James C. Morton

James C. Morton
Morton in the Three Stooges film Disorder in the Court
Born	Thomas Richard Potts August 25, 1884(1884-08-25) Helena, Montana, U.S.
Died	October 24, 1942 (aged 58) Reseda, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	James C. Lankton
Years active	1922-1943

James C. Morton (August 25, 1884 – October 24, 1942) was an American character actor. He appeared in 187 films between 1922 and 1943.

Film

Born in Helena, Montana, Morton is best known to modern audiences as the hapless soul whose toupée was often removed at the most inopportune times. Perhaps the best known example of this embarrassment is in the Three Stooges film Disorder in the Court, in which Larry Fine's violin bow yanks Morton's hair piece off. The Stooges then misinterpret the toupée as a wild tarantula, leading Moe Howard to shoot at it.

Morton appeared in many Hal Roach productions, such as Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy.^[1] He also appeared alongside the Three Stooges in some of their finest early films.

Theater

On the Los Angeles stage, Morton played the title role of Tik-Tok in The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (1913), by L. Frank Baum, Louis F. Gottschalk, Victor Schertzinger, and Oliver Morosco.

Death

Morton died in 1942 of a heart attack in Reseda, California. He was 58.

Selected filmography

• Murder in Times Square (1943) (posthumous)
• Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)
• The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
• To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)
• Johnny Eager (1942)
• You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)
• Three Little Sew and Sews (1939)
• We Want Our Mummy (1939)
• Block-Heads (1938)
• Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
• Pick a Star (1937)
• Every Day's a Holiday (1937)
• Way Out West (1937)
• Our Relations (1936)
• A Pain in the Pullman (1936)
• Disorder in the Court (1936)
• Modern Times (1936)
• The Bohemian Girl (1936)
• Oh, My Nerves (1935)
• Hoi Polloi (1935)
• Uncivil Warriors (1935)
• The Timid Young Man (1935)
• The Fixer Uppers (1935)
• Pardon My Scotch (1935)
• Naughty Marietta (1935)
• Tit for Tat (1935)
• The Fixer Uppers (1935)
• Beginner's Luck (1935)
• Mike Fright (1934)
• Another Wild Idea (1934)
• The Midnight Patrol (1933)
• Me and My Pal (1933)
• Fra Diavolo (1933)
• Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
• The Barnstormers (1922)

Director

• A Daughter of Uncle Sam (1918)

References

External links

• James C. Morton at the Internet Movie Database
• James C. Morton at the Internet Broadway Database
• James C. Morton at Allmovie
• James C. Morton at citwf.com

This article about a United States film actor born in the 1880s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e