He has been married to Carla Gittelson since 1983. They have two children. Actress Iona Morris is Phil's sister.
Morris' first (uncredited) acting role was as a child when he appeared in the 1966 Star Trek episode "Miri". Star Trek was, at the time, shot at the same studio that produced Mission: Impossible. He played the boy wearing the army helmet. He made his feature film debut in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in a small role and would later guest star on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.
Phil Morris played one of Will Smith's college professors on the NBC show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Morris played Dr. Clay Spencer on the then-UPN television show Girlfriends. Morris also portrayed the DC Comics superhero The Martian Manhunter in the January 25, 2007 episode of the CW television series Smallville, which is a recurring but small character in the series so far. He reprised that role on the show's sixth season finale on May 17, 2007, as well as the episodes Bizarro and Cure in the seventh season. He also appeared on an episode of the series of "CSI: Miami" and "Seven Days". Though largely unnoticed, Morris also was the voice of Paul the Apostle in Zondervan's "The Bible Experience".