Phil Morris
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Phil Morris was born in Iowa City, Iowa. His mother and father were enrolled at the State University at the time. He was brought up in Los Angeles, with his two sisters, Iona and Linda. His father is the late actor Greg Morris, who starred in the ground breaking spy drama Mission: Impossible. His mother Lee continues to be a strong influence. Phil and his family moved from LA to Beverly Hills, when Phil was 12 years old. He started a love of comic books at an early age, and maintains a large collection to this day. Phil was also the captain of his high school track team, and studied the martial arts vigorously.
Outside of a few school productions and some voiceovers as a child, Phil got his real professional start in show business upon graduation from high school, when he was hired as a production assistant for a film called COM-TAC 303. The film was about a black Air Force squadron in World War II. In the cast was Phil's father Greg, Billy Dee Williams (Lady Sings the Blues, Star Wars Eps. 5 and 6) and the legendary Henry Fonda. During the filming Greg was injured, and the producers went to Phil and asked if he could fill in for the injured Morris, Sr. Fortunately, Greg recovered sufficiently to resume his role, and Phil was given a small part in the picture. The film was never completed, but this started him on his road as an actor.
After a couple of years on the stages of Los Angeles, Phil was hired to play the multi-dimensional role of Tyrone Jackson on the daytime drama The Young and The Restless. He was best known on that show for playing the undercover "white" character, Robert Tyrone, in an attempt to destroy the local crime syndicate in the fictional town of Genoa City.
After two years on The Young and The Restless, Phil went on to star in the ensemble farcical comedy Marblehead Manor for Paramount TV. He went on to star in the show that made his father Greg famous, Mission: Impossible, as the son of that character, Grant Collier. The new Mission: Impossible lasted 2 seasons, and was shot in the exotic location of Australia. When Phil and his family returned from Australia, he went immediately into the CBS ensemble newsroom drama, WIOU, where he played the forever conniving, yet ultimately charming, Eddie Bock.
Phil and his family returned to Australia, in 1992, to film the four-hour television biography of the first black world cycling champion, "Major" Taylor. That project was entitled Tracks of Glory and was a supreme labor of love for Phil. Phil also cherishes his relationship with best-selling author Jackie Collins, which began when she cast Phil in both of her mini-series, Lucky/Chances and Lady Boss, as legal genius Steven Dimes, half-brother of her mega-heroine Lucky Santangelo.
Since then, Phil has appeared on such shows as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Murder, She Wrote, Living Single, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Melrose Place. Phil is also extremely proud of the critically acclaimed character "Jackie Chiles," the Johnnie Cochran-esque attorney on the hit show Seinfeld. Recently, Phil has taken on the role of Thurgood Stubbs in the hilarious clay-mation series The P.J.'s, taking over for the brilliant Eddie Murphy. He is also starring in the Disney animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire as the voice of Dr Sweet.
The world of production has been a new challenge for the busy actor, and he is currently writing and developing a myriad of projects. Phil is still a die-hard athlete and devotee of the martial arts. He studies Wing Chun kung-fu under his long-time teacher, Sifu Hawkins Cheung.
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