Burgess Meredith
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Burgess Meredith in Probe (1972) |
Oliver Burgess Meredith (
November 16,
1907 –
September 9,
1997) was an
American actor.
Meredith was born in
Cleveland, Ohio. In
1933, he became a member of
Eva Le Gallienne's theatre company in
New York. He attracted favorable attention for playing George in a
1939 adaptation of
John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. He was featured in many 1940s films, including some starring actress
Paulette Goddard, to whom he was married. Among later roles, he became known for playing
The Penguin on the
television series Batman. As The Penguin, Meredith became famous for his "quacking" sound, which he later claimed is because he was required to smoke as "The Penguin", but in real life, he had given up smoking many years before, so to avoid ruining every take by coughing, he covered it up by creating the quacking sound, and the producers loved it, and it became his trademark as the character.Meredith served in the
United States Army Air Forces in
World War II, reaching the rank of Captain. As a result of the
House Committee on Un-American Activities investigation into
Communist influence in Hollywood, Meredith was placed on the
Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s.
Burgess Meredith was adept playing both
dramatic and
comedic roles, and appeared in four different starring roles in the acclaimed anthology TV series
The Twilight Zone; only
Jack Klugman had as many leading guest appearances. In the famous "
Time Enough at Last", a
1959 episode of
The Twilight Zone, Meredith plays a henpecked bank teller who only wants to be left alone with his
books. When he takes a lunch break to read in the bank vault, he is saved from a nuclear war that destroys the world (only to lose his ability to read when his eyeglasses are broken). In a 1961 episode, "
Mr. Dingle, the Strong", Meredith plays a comedic role as the subject of a space alien's experiment on human nature. Mr. Dingle, a small, weak man, suddenly acquires superhuman strength. He uses it only to win bets and show off, and hilarity ensues. A further illustration of Meredith's breadth as an actor was demonstrated in two other episodes: in "
Printer's Devil," Meredith portrayed the
Devil, himself, yet in "
The Obsolete Man" he portrayed a deeply religious man, sentenced to death in a future,
dystopic totalitarian society.Meredith achieved iconic status for playing
The Penguin in the
television series Batman. The Penguin's trademark quacking laugh was actually Meredith's attempt to cover up coughing fits, as his part required him to smoke, something he had not done in years. He admitted in an interview it sounded more like a duck than a penguin. Nevertheless, his role as the Penguin was so well-received that the show's writers always had a script featuring the Penguin ready whenever Meredith was available. He appeared on the show more times during its run than any other villain
Meredith played
Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey, in the first three
Rocky films, to great acclaim. His character Mickey died in the third Rocky film but returned briefly for the fifth film
Rocky V in flashbacks. Meredith also made a significant contribution to the world of Christmas films through his single-scene role as the Ancient One, oldest and wisest of the Elves of the Vendequm, in
Santa Claus: The Movie (
1985). In his twilight years, he played
Jack Lemmon's character's father in
Grumpy Old Men (
1993) and its sequel,
Grumpier Old Men (
1995). Plus he was the Penguin in the original Batman Movie. As a nod to his longtime association with
The Twilight Zone, he served as narrator for the 1983 film based on the series.
A somewhat more mixed (comedic/dramatic) role was his portrayal of the philosophical (yet hapless) tramp,
Vladimir, in a notable production of
Beckett's
Waiting for Godot.
Meredith also did voice over work mostly in the 1970's, supplying the voice over in TV commercials for
Stokley Vegetables,
United Airlines, and
Freakies cereal; as well as supplying the narration for the 1974-1975
ABC Saturday morning series
Korg: 70,000 B.C. and supplying the voice of Puff in the
1978 animated TV special adaption of the
Peter, Paul, and Mary song
Puff, The Magic Dragon.
Meredith died of
Alzheimer's disease and
melanoma in 1997 at the age of 89. Coincidentally, his character died in his final movie,
Grumpier Old Men.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Burgess Meredith has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6904 Hollywood Blvd.
His autobiography
So Far, So Good was published in 1994.
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The 1966 Batman TV Villains - Burgess Meredith
