Garrett Morris of Saturday Night’ Shot in Holdup

Garrett Morris, one of the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on the “Saturday Night Live” television show, was shot and critically wounded Thursday during a botched holdup attempt in the Hyde Park area of South-Central Los Angeles, police said.

Morris, 57, underwent surgery at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, where doctors said he is expected to survive the gunshot wounds in his chest and arm.

Sandra Castello, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said Morris was walking to his parked car in the 6700 block of 10th Avenue about 12:50 p.m. when two men confronted him on the sidewalk and demanded money.

She said that when Morris told them he had no cash, one of the men fired two shots. As Morris slumped to the pavement, the two men fled, according to police. Investigators said late Thursday that the suspects had not been identified or arrested.

Morris is a native of New Orleans who graduated from Dillard University there with a degree in music, spent 10 years with the Harry Belafonte singers and was a successful actor, singer, conductor and playwright on Broadway during the 1960s, appearing in shows such as “Porgy and Bess,” “Showboat,” “The Great White Hope” and “I’m Solomon.”

His big break came in 1975, when he joined Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner as part of the original cast of “Saturday Night Live.”

Morris played hundreds of roles during his five years on the television show, but the one many people remember best is that of Chico Escuela, the amiable, scarcely bilingual Latino second baseman for the New York Mets.

Escuela slugged no hits, fielded no line drives and never stole a base. But what he lacked in performance he made up for in gratitude, assuring viewers, often and eloquently, that “base-e-bol been berry-berry good to me.”

In another memorable bit, Morris would repeat news gags for the “hearing-impaired” by cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling the statements of the show’s Weekend Update anchor.

Other television credits have included “Hunter,” “It’s Your Move,” “The Jeffersons,” “Married . . . With Children,” “Roll Out,” “Murder She Wrote,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Diff’rent Strokes.”

His film appearances include, “The Jazz Man,” “Critical Condition,” “Harriet Tubman” and “Car Wash.” In addition, he joined actors Whoopi Goldberg, Esther Rolle and Rain Pryor in a special, 28-minute educational movie about sexual abuse entitled “Blackbird Fly.”