CARNOVSKY, MORRIS

CARNOVSKY, MORRIS (1897–1992), U.S. actor. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Carnovsky appeared as Reb Aaron in Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance in 1922 and in Theater Guild productions, such as Men in White (1933). He distinguished himself on Broadway as the grandfather in Odet's Awake and Sing, 1935. He acted with The Group Theater, of which he was a founding member, and worked as an actor and director for the Actors Laboratory Theater in Hollywood (1945–50), a progressive theatrical group made up of film actors dissatisfied with the roles assigned them by the big studios. He appeared in The World of Sholom Aleichem (1953) and   The Dybbuk (1954). Blacklisted for his refusal to give names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, he concentrated from 1956 on Shakespearean portrayals at Stratford, Connecticut. Invited by actor John Houseman to join the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Carnovsky took on such roles as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Lear in King Lear. He also acted in films, which include The Life of Emile Zola (1937), Tovarich (1937), Edge of Darkness (1943), Address Unknown (1944), The Master Race (1944), Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), Rhapsody in Blue (1945), Cornered (1945), Dead Reckoning (1947), Dishonored Lady (1947), The Knockout (1947), Saigon (1948), Deadly Is the Female (1949), Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), The Second Woman (1951), A View from the Bridge (1961), Dig (1972), The Gambler (1974). He also appeared in the TV movies Medea (1959), The World of Sholom Aleichem (1959), and The Cafeteria (1984), based on the short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. During a span of 40 years, Carnovsky performed in more than 40 Broadway productions. These include Saint Joan (1923), The Brothers Karamazov (1927), Marco Millions (1928), Volpone (1928), Uncle Vanya (1929), Elizabeth the Queen (1930), Success Story (1932), Paradise Lost (1935), Golden Boy (1937), My Sister Eileen (1940–43), Café Crown (1942), Joy to the World (1948), Tiger at the Gates (1955), Nude with Violin (1957), Rhinoceros (1961), and A Family Affair (1962). In 1979 Carnovsky was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. (Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)