Will Morrissey

William James Morrissey (19 June 1887 – 16 December 1957) was an American lyricist, vaudeville actor, playwright, and theatrical producer principally based in New York City, but also a frequent performer and producer on the West Coast and Chicago.

Career

During the First World War, he came, in August 1918, with the Mayo's Shock Unit of the Y.M.C.A. to entertain the American troops in France for 3 months. America's Over There Theater League Units, featuring Margaret Mayo, Lois Meredith, Bill Morrissey, Tommy Gray and Raymond Walker, perform the musical Somewhere in America.

Among other things, he produced, in 1919, Overseas Review, with music by Richard Whiting and Ray Eagen. Overseas Review was an assorted compilation and partial reunion of vaudevillians in the Armed Forces from the Over There Review performed in the European theatre of World War I.

Morrissey's 1935 production of Saluda, which debuted in The Bronx, was the first show that starred Milton Berle. Sometime prior to 1905, Morrissey earned a civil engineering degree from the Stevens Institute.