This gap-toothed, tousle-haired comic lead and character player first came to prominence as a star of the Broadway stage. After training at the American Theatre Wing in the early 1950s, Morse made his Broadway debut in "The Matchmaker" (1955), starring Ruth Gordon and gained attention for his turn in the play "Say, Darling" (1957). He segued to musicals co-starring with Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon in "Take Me Along" (1959), based on Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" and achieved stage stardom in the leading role of J. Pierpont Finch in the award-winning "How to Succeed in Business
