
- Name
- Read Morgan
- Position
- Forward
- Class
- Senior
- Hometown (Last School)
- Milwaukee, WI (Rufus King)
- Ht
- 6'4"
- Wt
- 200
- Seasons
- 1949-50, 1950-51
- Birthday
- January 30, 1931
Read Morgan was born Read Lawrence Morgan on January 30, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois to Nina Ellen Morgan and Donald George Morgan.
Morgan transferred to Kentucky from Wisconsin and became eligible to play for Kentucky mid-term in 1950. He played in 24 games over two seasons in 1949-50 and 1950-51.
After attending the University of Kentucky for two years, he decided to pursue acting. He later attended Northwestern University and served in the United States Air Force for two years. In 1950, Morgan went on a regular dietary and exercise regimen that earned him quite a few photo spreads in major American magazines like TV Guide. Thanks to his physique, Morgan was cast as an athletic mountaineer in the Broadway play Li’l Abner, which led to TV work in a similar vein: he played a wrestler on US Steel Hour, a ballplayer on Twilight Zone, a skindiver on Adventures in Paradise and a boxer on Steve Canyon. Thus it was that Morgan was more than prepared for the strenuous requirements of his role as cavalry sergeant Tasker on the Henry Fonda TV-western vehicle The Deputy (1960). Morgan was best known to television viewers for his role as Sergeant Hapgood Tasker on the early 1960s NBC western series “The Deputy” from 1959 to 1961. He made his acting debut in 1949 on the television series “The Big Story.” Besides “The Deputy,” he went on to appear in character roles in such series as “State Trooper,” “Laramie,” “Wagon Train,” “It Takes A Thief,” “Search,” “Gunsmoke,” “Police Woman,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Lou Grant,” “Moonlighting,” and “Dallas.” In 1959, he made his “big screen” debut in “Ask Any Girl.” His later film credits would include “The Beach Girls and the Monster,” (1965) “Marlowe,” (1969) “The New Centurions,” (1972) “Mother, Jugs, & Speed,” (1976) “Back to the Future,” (1985) and “Maverick.” (1994).
Morgan passed away on April 20, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 91.
