Burgess Meredith
{{short description|American actor (1907–1997)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Burgess Meredith
| image = Burgess Meredith 1954.JPG
| caption = Meredith in a publicity photo (1954)
| birth_name = Oliver Burgess Meredith
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|11|16}}
| birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|1997|9|9|1907|11|16}}}}
| death_place = Malibu, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = Amherst College
| party = Democratic
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|filmmaker}}
| years_active = 1929–1997
| spouse = {{ubl
| {{marriage|Helen Derby|1933|1935|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Margaret Perry|1936|1938|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Paulette Goddard|1944|1949|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Kaja Sundsten
|1951}}
}}
| children = 2
| module2 = {{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = Acting President of the Actors' Equity Association
| term_start = 1937
| term_end = 1938
| predecessor = Frank Gillmore
| successor = Arthur Byron}}
| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance = {{USA}}
| branch = 25px United States Army Air Forces
| serviceyears = 1942–1945
| unit = First Air Force
Office of War Information
| battles = World War II
| awards = 25px American Campaign Medal
25px World War II Victory Medal }}
}}
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997){{cite news |title=Burgess Meredith dies at 89 |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9709/10/meredith.obit |work=CNN |date=September 10, 1997 |access-date=September 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725110203/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9709/10/meredith.obit/ |archive-date=2012-07-25}} was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theater, film, and television.
Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century".{{cite web| url=http://www.lkwdpl.org/lore/lore31.htm| title=Lakewood Lore – Burgess Meredith| publisher=Lkwdpl.org| date=September 10, 1997| access-date=September 17, 2011| archive-url=https://archive.today/20060930213117/http://www.lkwdpl.org/lore/lore31.htm| archive-date=September 30, 2006}}{{cite web| url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0281490.html|title=24 X 7| publisher=Infoplease.com| access-date=September 17, 2011}} A lifetime member of the Actors Studio,{{cite book| first=David| last=Garfield| title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio| year=1980| publisher=Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.| location=New York| isbn=0-02-542650-8| page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/279 279]| chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/279}}{{cite book| quote=Aside from the original Robert Lewis group and those who came in with Mann and Meisner and were asked to remain, such individuals as Roscoe Lee Browne, Dane Clark, Tamra Daykarhanova, Rita Gam, Burgess Meredith, Sidney Poitier, Paula Strasberg, Anna Mizrahi Strasberg, and Franchot Tone have been voted directly into membership by the Studio's directorate or by Strasberg himself. In the early sixties, several actors who performed with The Actors Studio Theatre were similarly admitted| first=David| last=Garfield| title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio| year=1980| publisher=Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.| location=New York| isbn=0-02-542650-8| page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/278 278]| chapter=Strasberg Takes Over: 1951–1955| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/278}} he won a Primetime Emmy Award,{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=130096| title=Overview for Burgess Meredith| publisher=TCM| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403002257/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=130096| access-date=September 17, 2011| archive-date=April 3, 2009}} was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and was nominated for two Academy Awards.
Meredith established himself as a leading man in Hollywood with critically acclaimed performances as Mio Romagna in Winterset (1936), George Milton in Of Mice and Men (1939), and Ernie Pyle in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945).
Meredith was known later in his career for his appearances on The Twilight Zone and for portraying The Penguin in the 1960s TV series Batman and boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky film series. For his performances in The Day of the Locust (1975) and Rocky (1976), he received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He later appeared in the comedy Foul Play (1978) and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (1981). He narrated numerous films and documentaries during his long career.{{cite web| url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/130096%7C25024/Burgess-Meredith|title=Overview for Burgess Meredith| publisher=Turner Classic Movies| access-date=March 19, 2016}}
"Although those performances renewed his popularity," observed Mel Gussow in The New York Times (referring to the Penguin and Mickey Goldmill roles), "they represented only a small part of a richly varied career in which he played many of the more demanding roles in classical and contemporary theater—in plays by Shakespeare, O'Neill, Beckett and others."
Early life
Meredith was born in 1907 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Ida Beth (née Burgess; 1861–1933) and William George Meredith (1861–1938), a Canadian-born physician of English descent.{{cite news |last=Gussow |first=Mel |date=September 11, 1997 |title=Burgess Meredith, 89, Who Was at Ease Playing Good Guys and Villains, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/11/movies/burgess-meredith-89-who-was-at-ease-playing-good-guys-and-villains-dies.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=September 17, 2011}}{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9709/10/meredith.obit| title=Burgess Meredith obituary|work=CNN| date=September 10, 1997}}[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/meredith.htm Burgess Meredith genealogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024081059/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/meredith.htm |date=October 24, 2012}} by Robert Battle, hosted at freepages.rootsweb His mother came from a long line of Methodist revivalists, a religion to which he adhered throughout his lifetime.
He graduated from Hoosac School in 1926 and then attended Amherst College (class of 1931). He left Amherst and became a reporter for the Stamford Advocate.[http://lakewoodhistory.org/lore/lore31.htm Meredith's Lakewood memories are mostly unhappy ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826024450/http://lakewoodhistory.org/lore/lore31.htm |date=August 26, 2017 }} Lakewood Sun Post December 7, 1995, by Dan Chabek
Career
=Theatre=
File:Burgess Meredith - 1951.jpg
In 1929, he became a member of Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre company in New York City. Although best known to the larger world audience for his film and television work, Meredith was an influential actor and director for the stage. He made his Broadway debut as Peter in Le Gallienne's production of Romeo and Juliet (1930) and became a star in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset (1935), which became his film debut the following year. His early life and theatre work were the subject of a New Yorker profile.{{cite magazine| first=Wolcott| last=Gibbs| title=Profiles| magazine=The New Yorker| date=April 3, 1937| url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1937/04/03/1937_04_03_026_TNY_CARDS_000167850|pages=26–37| access-date=February 18, 2014}} In 1935, he starred along with Hugh Williams at the Martin Beck Theatre in John Van Druten's Flowers of the Forest.{{cite book |last=Bordman |first=Gerald |author-link=Gerald Bordman |date=1996 |title=American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tH4RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=117 |isbn=0-19-509079-9}}
He garnered critical acclaim in the 1935 Broadway revival of The Barretts of Wimpole Street starring Katharine Cornell.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} She subsequently cast him in several of her later productions. Other Broadway roles included Van van Dorn in High Tor (1937), Liliom in Liliom (1940), Christy Mahon in The Playboy of the Western World (1946), and Adolphus Cusins in Major Barbara (1956). He created the role of Erie Smith in the English-language premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Hughie at the Theatre Royal in Bath, England in 1963. He played Hamlet in avant garde theatrical and radio productions of the play.{{cite magazine| last1=Prideaux| first1=Tom| year=1964| title= Everything's Up to Date in Elsinore| magazine=Life| volume=56| issue=17| page=96| publisher=TimeLife, Inc.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UcEAAAAMBAJ&q=burgess%20meredith%20hamlet&pg=PA96| access-date=September 16, 2011}}
A distinguished theatre director, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his 1974 Broadway staging of Ulysses in Nighttown, a theatrical adaptation of the "Nighttown" section of James Joyce's Ulysses. Meredith also shared a Special Tony Award with James Thurber for their collaboration on A Thurber Carnival (1960).{{IBDB name|15642}} In the late seventies, he directed Fionnula Flanagan's one-woman multi-role play James Joyce's Women, which toured for several years.{{cite news |title=Fionnula Flanagan to Play 'James Joyce's Women' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/17/archives/fionnula-flanagan-to-play-james-joyces-women.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 17, 1979 |access-date=September 23, 2016}}
=Film=
File:Burgess Meredith in Second Chorus 1.jpg
File:The Rear Gunner.ogv (1943).]]
Early in his career, Meredith attracted favorable attention, especially for playing George in a 1939 adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and as war correspondent Ernie Pyle in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945). He was featured in many 1940s films, including three—Second Chorus (1940), Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), and On Our Merry Way (1948) — co-starring his then-wife Paulette Goddard. As a result of the House Committee on Un-American Activities investigation, Meredith was placed on the Hollywood blacklist and was largely absent from film for the next decade, though he remained involved in stage plays and radio during this time.{{cite news |last1=Vosburgh |first1=Dick |title=Obituary: Burgess Meredith |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-burgess-meredith-1238735.html |work=The Independent |access-date=January 19, 2016}}
Meredith was a favorite of director Otto Preminger, who cast him in Advise and Consent (1962), The Cardinal (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), Hurry Sundown (1967), Skidoo (1968), and Such Good Friends (1971). He was in Madame X (with Lana Turner, 1966) and Stay Away Joe (1968), appearing as the father of Elvis Presley's character.{{cite book |last=Templeton |first=Steve |date=2002 |title=Elvis Presley: Silver Screen Icon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b67-82VZctUC&pg=PA120 |location=Johnson City, Tennessee |publisher=The Overmountain Press |page=120 |isbn=1-57072-232-3}} He was acclaimed by critics for his performance as Harry Greener in The Day of the Locust (1975) and received nominations for the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award for best supporting actor.{{cite news |last=Gunderman |first=Dan |date=September 9, 2016 |title=A look back at the big screen and TV career of the late, great Burgess Meredith |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/remembering-actor-burgess-meredith-passed-19-years-article-1.2784635 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=September 23, 2016}} Meredith then played Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey Goldmill in the first three Rocky films (1976, 1979, and 1982).{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=November 22, 1976 |title=Film: 'Rocky,' Pure 30's Make-Believe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/22/archives/film-rocky-pure-30s-makebelieve.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=May 28, 1982 |title=For 'Rocky III,' A Search For Problems |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/28/movies/for-rocky-iii-a-search-for-problems.