on May 28, 1974 at the Cort Theatre in Manhattan, and ran for 1,920 performances, closing on December 31, 1978. Henning was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and director Grover Dale was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. In 2001, a filmed performance staged especially for the cameras in 1980, directed by Norman Campbell at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, was issued on DVD by Image Entertainment. This production, originally intended for cinema release, differed notably from the original Broadway production, with several of the most memorable songs, such as "West End Avenue" and "Solid Silver Platform Shoes", removed. Doug Henning reprised his original starring role, while Didi Conn co-starred as Cal.

The Magic Show

1983

A Sinful Life poster
5.0

A former 'Sonny and Cher' dancer tries to pull her life together when social services threaten to take her daughter away from her.

A Sinful Life

1989

Series credits

Murder, She Wrote poster
7.5

An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.

Murder, She Wrote

1984

Cheers poster
7.6

The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.

Cheers

1982

Miami Vice poster
7.4

The story of the Miami Police Department's vice squad and its efforts to end drug trafficking and prostitution, centered on the unlikely partnership of Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs - who first meet when Tubbs is undercover in a drug cartel.

Miami Vice

1984

Melrose Place poster
5.9

Follow the lives of a group of young adults living in a brownstone apartment complex on Melrose Place, in Los Angeles, California.

Melrose Place

1992

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

Matlock poster
7.0

Thrifty, folksy and cantankerous, Matlock charges a premium for his services but is worth every penny: This renowned attorney, always clothed in his trademark light-gray suit and driving his signature Ford Crown Victoria, has an uncanny knack for finding overlooked clues and exposing murderers in dramatic courtroom scenes.

Matlock

1986

Matlock poster
7.0

Thrifty, folksy and cantankerous, Matlock charges a premium for his services but is worth every penny: This renowned attorney, always clothed in his trademark light-gray suit and driving his signature Ford Crown Victoria, has an uncanny knack for finding overlooked clues and exposing murderers in dramatic courtroom scenes.

Matlock

1986

A Different World poster
7.2

A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities.

A Different World

1987

Tales from the Crypt poster
8.0

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Tales from the Crypt

1989

Eerie, Indiana poster
7.5

Teenage weirdness investigator Marshall Teller adventures through his new small-town home with his friends, geeky Simon Holmes and mysterious Dash X.

Eerie, Indiana

1991

Major Dad poster
6.5

Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly. The cast also includes Beverly Archer, Matt Mulhern, Jon Cypher, Marisa Ryan, Nicole Dubuc and Chelsea Hertford.

Major Dad

1989

Berrenger's poster
5.7

Berrenger's is an American primetime television soap opera created by Diana Gould that aired on NBC in 1985. The series revolved around the Berrenger family, a New York dynasty which owned the glamorous department store which bore their name. Following in the tradition of Dynasty and Dallas, Berrenger's played up to the familiar motifs of 1980s soap operas - glamorous and beautiful characters, using money and power in games of love, business and betrayal. The series was cancelled after 13 one-hour episodes had been produced. In North America, only 11 of the 13 episodes were screened. Because of studio television output deals it was screened in Europe and Australia, and has sustained a modest cult following.

Berrenger's

1985

Trade Winds poster
NR

A forbidden love affair blossoms on the gorgeous Caribbean island of St. Martin in this juicy tale of two feuding families vying for control of the island. Family patriarch Cristof Philips attempts to bring the Philips and Sommers families together, but tempers flare when sparks fly between hunky island adventurer Ocean Sommers and exotic beauty Maxine Philips newly engaged to another man. Maxine's family warns her: "This Ocean has a riptide and he will drag you under!," but nothing can stop her from running out in a hurricane for a secret, rain-soaked night of passion! Tensions grow when Ocean is accused of murdering Maxine's brother Chris in a scuba-diving mission for a cursed treasure, while her fiancé is determined to see Ocean behind bars for the rest of his life. Now Maxine will do anything -make any sacrifice - as chaos erupts when the shocking truth behind Chris' death and long-hidden family secrets are revealed.

Trade Winds

1993

Down and Out in Beverly Hills poster
6.0

Down and Out in Beverly Hills is a 30 minute TV series based on the 1986 movie of the same name. It aired from July 25, 1987 to September 12, 1987 on on the fledging Fox network. It has the distinction of being the first ever show to be cancelled by Fox; only 13 episodes were produced. The cast included Hector Elizondo as Dave Whiteman, Anita Morris as Barbara Whiteman, Eileen Seeley as Jenny Whiteman, April Ortiz as Carmen the Maid, and Tim Thomerson as Jerry Baskin. Evan Richards was the only cast member of the film to reprise his role for TV.

Down and Out in Beverly Hills

1987