About Morris Ankrum (1896 - 1964)

Born  Morris Nussbaum  on August 28, 1896 in Danville, Illinois, Morris did not start out pursuing a career in acting.  After graduating from the University of Southern California with a law degree, Morris went on to associate professorship in economics at the University of California at Berkeley where he founded a collegiate little theatre.  It wasn't long til Morris was a teacher and director at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Having already changed his name from Nussbaum to Ankrum for professional reasons, Ankrum was compelled to undergo another name change when he signed a Paramount Pictures contract in the 1930s; in his first films he was billing as Stephen Morris.   He was a veteran stage actor by the time he entered the film industry in the 1930s, where he spent much time in westerns, playing everything from Indian chiefs to crooked town bankers. It was in the 1950s, though, that he hit his stride in the genre for which he is most fondly remembered - science-fiction films.

Among his best known credits in this genre were Rocketship X-M (1950), Red Planet Mars (1952), Flight to Mars (1952), Invaders From Mars (1953) (do we detect a subtle pattern here?), Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and From the Earth to the Moon (1958).

By 1959 Morris's film career slowed though he continued taking television roles, appearing in several shows including: The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Dennis the Menace, Cheyene, and Rawhide.

Morris's film career was extensive, spanning thirty years - his film credits concentrating largely in the western and science fiction genres.

First film: BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, followed by many credits including:

LIGHT OF THE WEST STARS
ROCKETSHIP X-M
INVADERS FROM MARS (53)
EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS
TALES OF MANHATTAN
TENNESSEE JOHNSON
LET'S FACE IT
THE HIDDEN EYE
JOAN OF ARC
ROCKETSHIP XM
MY FAVORITE SPY
APACHE
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE