Comic character actor . His heartbroken friend Ryan Wise confirmed that he passed away on May 29th. The longtime star was working up until 2024, when he appeared in his final film as an ex-con on his own afte. (2024), a comedy that Wise wrote and directed.
One of his most famous roles was in the hit franchise Police Academy, appearing in Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege.
"He was always performing - always entertaining - and he made everyone feel good," Wise said in tribute to .
Morocco's life was as colourful off screen as it was on. A graduate of Walnut Hills High School, he later attended Bates College in Maine before serving in the U.S. Navy, where he trained as a pilot, a skill he continued to use for years by flying private planes.
His love of performance took him to San Francisco, where he studied under the legendary Del Close and joined the city's famed improv troupe The Committee. There, he performed alongside soon-to-be icons like Howard Hesseman, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Bonerz, and Alan Myerson.
Morocco made his film debut in the 1971 cult classic Billy Jack, and continued to carve out a niche as a distinctive comic presence. He turned up in The Candidate in 1972, and had a memorable role in the first season of The Bob Newhart Show, which aired in 1973, playing a man who sought therapy because people treated him like a "pipsqueak".
In 1973, he also landed a role in Myerson's directorial debut, Steelyard Blues, acting alongside screen legends Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, and Peter Boyle.
Throughout the 1970s and '80s, Morocco became a reliable presence in satire and sketch comedy, appearing in Smile (1975), Tunnel Vision (1976), and Loose Shoes (1978). He reunited with former collaborators for Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988) and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989), the latter directed by icon Bonerz.
In a quirky twist befitting his offbeat humour, Morocco adopted his stage name after asking cartoonist M.K. Brown if he could use a character she created for National Lampoon.
As Beans Morocco, he amassed an enviable list of TV credits, including Mork & Mindy, Growing Pains, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Harry O, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, WKRP in Cincinnati, Eight Is Enough, Soap, Laverne & Shirley, The Fall Guy, Matlock, Star Trek: Voyager, Murphy Brown, Clueless, and a scene-stealing role as "the world's slowest grocery bagger" in Scrubs.
Later in life, he settled in Pine Mountain Club, California, where he remained active in the community - performing in local theatre, riding horses in parades, and even dressing up as Santa Claus during the holidays. Locals made him honorary mayor.
"Unfortunately, he was quickly impeached ... and convinced everyone to storm the gazebo. That was the joke he used to tell," Wise fondly recalled.
Morocco is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Diane, his sister Nancy, and cousins Gail and William. His son, Justin, sadly passed away in March 2024, aged 37.