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in March 1948, Conway received some negative publicity that he was quick to correct. According to one report, "Morgan Conway was upset when itemed as being in the company of a star whose after-dark drinking bouts disgrace the whole town regularly. Conway is a happily married man, never smokes or drinks on the screen because of his kid following, and never visits bars." (In newspaper reports, Morgan Conway was sometimes mistaken for fellow RKO actor
149:, in 1900, the fifth of six children of Sydney Vincent Conway and Margaret McConnell Conway, both born in the U.S. of Irish Catholic ancestry. He worked in commercial real estate with his brokerage in New York City for 11 years before closing it in 1933 during the Great Depression. Some serendipitous connections got him onto the New York stage as an actor, followed by his venture west to
220:'s comic-strip detective Dick Tracy in a new series of feature films. RKO's earliest publicity photos posed Conway in profile, hoping to emulate Gould's square-jawed caricatures. Conway's low-key interpretation of the character, calm and businesslike, was entirely in keeping with a police procedural. Conway was well received by the press, and Dick Tracy writer
276:, but the project was abandoned. Conway then decided to give up his movie career completely. He felt that he had become stereotyped as Dick Tracy, just as Ralph Byrd had. "I had to do it," he said. "People began to stop thinking of me as Morgan Conway. All they could seem to remember was that I was Dick Tracy in the movies."
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To family and friends, Conway was known as Syd. Syd and Ben, and later Ben's wife and children, shared quality time in the late 1940s and early 1950s after Ben returned to New York from his military service in post-war Japan. It is notable that from the early 1960s to early 1990s, Ben was a prominent
260:
In March 1948, Conway announced plans to launch an independent production company, intending to make one film per year; he already had two scripts in mind, titled "Condemned" and "The Twins." He kept the idea alive through the next year and tried to secure financing, but the plans fell through. Also
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had played the role in four hit serials, and some exhibitors petitioned RKO to make more Tracy features, but with Byrd. RKO made the substitution, reassigning Conway to three other "B" features. The studio discontinued most of its "B" product in 1947 and Conway's contract was not renewed. In 1948,
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Morgan Conway left
Hollywood in 1949, but his "Dick Tracy" past came back to haunt him: "The man who plays Dick Tracy in the movies paid a $ 4 fine in Mid-Manhattan Court yesterday after pleading guilty to permitting his dog, also named Dick Tracy, to be unleashed in Central Park."
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Conway and his second wife Lilian Anna Conway (nÊe Karp), whom he married in 1946, returned to New Jersey, where he resumed working in commercial real estate, and a limited amount of acting on stage.
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had been governor of
Alabama and a U.S. senator, and who descended from an ancient line of Fitzpatrick ancestors in Ireland). She bore and raised Conway's only child, a son, Ben Fitzpatrick Conway.
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Chester Gould proposed that RKO should continue the series, stipulating that Morgan Conway should play the lead, but RKO (then in organizational turmoil after the studio's sale to
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For many years he freelanced, working for various
Hollywood studios in bits or supporting roles. His most familiar appearance from this period is probably in
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literary agent in
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but he was not, as has been reported, one of its founders. His name was confused with that of founder and character actor
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Morgan Conway died of lung cancer in 1981, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife Lilian (who died in 1995).
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considers Morgan Conway to be the best screen Dick Tracy. Conway's two Dick Tracy features are
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133:, March 16, 1900 â November 16, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his portrayals of
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Back in 1926, Conway had been briefly married (for about three years) to a divorcee from the
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In 1948 Conway became a goodwill ambassador to Mexico, presenting a patriotic
American film,
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Morgan Conway was considered for the leading role in a film biography of New York mayor
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Returning to New York, Conway acted on
Broadway in plays that included
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Robbin Coons, "Morgan Conway Mixes
Business with Actor Job",
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212:By the mid-1940s he was a contract player for
208:RKO Radio Pictures and portrayal of Dick Tracy
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785:, "Conway Plans Indie", March 26, 1948, p. 2.
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408:(1939) as Tommy â Duty Officer (uncredited)
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376:(1938) as Professor Leonard (uncredited)
1222:The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy
714:from the original on September 19, 2019
644:Mystery Movie Series of 1940s Hollywood
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819:McPherson, Virginia (April 26, 1948).
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1224:(book collection of the comic strip)
528:(1942) as Chesty Martin (uncredited)
1302:Male actors from Newark, New Jersey
584:(1946) as Dist. Atty. Lester Ashton
533:A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
809:syndicated column, April 14, 1948.
234:for TV syndication and video) and
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1322:20th-century American male actors
641:Backer, Ron (January 10, 2014).
196:Morgan Conway did belong to the
608:(1946) as Joe (final film role)
592:as (1946) Marshall Bill Hampton
560:(1943) as Richard Harding Davos
496:(1940) as Kingston (uncredited)
368:(1938) as State's Attorney Ryan
216:, and he was chosen to portray
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1312:RKO Pictures contract players
693: : accessed June 7, 2023
504:(1940) as Philadelphia Powell
1270:The Great Piggy Bank Robbery
110:Lilian Conway (m. 1946â1981)
512:(1940) as 'Julie' Alexander
344:(1938) as Inspector Donohue
153:, where he began acting in
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1307:Columbia University alumni
1067:Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
996:Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice
708:Internet Broadway Database
647:. McFarland. p. 262.
