Read Morgan

Read Morgan
Morgan in The Deputy, 1961
Born
Read Lawrence Morgan

(1931-01-30)January 30, 1931
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedApril 20, 2022(2022-04-20) (aged 91)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Kentucky
Northwestern University
Occupation(s)Film and television actor
Years active1956–1994
Spouse
Elizabeth Oleyar
​
(m. 1963)​
[1]

Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor.[2] He was perhaps best known for playing Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the second season of the American western television series The Deputy.[3]

Life and career

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Morgan was born in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the son of Donald and Nina Morgan. He attended the University of Kentucky,[4] where he played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.[1] He also attended Northwestern University, studying drama. He served in the United States Air Force. He began his screen career in 1956, appearing in the syndicated anthology television series The United States Steel Hour, starring Lawrence Langner. In 1959, he was cast to star along with John Goddard in the television series Johnny Fletcher, which the series was not picked up. In the same year, he played as Jeff Peters in an episode of the NBC western television series Tales of Wells Fargo, starring Dale Robertson.[5]

Later in his career, in 1960, he starred as army officer Sergeant Hapgood Tasker, whose character was blind in one eye and wore an eye patch, in the second season of the NBC western television series The Deputy, starring along with Henry Fonda and Allen Case.[3][6] After the series ended in 1961, he guest-starred in numerous television programs including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Restless Gun, M Squad, How the West Was Won, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The A-Team, Laramie, Wagon Train, Bachelor Father, The Outsider, The Twilight Zone (episode "What You Need"),[7] State Trooper and Paradise.[1][3][8] He also appeared in numerous films such as Back to the Future, Nomads, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Just Between Friends, The Beach Girls and the Monster, Hostile Guns, East Come, Easy Go, Ask Any Girl, Dillinger, Lightning, the White Stallion and The New Centurions.[9]

Morgan retired from acting in 1994, last appearing in the film Maverick, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, Graham Greene, James Coburn and Alfred Molina.[2]

Death

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Morgan died on April 20, 2022, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 91.[10][11][12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Aaker, Everett (May 25, 2017). Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 310. ISBN 9781476662503 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b Wallace, Tom (October 11, 2016). So You Think You're a Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Fan?: Stars, Stats, Records, and Memories for True Diehards. Sports Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 9781613219737 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c Sullivan, Elizabeth (January 15, 1961). "Healthy Giant". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 175. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  4. ^ Freese, Gene (April 6, 2016). Richard Jaeckel, Hollywood's Man of Character. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN 9781476662107 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Read Morgan List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  6. ^ Wagner, Laura (April 7, 2025). Hollywood Boozers, Brawlers and Hard-Luck Cases: Fifteen Ill-Fated Actors of the Golden Age. McFarland. p. 118. ISBN 9781476690117 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Parisi, Nicholas (October 24, 2018). Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination. University Press of Mississippi. p. 211. ISBN 9781496819451 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Kotar, S. L.; Gessler, J. E. (December 2009). Riverboat: The Evolution of a Television Series, 1959-1961. BearManor Media. p. 51. ISBN 9781593935054 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "The New Centurions (1972)". AllMovie. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  10. ^ "In Memoriam, Summer 2022". SAG-AFTRA. p. 62. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Read Morgan". Big Blue History. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  12. ^ "Read Morgan". Walter's Wildcat World. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
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