R.I.P Barry Morse AKA Lt. Philip Gerard-The Fugitive
Written by Joe D on February 5th, 2008Barry Morse in Action! Getting Choked in a Dungeon!
Barry Morse the great actor who portrayed the personification of the term “relentless pursuer” is dead. His Lt. Philip Gerard goes down with Captain Bligh as one of the most brutal unbending authority figures of all time. I watched The Fugitive when it first ran on TV. I was a young lad at the time. It was one of the shows that made the transition from B+W to color. So you’d hear William Conrad’s stentorian voice announce “The Fugitive, In Color!” and it would say In Color on the screen as well. I guess just in case you had a B+W TV and were deaf, they wanted to let you know what you were missing. There was such a mania about this show that when the final episode was to be aired, all these rumors swept the country. I remember my neighbors telling me they had a cousin who knew somebody that worked for ABC and they found out what was going to happen. Of course they were wrong. That episode was one of the most watched programs ever broadcast. I still remeber at the end of the final show, Dr. Richard Kimball, now cleared of murder charges. is approached by Lt. Gerard outside the courthouse. He offers his hand to the recently vindicated physician, Dr. Kimball refuses to shake it. David Janssen was like Jesus Christ walking the land spreading wisdom and helping people, all the while pursued by the evil, officious Lt. Gerard. Check out Morse’s resume, he worked on all the early classic dramatic TV shows, Playhouse 90, East Side West Side, Naked City, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits. What a great time to be an actor for Television! Once during the original run of the show, my friend and I threw some snowballs at a passing bus. To our surprise it stopped and a guy got off. He looked just like Lt. Philip Gerard! He started chasing us! We got away finally but we were freaked out! Fare Thee well Barry Morse, your relentless pursuits are over except on reruns and DVD.
Lt. Gerard, Dr. Richard Kimball. The One-Armed Man with an Emmy
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The very classy Dr. Richard Kimble did indeed shake Lt. Gerard’s hand in the finale.
Here’s a link to the photo:
http://www.geocities.com/talking_fugitive/C06_March10_2009.jpg
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I could have sworn he didn’t shake his hand! I’ll have to re-watch the final episode.
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Here’s video showing the handshake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83m6HaYWIg
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Damn! He does shake his hand, I guess I disremembered it or projected my own desire for him not to shake his hand, in any case thanks for clearing it up.