416:(1939) as Edward P. Powell
16:American actor (1900â1981)
1317:American male film actors
1110:Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
920:
827:. p. 10 – via
413:Secret Service of the Air
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844:, July 28, 1948, p. 103.
464:(1939) as Albert Pomeroy
448:(1939) as Mr. Carrington
432:(1939) as George Bentley
400:(1939) as Steve Cardigan
352:(1938) as Harrison Brand
854:New York Herald Tribune
797:, March 18, 1948, p. 2.
710:. The Broadway League.
509:A Fugitive from Justice
384:(1939) as Lou Baronette
341:The Nurse from Brooklyn
336:(1934) as Frank Harland
1240:Tribune Content Agency
1094:Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
795:The Hollywood Reporter
783:The Hollywood Reporter
771:The Hollywood Reporter
597:Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
581:The Truth About Murder
568:(1943) as Craig Morgan
544:(1942) as Stag Johnson
536:(1942) as Ray Stafford
525:Sing Your Worries Away
517:Millionaires in Prison
477:3 Cheers for the Irish
440:(1939) as Thomas Reedy
237:Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
552:(1943) as Gary Linden
520:(1940) as James Brent
456:(1939) as Carl Venner
373:Smashing the Spy Ring
232:Dick Tracy, Detective
141:Early life and career
1256:Dick Tracy in B Flat
1102:Dick Tracy's Dilemma
600:(1946) as Dick Tracy
576:(1945) as Dick Tracy
485:The Saint Takes Over
480:(1940) as Joe Niklas
472:(1939) as Nat Flavin
429:Charlie Chan in Reno
360:(1938) as Ray Taylor
328:(1934) as Dan Sutter
304:Benjamin Fitzpatrick
281:Of This We Are Proud
272:, to be produced by
191:Charlie Chan in Reno
131:Sydney Albert Conway
53:Sydney Albert Conway
1263:Little Orphan Annie
1153:Archie's TV Funnies
1145:The Dick Tracy Show
759:New York Daily News
734:"1930s | SAG-AFTRA"
541:Bells of Capistrano
488:(1940) as Sam Reese
421:The Kid from Kokomo
392:(1939) as Bob Laird
349:Sinners in Paradise
325:Looking for Trouble
317:Partial filmography
198:Screen Actors Guild
160:Looking for Trouble
145:Conway was born in
1245:Chief Yellow Horse
1059:Dick Tracy's G-Men
1051:Dick Tracy Returns
1006:Breathless Mahoney
589:Badman's Territory
437:Grand Jury Secrets
397:Blackwell's Island
214:RKO Radio Pictures
147:Newark, New Jersey
67:Newark, New Jersey
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1129:Television series
938:Max Allan Collins
654:978-0-7864-5700-7
469:Private Detective
405:Wings of the Navy
389:North of Shanghai
222:Max Allan Collins
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99:Years active
78:November 16, 1981
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1200:Hanky Panky
1164:Other media
963:Dick Locher
943:Mike Curtis
565:Canyon City
557:Jack London
274:Gene Fowler
1286:Categories
1214:Dick Tracy
1180:Dick Tracy
1172:Dick Tracy
1137:Dick Tracy
1118:Dick Tracy
1086:Dick Tracy
1043:Dick Tracy
986:Dick Tracy
978:Characters
968:Joe Staton
912:Dick Tracy
614:References
573:Dick Tracy
357:Crime Ring
300:Deep South
263:Tom Conway
245:Ralph Byrd
227:Dick Tracy
172:In the Bag
135:Dick Tracy
91:Occupation
59:1900-03-16
40:Dick Tracy
37:Conway in
1156:(1971-73)
1148:(1961-62)
1140:(1950-51)
1021:Pruneface
1016:Moon Maid
1011:Joe Jitsu
660:March 16,
184:If a Body
151:Hollywood
107:Spouse(s)
102:1934â1946
743:July 18,
712:Archived
240:(1946).
193:(1939).
186:(1935).
178:(1936),
174:(1937),
170:(1937),
117:Children
1001:Flattop
842:Variety
549:Tornado
493:Florian
1121:(1990)
1113:(1947)
1105:(1947)
1097:(1946)
1089:(1945)
1070:(1941)
1062:(1939)
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1046:(1937)
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243:Actor
129:(born
69:, U.S.
43:(1945)
1193:Vogue
94:Actor
874:IMDb
745:2020
720:2019
662:2023
649:ISBN
75:Died
49:Born
872:at
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622:^
204:.
1258:"
1254:"
1205:"
1202:"
1198:"
1195:"
902:e
895:t
888:v
831:.
747:.
722:.
664:.
120:1
61:)
57:(
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