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} Though his character died in the third Rocky film,{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=November 27, 1985 |title=Screen: 'Rocky IV,' Vs. The U.S.S.R. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/27/movies/screen-rocky-iv-vs-the-ussr.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} he returned briefly in a flashback in the fifth film, Rocky V (1990).{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=November 16, 1990 |title=Review/Film; Rocky, Buffeted by Fists and Life, Returns to His Roots |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/movies/review-film-rocky-buffeted-by-fists-and-life-returns-to-his-roots.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} His portrayal in the first film earned him his second consecutive nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.{{cite news |last=Folkart |first=Burt A. |date=September 11, 1997 |title=Burgess Meredith, Actor's Actor for 70 Years, Dies |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-11-mn-31059-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}}
Meredith had a role in Foul Play (1978) with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.Maslin, Janet (July 19, 1978). [https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/19/archives/screen-goldie-hawn-in-foul-playjumping-hybrid.html "Screen: Goldie Hawn in 'Foul Play'".] The New York Times. He played an old Korean War veteran Captain J. G. Williams in The Last Chase (1981) with Lee Majors.{{cite news |title=Picks and Pans Review: The Last Chase |url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-the-last-chase-vol-17-no-3/ |work=People |date=January 25, 1982 |access-date=September 23, 2016}} He appeared in Ray Harryhausen's last stop-motion feature Clash of the Titans (also 1981) in a supporting role.{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=June 12, 1981 |title='Clash Of The Titens' With Oliver As Zeus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/12/movies/clash-of-titans-with-olivier-as-zeus.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} Meredith appeared in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985){{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=November 27, 1985 |title=Film: 'Santa Claus,' With Moore And Lithgow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/27/movies/film-santa-claus-with-moore-and-lithgow.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} and was the voice of Golobulus in G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987). In his last years, he played Jack Lemmon's character's sex-crazed 95-year-old father in Grumpy Old Men (1993) and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995).
Meredith directed the movie The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949) starring Charles Laughton, which was produced by Irving Allen. Meredith also was billed in a supporting role in this film.{{cite news |title=The Screen In Review; 'The Man on the Eiffel Tower,' From Novel by Simenon, Opens at the Criterion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/01/30/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-man-on-the-eiffel-tower-from-novel-by.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 30, 1950 |access-date=September 23, 2016}} In 1970, he directed (as well as co-wrote and played a supporting role in) The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go, an espionage caper starring James Mason and Jeff Bridges.{{cite book |last=Sweeney |first=Kevin |date=1999 |title=James Mason: A Bio-bibliography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVtVA4EajSgC&pg=PA34 |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=34 |isbn=0-313-28496-2}}
=Television=
File:Burgess Meredith The Twilight Zone.jpg episode, "Time Enough at Last"]]
Meredith appeared in four starring roles in the anthology TV series The Twilight Zone, tying him with Jack Klugman for the most appearances on the show in a starring role.{{cite book |last1=Presnell |first1=Don |last2=McGee |first2=Marty |date=2015 |title=A Critical History of Television's The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqtTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |pages=40, 65 |isbn=978-0-7864-3886-0}}
In his first appearance in 1959, "Time Enough at Last", he portrayed a henpecked bookworm who finds himself the sole survivor of an unspecified apocalypse which leads him to contemplate suicide until he discovers the ruins of the library.{{sfn|Presnell|McGee|2015|pp=5, 39, 40}} In 1961's "Mr. Dingle, the Strong", Meredith played the title character, a timid weakling who receives superhuman strength from an extraterrestrial experiment in human nature.{{sfn|Presnell|McGee|2015|p=88}} Also that year in "The Obsolete Man", Meredith portrayed a librarian sentenced to death in a dystopic totalitarian society.{{sfn|Presnell|McGee|2015|pp=97, 98}} Lastly, in 1963's "Printer's Devil", Meredith portrayed the Devil himself.{{sfn|Presnell|McGee|2015|pp=146, 147}} He later played two additional roles in Rod Serling's other anthology series, Night Gallery.{{cite book |last1=Skelton |first1=Scott |last2=Benson |first2=Jim |date=1999 |title=Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-hours Tour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGqA6vA7OjYC&pg=PA329 |location=Syracuse, New York |publisher=Syracuse University Press |page=329 |isbn=0-8156-0535-8}} Meredith was the narrator for Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983.{{cite book |last=Stanyard |first=Stewart |date=2007 |title=Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=285YaSzAWUQC&pg=PA69 |location=Toronto, Ontario |publisher=ECW Press |page=69 |isbn=978-1-55022-744-4}}
Meredith appeared in various western series, such as Rawhide (four times), The Virginian (twice), Wagon Train, Branded, The Wild Wild West, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Laredo, Bonanza, and Daniel Boone. In 1963, he appeared as Vincent Marion in a five-part episode of the last season of the Warner Bros. ABC detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He appeared three times in Burke's Law (1963–1964), starring Gene Barry.
