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Harry Morgan on the difference between acting on stage versus acting in television
Life on the stage can help prepare an actor for any challenge, but can the same be said for another medium?
Television often gets a bad reputation as a lower-class form of entertainment. However, after many decades of award-winning shows and series, television has more than proven itself as a legitimate form of entertainment.
But while television is no longer viewed as "less than," many actors argue that there is a difference between acting onstage and acting on camera.
In an interview with the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier, Harry Morgan discussed his opinions on television. Morgan had enjoyed a career on both the stage and screen, starring in programs like Dragnet and M*A*S*H.
In the interview, Morgan was asked whether on-camera work helped prepare an actor for future work onstage.
"No, I don’t think it helps at all," Morgan said. "I don’t think there is any training in television ... you just get up and do it. You don’t rehearse for four weeks, as you do in the theatre."
In addition to the added preparation required for stage acting, Morgan also argued that television offered actors fewer opportunities to move on to starring roles in movies.
"And, in the same vein, you can name on one hand the ones who have gone on from television to movies - Steve McQueen, Jim Garner, and a few others," Morgan said. "But they are very few. The standards are not as high in television as they are in movies."
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