The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Rex Morgan & "friend"
"Morgan in the Morning"
WFIL-TV
1964

Here's three photos of "Rex" Morgan on Channel 6, WFIL-TV. One of his programs was called, "Morgan in the Morning."

(left to right) unidentified female, Rex Morgan, unidentified female & Phil Sheridan
"Morgan in the Morning"
WFIL-TV
1964

(left to right) unidentified male & Rex Morgan
1964

"Rex Morgan" was the host of Morgan in the Morning, where he showed old movies & cartoons. Morgan was a colonel in the United States Army. During the second World War, he was a mortician for the Army and it was he who performed the autopsy on German Field Marshal Goering. "Rex" was the one who embalmed the body of United State General George Smith Patton in December 1945. He was one of the hangmen at the Nuremberg Trials after the war.

Steve Harvey, a visitor to our website, e-mailed:

I was on your site yesterday and when my dad stopped by I told him about it. He started talking about his friend, Rex Morgan, out in Denver. Rex had a rather lowkey TV show out there in the early 60s. We stopped by and Rex ending up putting me on TV for an interview (I was all of 6) to kill time. One correction, Rex was not the Nurenberg hangman. He was in charge of burying the Nazis that were hung (or in Goering's case) or killed themselves.

Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia cannot confirm or deny the above statement. However, for decades, the talk in Philadelphia television circles was that Rex was one of the hangmen.

Philip Harvey, a visitor to our website, e-mailed:

I am Stephen's father. (See e-mailed above) I met Rex as one of my ROTC instructors at Cornell University in the early 1950's. Rex was a character, a popular instructor and a dabbler in hypnosis. Rex had been a football star and I believe a high school state champion wrestler in Colorado.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania after WW 2 where he was the "Spoon Man," an award given to the outstanding man in the graduating class. After graduation he went back into the Army and was assigned to ROTC at Cornell. I knew Rex a little better than most students because he was a wrestling fan and I was a varsity wrestler at Cornell.

In 1960 the du Pont Company sent me to Denver, CO as a cellophane salesman and I ran into Rex who had a small budget TV program there. He was stationed as the Public Information Officer at the Strategic Air Command headquarters in Colorado Springs. Steve was six then and Rex had him appear on his show (It was really low budget). I visited with Rex and his wife Lou in Colorado Springs on one occasion.

Rex later left the Army and came back to Philadelphia (his home while at Penn) to take a children's TV show. I do not think his TV career ever took off much. I know he ran for public office at least once but I believe he lost. I think He lived in Chester County somewhere. I recall that he died some years back.

By the way, around 1964, Rex Morgan played one of the imposters on the daytime version of "To Tell the Truth." Around 2005, the Game Show Network re-ran the program so, as of that year at least, the show still existed.

On Friday evening, November 22, 2013, Rex Morgan was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame."

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com