File:Burgess Meredith as the Penguin.jpg
Meredith was also well known for his portrayal of the Penguin in the television series Batman from 1966 to 1968 and in the 1966 film based on the TV series. 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Meredith made 21 appearances on the series as the Penguin. He also made a brief cameo appearance as the Penguin in the 1968 episode of The Monkees titled "Monkees Blow Their Minds".
From 1972 to 1973, Meredith played V. C. R. Cameron, director of Probe Control, in the television movie/pilot Probe and then in Search, the subsequent TV series (the name was changed to avoid conflict with a program on PBS).
Meredith won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special for the 1977 television film Tail Gunner Joe, a fictionalized study of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, the anticommunist politician active in the 1950s. He was cast as crusading lawyer Joseph Welch.{{cite book|title=Libel and Privacy|last=Sanford|first=Bruce|year=2004|publisher=Aspen Publishers|isbn=0-7355-5297-5|pages=4–58}}
In 1992, Meredith narrated The Chaplin Puzzle, a television documentary that provides a rare insight into Charles Chaplin's work, circa 1914, at Keystone Studios and Essanay, where Chaplin developed his Tramp character.A full copy of the 1992 documentary [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq8mOSgxYy0 The Chaplin Puzzle] narrated by Burgess Meredith is available for viewing on YouTube. Retrieved April 5, 2017. Coincidentally, Meredith married actress Paulette Goddard in 1944 following her divorce from Chaplin.
Military service
In 1942, Meredith enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, reaching the rank of captain.{{cite web|url=https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=118429|title=Meredith, Oliver Burgess, Capt|publisher=www.airforce.togetherweserved.com|access-date=February 27, 2018}} After transferring to the Office of War Information, he made training and education films for the U.S. armed forces.
In 1943 he performed in the USAAF's recruiting short The Rear Gunner and the U.S. Army training film A Welcome to Britain for troops heading to the UK in preparation for the liberation of Europe.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ltVtnCzg9xw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170518064125/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVtnCzg9xw&feature=youtu.be Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=WW2 Training Film for US Soldiers | How to Behave in Britain | 1943| date=April 8, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVtnCzg9xw|access-date=June 10, 2017|publisher=Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) and US Office of War Information}}{{cbignore}}
He was released from duty in 1944 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, in which he played the war correspondent Ernie Pyle.{{cite web|title=The Story of G.I. Joe|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91522/the-story-of-g-i-joe#notes|access-date=September 16, 2011|publisher=Turner Classic Movies}} He was discharged from the USAAF in 1945.
Other work
Meredith also performed voice-over work. He provided the narration for the war film A Walk in the Sun (1945).{{cite news |last=Kehr |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Kehr |date=December 27, 2009 |title=A Grown-Up War Story for a Nation Weary of War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/movies/homevideo/27dvds.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 23, 2016}} As a nod to his longtime association with the original Twilight Zone series, he served as narrator for the 1983 film based on the series. He was a TV commercial voice for such clients as Bulova, Honda, Pioneer, Stokely-Van Camp, United Airlines, and Freakies breakfast cereal.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He also produced and narrated Works Of Calder, a 1950 film directed by Herbert Matter with a soundtrack by the composer John Cage.{{cite web|url=https://calder.org/film/works-of-calder|title=Works Of Calder|website=Calder Foundation}}
He supplied the narration for the 1974–75 ABC Saturday morning series Korg: 70,000 B.C.{{cite book |last=Klossner |first=Michael |date=2015 |title=Prehistoric Humans in Film and Television: 581 Dramas, Comedies and Documentaries, 1905–2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65QdBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=88 |isbn=978-0-7864-2215-9}} and was the voice of Puff in the series of animated adaptations of the Peter, Paul, and Mary song Puff, the Magic Dragon.{{cite news |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=December 9, 2016 |title='Puff the Magic Dragon' Animated Movie in the Works With 'Trolls' Director |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/puff-the-magic-dragon-animated-movie-1201938210/ |work=Variety |access-date=December 9, 2016}} In the mid-1950s, he was one of four narrators of the NBC and syndicated public affairs program, The Big Story (1949–58), which focused on courageous journalists. In 1991, he narrated a track on The Chieftains' album of traditional Christmas music and carols, The Bells of Dublin.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/40-essential-christmas-albums-35316/ |title=40 Essential Christmas Albums |last=Edwards |first=Gavin |author-link=Gavin Edwards (writer) |date=November 30, 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=November 30, 2019}}
He acted in the Kenny G music video of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which was released in 1994. He played the main character, a projectionist at a movie theater.{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQgEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22burgess%20meredith%22%20%22kenny%20G%22&pg=PA42| title=Working Miracles| magazine=Billboard| date=December 10, 1994| access-date=February 22, 2013}} In 1994, he published his autobiography, So Far, So Good.
