Barboura Morris

Barboura Morris (born Barboura O'Neill; October 22, 1932 – October 23, 1975) was an American actress and writer. She is most remembered for her roles in American International Pictures productions.

For the British art scholar, see Barbara Morris.

Barboura Morris
Morris in The Wasp Woman (1959)
Born
Barboura O'Neill

(1932-10-22)October 22, 1932
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 23, 1975(1975-10-23) (aged 43)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Memorial Cemetery
Alma materUCLA
OccupationActress
Years active1956–1970
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1958)​

Donald Freed
(m. 1965; div. 19??)[1]
Children1

Early years

Morris was born Barboura O'Neill[2] in Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA, where she won the Best Actress awards two times. Shortly after, she joined the Stumptown Players, a 16-person stock theater company in Guerneville which was composed of fellow California university undergraduates and alumni.[3][4]

Career

Acting

Fellow Stumptown player Roger Corman gave Morris a leading role in the cult classic Sorority Girl (1957). She appeared in many other low-budget movies for Corman, such as The Wasp Woman and A Bucket of Blood. Morris was often involved in his work with American International Productions. Notably, she starred opposite Charles Bronson in 1958's Machine-Gun Kelly and costarred with Peter Fonda in 1967's The Trip, written by Jack Nicholson.

Morris' final film role was as Anne Sullivan in Helen Keller and Her Teacher, a 1970 dramatization of Keller's life.

Morris' television credits include a 1956 episode of The Man Called X and a 1959 episode of The Thin Man.[5]

Writing

In 1974, Morris penned an essay titled "Flight 553: the Watergate Murder" that was included in Steve Weissman's Big Brother and the Holding Company: the world behind Watergate. In the piece, Morris implicated Richard Nixon in the death of Dorothy Hunt in the United Airlines Flight 533 plane crash. Historian David Greenberg characterizes Morris' claims as one of the New Left conspiracy theories surrounding Nixon following Watergate.[6]

The essay was planned as part of a full book to be called The Watergate Women, written by Morris and edited by Donald Freed.[7]

Personal life

Morris' first marriage was to Monte Hellman, a producer of experimental theater who led the Stumptown company.[8] The two met when Hellman hired Morris for Stumptown[9] and were married from 1954 to 1958.[10] Following her divorce, she had a brief romantic involvement with Roger Corman during the production of A Bucket of Blood[11]

In 1965, Morris met playwright Donald Freed at the Los Angeles Art Theater.[12] The couple were married that same year and had one son. Morris and Freed collaborated as writers aligned with the New Left movement; Morris published under the name Barboura Morris Freed.[13]

Death

Morris died in Santa Monica, one day after her 43rd birthday. She had been battling cancer, but died from a stroke. She was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery.[14]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1957Rock All NightSyl
Teenage DollJanet
Sorority GirlRita Joyce
The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent
1958Machine-Gun KellyLynn Grayson
Teenage CavemanYoung Tribe MemberUncredited
1959A Bucket of BloodCarla
The Wasp WomanMary Dennison
1961AtlasCandia
1963X: The Man with the X-ray EyesNurse with Young PatientUncredited
The Haunted PalaceMrs. Weeden
1966The Wild AngelsMotherUncredited
1967The St. Valentine's Day MassacreJeanette Landsman
The TripFlo
1969De SadeNunUncredited
1970The Dunwich HorrorMrs. Cole
Helen Keller and Her TeacherAnne SullivanFinal film role

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1956The Man Called X1 episode
1959The Thin ManAmnesiac1 episode

References
  1. "Barboura Morris - the Private Life and Times of Barboura Morris. Barboura Morris Pictures".
  2. Barboura Morris at Rotten Tomatoes
  3. "It's Like a Madhouse As Stumptowners Get Set for Opening Night". The Press Democrat. California, Santa Rosa. June 27, 1954. p. 20. Retrieved August 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. "Oh, To Be an Actor". The Petaluma Argus-Courier. California, Petaluma. June 26, 1954. p. 2. Retrieved August 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. "Barboura Morris Biography".
  6. Greenberg, David (2004). Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393285278.
  7. Weissman, Steve (1974). Big Brother and the Holding Company: the world behind Watergate. Palo Alto: Rampart Press. ISBN 0878670505.
  8. Weaver, Tom (2010). I Was a Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786462650.
  9. Albright, Brian (2015). Wild Beyond Belief: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s. McFarland. p. 89. ISBN 978-0786482504.
  10. McGilligan, Patrick (1996). Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 94. ISBN 9780393313789. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  11. Nasr, Constantine (2011). Roger Corman: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 11. ISBN 978-1617031670.
  12. Berg, Beatrice (May 3, 1970). "'Inquest': Its Author Speaks for It". The New York Times.
  13. Weissman, Steve (1974). Big Brother and the Holding Company: the world behind Watergate. Palo Alto: Rampart Press. ISBN 0878670505.
  14. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson
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