Al Morgan

American writer (1920–2011)

The novel was adapted for the screen as The Great Man (1956), directed by and starring José Ferrer, with a screenplay co-written by Morgan; the cast included Ferrer, Dean Jagger, and Julie London, and the film was released by Universal Pictures. Morgan and Ferrer later collaborated on the book for the Broadway musical Oh, Captain! (1958), which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical; Morgan also wrote the short-lived Broadway play Minor Miracle (1965). In television, Morgan produced NBC's Today from 1961 to 1968 and won the 1968 Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Programming. He died on March 3, 2011, at his home in Brattleboro, Vermont. The novel's use of the phrase “the great unwashed” did not originate it; the expression is attested at least as early as Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s Paul Clifford in 1830. Kirkus Reviews commented:Five decisive days in the life of radio reporter Ed Harris afford in inside spot on the airways and introduces the hustler, huckster world of the "electronic pitch game." For Ed, who has been asked to do the memorial show which will be a monument to Herb Fuller, who has just died, has also been tapped to succeed him, and in filling in the background on the Great Man he learns the lesson that success is only a packaged deal. He can be a Great Man - but he will also be a heel. From Carol, a girl on the Fuller show and one of Herb's many women, he finds out that sex is only a "kind of job insurance. Like social security." From Beasley, who gave Fuller his start, he gets the text of a first sermon in Worcester which brought him his following - until he started mixing dirty jokes in with the hymns. From Sid, who had a contract to hold over Fuller - and now Ed, he gets the facts behind a memorable patriotic speech Fuller was said to have delivered from abroad. And the dissolute spectacle of the man behind the legend finally cumulates to the last truth that any network can create a character and commercialize it... A brash, brisk transmission - to the audience which liked The Hucksters, the pace is unimpeded and the prose is picturesque. The publishers will give it their pitch - and men should sponsor it.

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