His last role before his death was the portrayal of both the Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford characters in the 1996 video game Ripper by Take-Two Interactive.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/story/ripper/ |title=Ripper—the Inside Story of the Egregiously Bad Videogame |last=Shapiro |first=Lisa Wood |date=October 9, 2019 |magazine=Wired |access-date=October 9, 2019}} Meredith was considered to play the Penguin's father in the 1992 Tim Burton film Batman Returns, but illness prevented him from appearing and the role was taken by Paul Reubens.{{cite web| url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/152602 |title=Batman Returns| publisher=TCM| access-date=February 22, 2013}}
Personal life
Meredith was married four times. His first wife, Helen Derby Berrien Meredith—the daughter of American Cyanamid president Harry L. Derby—died by suicide in 1940, nearly five years after their divorce.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16907521/helen-derby-meredith-suicide/| title=Actor's Wife Takes Own Life|date=April 14, 1940| work=Middletown Times Herald| via=Newspapers.com|access-date=October 29, 2021}} His next two wives, Margaret Perry (actress) and Paulette Goddard, were actresses; Goddard suffered a miscarriage in 1944. Meredith's last marriage, to Kaja Sundsten, lasted 46 years and produced two children, Jonathan (a musician) and Tala (a painter).
Meredith was a lifelong Democrat{{cn|date=November 2024}} and donor to the party.{{cite journal| title=Hollywood's Political Odd Couples| first=Leoya| last=Broydo| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-cDAAAAMBAJ&q=Burgess%20Meredith%20Democrat&pg=PT19| journal=Mother Jones| date=November–December 1996}} He wrote in his 1994 autobiography So Far, So Good that he had violent mood swings caused by cyclothymia, a form of bipolar disorder.
On September 9, 1997, Meredith died at age 89 from complications of Alzheimer's disease and melanoma, and his remains were cremated.
Awards and nominations
=Honors=
- For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Meredith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.{{cite web |url=https://walkoffame.com/burgess-meredith/ |title=Burgess Meredith |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |access-date=September 23, 2016}}
- For his onstage contributions, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.{{cite web| url=http://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#M| title=Theater Hall of Fame members}}
- A {{convert|21|acres|adj=on}} park was named after him in Pomona, New York, and he provided the funding to incorporate the village.{{cite web|title=Burgess Meredith Park| url=http://www.pomonavillage.com/burgesspark.html| website=Village Of Pomona| access-date=April 19, 2015}}
- In 1977, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.{{cite web| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/33423965/?clipping_id=169901112| title=Upper Iowa Graduates 130| newspaper=Fayette County Leader| page=1| date=May 19, 1977| access-date=April 8, 2025}}{{cite news| title=Upper Iowa graduates class of 129 Saturday Morning| url=https://westunion.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=%22burgess%20meredith%22&i=f&d=01011856-12312023&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_union_usa_iowa_west_union_19770519_english_1&df=1&dt=10| page=1| newspaper=The Union| location=West Union, Iowa| date=May 19, 1977| access-date=April 8, 2025}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-burgess-meredith-to-rece/169901733/| title=Playboy hires architect for New Jersey casino| first=Maggie| last=Daly| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=May 1, 1977| page=46 Sec 1| access-date=April 8, 2025}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1935
| data-sort-value="Scoundrel, The" | The Scoundrel | Flop House Bum | Uncredited |
| 1936
| Mio Romagna | |
| 1937
| Dick Matthews | |
| 1938
| The Lippencott | |
| rowspan="2" | 1939
| Quillery | |
| Of Mice and Men
| George Milton | |
| rowspan="3" | 1940
| Steven Rockford | |
| Second Chorus
| Hank Taylor | |
| data-sort-value="San Francisco Docks, The" | The San Francisco Docks
| Johnny Barnes | |
| rowspan="3" | 1941
