Maurice Cass was born on October 12, 1884, in Vilnius, Lithuania (then
Vilno, Russian Empire). He emigrated to the USA, and in his pursuit of
an acting career, he began as announcer and comedian in New York. Cass
had a pleasant face, a small body and a big voice.
With his nearsightedness and his inevitable pince-nez adding weight to
his intelligent face, Cass was destined to play professors, doctors,
writers, and managers with his special brand of genial, slightly
absent-minded officiousness. He started playing bit parts, often
uncredited, and made a career as a character actor in more than 120
film and television productions. His best known work was Professor
Newton, a supporting role in a series of space adventure movies made
for TV and shown over the period from 1954 to 1956. Cass's snow-white
haired Professor Newton could always be counted on to provide the
scientific explanation for all the fantastic events that unfolded
before the viewer. Professor Newton had his own observatory (which was
filmed at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles) and although
elderly, he would often accompany the astronauts on their adventurous
space flights.
Maurice Cass's character, Professor Newton, was replaced by Professor
Mayberry upon Cass's death of a heart attack, at the age of 69, on June
8, 1954, in Hollywood, California.
