The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • B6

6B TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2005 THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER www.charlotte.comLOCAL STATE By Adam Bernstein Washington Post Howie Morris, the compact comic whirligig from the early days of television who lent his raspy voice to hundreds of car- toon and commercial voice- overs, died May 21 at his home in Hollywood. He had heart ail- ments in recent years. He was 85. One of the more memorable characters he created was on the Andy Griffith Play- ing hillbilly Ernest T. Bass, he wooed the local women by throwing too-large rocks through their windows and recit- ing doggerel.

Morris was a bar mitzvah band drummer, a radio performer and briefly a Shakespearean actor be- fore he shot to prominence as part of the Sid Caesar ensemble casts of the 1950s, along with Carl Reiner and Imogene Coca. Although to the domineering forces of Caesar and Reiner, Morris was regarded as a staple of Broadway Show of and programs beloved by tens of millions of viewers. Morris was born Sept. 4, 1919, in the Bronx, N.Y. His father, a rubber company executive, had a fatal heart attack shortly after losing his job during the Depres- sion, and Morris, the only child, helped support his mother.

Morris directed the pilot epi- sode of the spy comedy created by his friend Mel Brooks. Morris also directed a handful of feature films, from Six You Get (1968), a Doris Day comedy, to the Donny and Marie Osmond feature (1978). He played Jerry father in Nutty (1963) and Prof. Lilloman old in Hitchcock spoof (1977). He provided voices for Hanna Barbera-produced cartoon char- acters and ran an advertising agency for a while.

Morris was married and di- vorced five times, twice to the same woman. His son, David, said his personality mir- rored what audiences saw. ing with him, for me, was like having a cartoon character as a best he said. Deaths in the News Comedian starred on early TV cartoon nature lit up Show of By Monica Potts New York Times Ellis Page, a professor of edu- cational psychology who devel- oped an early computer program for grading written essays, died Tuesday near his home in McLean, Va. He was 81.

The cause was pneumonia, his family said. Page, who retired from Duke University in 2002, was widely published in the field of educa- tional psychology and edited books on the subject. He spent many years researching the use of computers as learning tools. His work developing a computer essay grading program came de- cades before students would even use computers to write es- says. was doing something for which there yet a use, which is why it was so forward said Randy Bennett, a research scientist at Educational Testing Service.

Ellis Batten Page was born in 1924 in San Diego. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II. After graduating from Po- mona College and teaching in secondary schools, he earned a degree from San Diego State University and a doctorate in education from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1958. wife, Elizabeth Thaxton Page, died in 2000. He is survived by his sons, Tim, of Baltimore, and Richard, of Mercer Island, his daughter, Betsy Page Sigman of McLean; and 10 grand- children.

ELLIS PAGE Pioneer in grading with computers.