| Alexander Sebastian | |
| Tom, Dick and Harry
| Harry | |
| data-sort-value="Forgotten Village, The" | The Forgotten Village
| Narrator | Voice |
| 1942
| Frank Thompson / Danny Nearing | |
| rowspan="2" | 1943
| data-sort-value="Welcome to Britain, A" | A Welcome to Britain | Himself | Army Service Forces training film, 1943; uncredited |
| data-sort-value="Rear Gunner, The" | The Rear Gunner
| Pvt. L.A. Pee Wee Williams | |
| rowspan="5" | 1944
| Our Country | Himself | |
| Hymn of the Nations
| Narrator | Voice, uncredited |
| Salute to France
| the American soldier | |
| Tunisian Victory
| American soldier | Voice |
| Attack! Battle of New Britain
| Narrator | Voice |
| rowspan="2" | 1945
| data-sort-value="Story of G.I. Joe, The" | The Story of G.I. Joe | |
| data-sort-value="Walk in the Sun, A" | A Walk in the Sun
| Narrator | Voice, uncredited |
| rowspan="2" | 1946
| data-sort-value="Diary of a Chambermaid, The" | The Diary of a Chambermaid | Captain Mauger | |
| Magnificent Doll
| James Madison | |
| 1947
| Felix Milne | |
| 1948
| Oliver M Pease | |
| rowspan="4" | 1949
| Jigsaw | Jack / Bartender | Uncredited |
| data-sort-value="Yank Comes Back, A" | A Yank Comes Back
| Unknown role | Also writer |
| Golden Arrow
| Dick | |
| data-sort-value="Man on the Eiffel Tower, The" | The Man on the Eiffel Tower
| Joseph Heurtin | |
| 1950
| Works of Calder | Narrator | Voice |
| 1954
| Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Invisible Man | Himself | |
| rowspan="2" | 1957
| Joe Butterfly | |
| Albert Schweitzer
| Narrator | Voice |
| rowspan="2" | 1958
| data-sort-value="Kidnappers, The" | The Kidnappers | Louis Halliburton | |
| Sorcerer's Village
| Narrator | Voice |
| rowspan="2" | 1959
| America Pauses for Springtime | Himself | |
| America Pauses for the Merry Month of May
| Himself | |
| 1962
| Herbert Gelman | |
| 1963
| data-sort-value="Cardinal, The" | The Cardinal | Father Ned Halley | |
| 1965
| Commander Egan Powell | |
| rowspan="4" | 1966
| Madame X | Dan Sullivan | |
| Batman
| Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin | |
| data-sort-value="Crazy Quilt, The" | The Crazy Quilt
| Narrator | Voice |
| data-sort-value="Big Hand for the Little Lady, A" | A Big Hand for the Little Lady
| Doc Scully | As Burgess Meridith |
| rowspan="2" | 1967
| Dr. Diablo | |
| Hurry Sundown
| Judge Purcell | Framework Story |
| rowspan="4" | 1968
| Charlie Lightcloud | |
| Skidoo
| The Warden | |
| Dear Mr. Gable
| Narrator | Voice |
| Debrief: Apollo 8
| Narrator | Voice |
| rowspan="4" | 1969
| data-sort-value="Father, The" | The Father | Captain Ned | |
| Mackenna's Gold
| The Store Keeper | |
| Hard Contract
| Ramsey Williams | |
| data-sort-value="Reivers, The" | The Reivers
| Lucious / Narrator | Voice |
| rowspan="2" | 1970
| The Missouri Kid | |
| data-sort-value="Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go, The" | The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go
| The Dolphin | Also director |
| rowspan="2" | 1971
| Freedom Lovelace | |
| Such Good Friends
| Kalman | |
| rowspan="4" | 1972
| data-sort-value="Fan's Notes, A" | A Fan's Notes | Mr. Blue | |
| Beware! The Blob
| Old Hobo | Uncredited |
| Mineral King
| Narrator | Voice |
| data-sort-value="Man, The" | The Man
| Senator Watson | |
| rowspan="2" | 1974
| Hay que matar a B. | Hector | |
| Golden Needles
| Winters | |
| rowspan="4" | 1975
| data-sort-value="Day of the Locust, The" | The Day of the Locust | Harry Greener | |
| 92 in the Shade
| Goldsboro | |
| data-sort-value="Master Gunfighter, The" | The Master Gunfighter
| Narrator | Voice |
| data-sort-value="Hindenburg, The" | The Hindenburg
| Emilio Pajetta | |
| rowspan="3" | 1976
| Circasia | Clown | |
| Burnt Offerings
| Arnold Allardyce | |
| Rocky
| |
| rowspan="2" | 1977
| data-sort-value="Sentinel, The" | The Sentinel | Charles Chazen | |
| Golden Rendezvous
| Van Heurden | |
| 1978
| data-sort-value="Manitou, The" | The Manitou | Dr. Snow | |
| rowspan="3" | 1978
| Mr. Hennessey | |
| data-sort-value="Great Bank Hoax, The" | The Great Bank Hoax
| Jack Stutz | |
| Magic
| Ben Greene | |
| 1979
| Rocky II | Mickey Goldmill | |
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| Rene Valdez | |
| Final Assignment
| Zak | |
