Garrett Morris (Stanley)

Garrett was raised by his grandfather, a Baptist minister, in New Orleans.
Around the age of 5 he began singing in the church choir and eventually trained at the Julliard School of Music. His first professional break was performing with the Harry Belafonte Singers, whom he remained with for 10 years. During this time, Mr. Morris branched out into acting and eventually appeared both on Broadway and Off-Broadway in PORGY AND BESS, SHOW BOAT, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, AIN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH, THE GREAT WHITE HOPE and THE BASIC TRAINING OF PAVLO HUMMER.

Garrett segued to film in the 1970s with small roles in Carl Reiner's WHERE'S POPPA? and Sidney Lumet's THE ANDERSON TAPES. Mr. Morris made his debut as a TV series regular on ROLL OUT, a short-lived sitcom about the mostly black 5050th Trucking Company in France during WWII. In the mid Œ70s, Morris joined the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on NBC's landmark youth-oriented comedy variety series, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. He is most well-known as the Dominican baseball player Chico Escuela but did impersonations of Sammy Davis Jr., Tina Turner, James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few.
After leaving SNL, his play THE SECRET PLACE was produced. In the mid 1980s.
Morris returned to television in IT'S YOUR MOVE as Principal Dwight Ellis, HUNTER, DIFF'RENT STROKES, THE JEFFERSONS, and HILLS STREET BLUES. In the 1990s he had recurring roles on MARTIN, CLEGHORNE!, THE JAMIE FOXX SHOW and the WB sitcom THE WAYANS BROTHERS.

Over the past few years, Garrett appeared on ACCORDING TO JIM, JUSTICE LEAGUE, THE HUGHLEYS, NOAH'S ARCH, ALL OF US and THE FAMILY GUY. Recent films include JACKPOT (for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award), CONNECTING DOTS, THE SALON, FRANK, COOLEY HIGH, WHO'S YOUR CADDY?, COMEBACK and BEDRIDDEN. Soon to be released films include SONNY DREAMWEAVER, PICKIN' & GRINNIN', VALLEY OF THE SUN and PAWN SHOP Mr. Morris resides in Los Angeles, where he operates and is the host of this own comedy club, The Downtown Comedy Club. In 2007, Garrett was honored by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his work and contributions to the black community.