Obituary: Frank Morris

Frank Morris, manager of the Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

Born: 5 September, 1920, in Leith. Died: 12 April, 2010, in Glasgow, aged 89.

FRANK Morris spent much of his career as manager of Glasgow's oldest theatre, the Theatre Royal. It is said he was the last person to leave the theatre when it ceased staging plays, music hall and operas in 1957, but was first to walk through the doors when STV took it over months later as its principal studios in Scotland.

As the manager of the theatre Morris was on duty in the foyer every night, smart in black tie, welcoming the audience and ensuring the smooth running of the evening. He was present as manager on 16 February, 1957, when the final performance took place on the stage – Robinson Crusoe starring Jack Radcliffe and Aly Wilson.

Frank Edward Morris was educated in Leith, the son of a Scottish international hockey player. On leaving school he joined the Theatre Royal Glasgow as an assistant manager in 1938. But his apprenticeship was interrupted by the outbreak of war the following year. Because of colour blindness he was not able to train as a pilot and instead became a flight-sergeant navigator.

He was posted initially to India, but in 1943 joined 618 Squadron, which was stationed at RAF Wick to monitor German shipping off the Norwegian coast.

The squadron had been issued with a variation of the famous Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb that had been so successfully used in the Dambusters raid on the Ruhr dams. This variation – the Highball bomb – was, in fact, never used and the squadron never attacked the German battleship Tirpitz, which had been scheduled as the squadron's number one target.

Indeed, one official report in July 1944 claimed that since the German fleet had been so inactive "it was decided to send the unit to the Pacific, where suitable targets still existed".

Morris was transported to Australia on the Queen Mary – converted to a troop-carrying ship throughout the war – and was billeted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, along with 5,000 other Allied troops. He saw virtually no action, as the Far East was considered the theatre of war under the control of American forces.

On being demobbed, Morris returned to Glasgow and resumed his post at the Theatre Royal. In 1950 the manager, JG Stewart, left to become manager of the Alhambra Theatre and Morris was promoted to the post of theatre manager.

It was a role that this courteous, efficient and warm-hearted man graced with much professional polish.

He was always on hand to sort out pre-performance problems with the public and to ensure that difficulties over tickets were sorted out efficiently and politely.

Morris also maintained excellent relations with the back-stage staff, and often visited the stars in their dressing rooms before a performance to wish them well and afterwards to congratulate them.

Over the years the Theatre Royal was host to some of the greatest entertainers in Scotland and also attracted many international stars. Harry Gordon, Dave Willis, Annie Ross, Stanley Baxter, Jack Radcliffe, Rikki Fulton, Jimmy Logan and Duncan Macrae were all regulars and there were visits from Scottish Opera, Ballet Rambert, the Wilson Barrett company and many local amateur opera and drama groups.

Roy Thomson, then publisher of The Scotsman, won the franchise to supply independent television programmes throughout the Central Belt of Scotland and founded Scottish Television. Morris accepted the post of business manager. The first programme from the new studios This is Scotland went out on 31 August, 1957. Morris was devoted to the Theatre Royal and cared for it both as a theatre and as a television studio.

Throughout his life he was a keen golfer and was a past captain of Cawder Golf Club in Bishopbriggs.

Morris's professional connections with the Theatre Royal were enhanced when he married Margaret Clark, the box office manageress, in 1950. She and their son Kenneth survive him.

ALASDAIR STEVEN