| rowspan="3" | 1981
| data-sort-value="Last Chase, The" | The Last Chase | Captain J.G. Williams | |
| Clash of the Titans
| Ammon | |
| True Confessions
| Msgr. Seamus Fargo | |
| 1982
| Mickey Goldmill | |
| 1983
| Narrator | Voice, uncredited |
| 1984
| Wet Gold | Sampson | Made for TV |
| rowspan="2" | 1985
| Ancient Elf | |
| Rocky IV
| Mickey Goldmill | Archival footage, uncredited |
| rowspan="2" | 1987
| Voice |
| King Lear
| Don Learo | Uncredited |
| rowspan="2" | 1988
| Don's Dad | Voice, uncredited |
| Full Moon in Blue Water
| The General | |
| rowspan="3" | 1990
| Ingersol | |
| State of Grace
| Finn | |
| Rocky V
| Mickey Goldmill | Flashback (new footage) |
| 1993
| Grandpa Gustafson | |
| 1994
| Fein | |
| rowspan="3" | 1995
| Old Man | Uncredited |
| Across the Moon
| Barney | |
| Grumpier Old Men
| Grandpa Gustafson | Last role |
| 2006
| Mickey Goldmill | Archival footage, uncredited |
| 2020
| 40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic | Mickey Goldmill | Archival footage |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950
| Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1950
| Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall | Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1950
| Himself | 2 episodes | |||
| 1950
| Himself/Frank Hugo | Episode: "Ride the Pink Horse" | |||
| 1952
| data-sort-value="Name's the Same, The" | The Name's the Same | Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1952
| Paul | Episode: "The Great Silence" | |||
| 1953–1954
| Himself | 3 episodes | |||
| 1956
| Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1955–1958
| data-sort-value="Big Story, The" | The Big Story | Narrator (voice) | 38 episodes | |||
| 1958
| data-sort-value="Ben Hecht Show, The" | The Ben Hecht Show | Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1959
| data-sort-value="Jack Paar Tonight Show, The" | The Jack Paar Tonight Show | Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1959
| data-sort-value="Arthur Murray Party, The" | The Arthur Murray Party | Himself | 2 episodes | |||
| 1959–1963
| data-sort-value="Twilight Zone, The" | The Twilight Zone | Henry Bemis, Luther Dingle, Romney Wordsworth, Mr. Smith | 4 episodes | |||
| 1961
| data-sort-value="Play of the Week, The" | The Play of the Week | Vladimir | Episode: "Waiting for Godot" | |||
| 1961 | Rawhide | Tom Gwynn | S4:E9, "The Little Fishes" |
| 1962
| Duncan Kleist | Episode: "Hold for Gloria Christmas" | |||
| 1963 | Rawhide | Matthew Higgins | S6:E5, "Incident at Paradise" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Hannibal H. Plew | S6:26, "Incident at Deadhorse: Part I" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Hannibal H. Plew | S6:27, "Incident at Deadhorse: Part II" |
| 1964
| Grover Allen | Episode: "The Grover Allen Story" | |||
| 1965
| Principal Martin Woodridge | 15 episodes | |||
| 1965
| Laredo | Grubby Sully | Episode: "Lazyfoot, Where Are You?" | |||
| 1965
| data-sort-value="Loner, The" | The Loner | Siedry | Episode: "Hunt the Man Down" | |||
| 1965
| data-sort-value="Wild Wild West, The" | The Wild Wild West | Orkney Cadwallader | Episode: "The Night of the Human Trigger" | |||
| 1965
| data-sort-value="Trials of O'Brien, The" | The Trials of O'Brien | Judge Benjamin Vincent | Episode: "No Justice for the Judge" | |||
| 1966–1968
| Batman | The Penguin | 21 episodes | |||
| 1966
| Radar Expert | Episode: "Back to the Drawing Board" | |||
| 1967
| data-sort-value="Invaders, The" | The Invaders | Theodore Booth | Episode: "Wall of Crystal" | |||
| 1968–1971
| Ironside | Harry Grenadine, Alfred Carney | 2 episodes | |||
| 1967
| Bonanza | Owney Duggan | Episode: "Six Black Horses" | |||
| 1968
| data-sort-value="Monkees, The" | The Monkees | The Penguin | Uncredited | |||
| 1968
| data-sort-value="Virginian, The" | The Virginian | Tim Bradbury | 2 episodes | |||
| 1969
| Alex Hemming | Episode: "Three Score and Ten" | |||
| 1970–1972
| Charlie Finnegan, Dr. William Fall | 2 episodes | |||
| 1971
| Muley | Episode: "Flight From Memory" | |||
| 1971
| data-sort-value="Bill Cosby Special, The" | The Bill Cosby Special | Himself | Television special | |||
| 1971
| data-sort-value="Bold Ones: The Senator, The" | The Bold Ones: The Senator | George P. Mallon | Episode: "Power Play" | |||
| 1971
| Room 222 | Morris Henry | Episode: "KWWH" | |||
| 1971
| Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Henry Meade | 2 episodes | |||
| 1972
| Mannix | Noah Otway | Episode: "The Crimson Halo" | |||
| 1972
| McCloud | Marvin Sloan | Episode: "A Little Plot at Tranquil Valley" | |||
| 1972–1973
| Search | V. C. R. Cameron | 23 episodes | |||
| 1974–1975
| Narrator (voice) | 19 episodes | |||
| 1975
| data-sort-value="Time Of Apollo, The" | The Time Of Apollo | Narrator (voice) | Documentary by NASA {{cite web|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/649447|title=The Time Of Apollo|website=National Archives, NAID 649447|series=Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration }} | |||
| 1976
| Dinah! | Himself | 1 episode | |||
| 1976
| data-sort-value="48th Annual Academy Awards, The" | The 48th Annual Academy Awards | Himself | | |||
| 1977
| Willy Basset | Television film | |||
| 1977
| Television film | |||
| 1977
| data-sort-value="49th Annual Academy Awards, The" | The 49th Annual Academy Awards | Himself | | |||
| 1978
| data-sort-value="Return of Captain Nemo, The" | The Return of Captain Nemo | Prof. Waldo Cunningham | Television film | |||
| 1978–1979, 1982
| Puff (voice) | Television special | |||
| 1980–1981
| Himself/co-host | 2 episodes | |||
| 1982–1983
| Gloria | Dr. Adams, Gloria Bunker Stivic's boss | 22 episodes | |||
| 1984
| Mr. Mortimer Mole (voice) | Episode: "Thumbelina" | |||
| 1987
| Mad Tom | Television film | |||
| 1991
| Night of the Hunter | Birdy | Television film | |||
| 1992
| Lincoln | Winfield Scott (voice) | Television film | |||
| 1993
| Judge Cully | 3 episodes | |||
| 1994
| data-sort-value="Great Battles of the Civil War, The" | The Great Battles of the Civil War | Gettysburg Star, Banner Columnist (voice) | Television series documentary |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1996
| Ripper | Hamilton Wofford, Covington Wooford | |
Theatre
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1930
| Peter |
| 1930
| Grain |
| 1930
| Olderly |
| 1931
| People on the Hill | Packy Davis |
| 1932
| Liliom | Young Hollunder |
| 1932
| Duck, Dormouse, Tweedledee |
| 1933
| Cook-Finger Jack |
| 1933
| Little Ol' Boy | Red Barry |
| 1933
| She Loves Me Not | Buzz Jones |
| 1934
| Hipper's Holiday | Jim Hipper |
| 1935
| Battieship Gertie | Seaman Jones |
| 1935
| The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Octavius Moulton-Barrett |
| 1935
| Leonard Dobie |
| 1935
| Milo |
| 1936
| High Tor | Van Van Dorn |
| 1937
| Stephen Minch |
| 1940
| Liliom | Liliom |
| 1946
| The Playboy of the Western World | Christy Mahon |
| 1950
| Larry |
| 1951
| The Little Blue Light | Gandersheim |
| 1951
| Michael |
| 1953
| The Teahouse of the August Moon | Sakini |
| 1953
| The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker | Pa Pennypacker |
| 1956
| Major Barbra | Adolphus Cusins |
| 1961
| Kicks and Co. | Mr. Kicks |
| 1964
| Performer |
| 1967
| Of Love Remembered | Performer |
| 1974
| Performer |
Radio appearances
Book
- {{Cite book| title=So Far, So Good: A Memoir| publisher=Little Brown & Co| year=1994| isbn=978-0-31-656717-6}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{TCMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Iobdb name}}
- {{Discogs artist|Burgess Meredith}}
- [http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/main/villains/penguin.php Burgess Meredith as the Penguin]
- [http://www.pomonavillage.com/burgesspark.html Burgess Meredith Park]
- [http://www.thenedscottarchive.com/hollywood/films/story-of-g-i-joe.html#burgess Photos of Burgess Meredith in Story of G.I. Joe, 1944] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216052847/http://www.thenedscottarchive.com/hollywood/films/story-of-g-i-joe.html#burgess |date=February 16, 2017 }}) by Ned Scott
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Burgess Meredith
|list =
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesSupportingActor}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor}}
{{Special Tony Award}}
}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Theatre|Film|Television}}
{{Authority control}}
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