Biography for
Burgess Meredith More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

16 November 1907, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Date of Death

9 September 1997, Malibu, California, USA (melanoma and Alzheimer's disease)

Birth Name

Oliver Burgess Meredith

Nickname

Buzz

Height

5' 5½" (1.66 m)

Mini Biography

One of the truly great and gifted performers of the century who often suffered lesser roles, Meredith was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1907 and educated in Amherst College in Massachusetts before joining Eva Le Gallienne's stage company in New York City in 1933. He bcame a favorite of dramatist Maxwell Anderson, premiering on film in the playwright's Winterset (1936). Served in the Air Force in WWII. He continued in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles until being named an unfriendly witness by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, whereupon studio work disappeared. His career picked up again, especially with television roles, in the 1960s, although younger audiences know him best for either the Rocky (1976) or Grumpy Old Men (1993) films. Meredith also did a large amount of commercial work, serving as the voice for Skippy Peanut Butter and United Air Lines, among others. He was also an ardent environmentalist who believed pollution one of the greatest tragedies of the time, and an opponent of the Vietnam War.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Spouse

Kaja Sundsten	(1950 - 9 September 1997) (his death) 2 children
Paulette Goddard	(21 May 1944 - 1950) (divorced)
Margaret Perry	(10 January 1936 - 19 July 1938) (divorced)
Helen Derby	(1933 - 1935) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Raspy, distinct voice.

Trivia

Served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, reaching the rank of Captain.

Because of his very liberal political views, he collided with Senator Joseph McCarthy and was blacklisted from films in the late 1950s. Meredith, one might say, got revenge on McCarthy by portraying Joseph Welch, the man who humiliated McCarthy on national television, in _'Tail Gunner Joe (1977) (TV)_'.

Otto Preminger was instrumental in restoring his film career.

His character, the Penguin, was so popular as a villain in the "Batman" (1966) TV-series the producers always had a Penguin script ready in case Meredith wanted to appear as a guest star.

Father of two (with fourth wife Kaja Sundsten): son Jonathon (musician) and daughter Tala (painter)

On the "Batman" (1966) TV series, developed his grunting Penguin laugh out of necessity. Meredith had given up smoking some twenty-odd years earlier, but his character was required to smoke with a cigarette holder. The smoke would get caught in his throat and he would start coughing. Rather than constantly ruin takes in this matter, he developed the laugh to cover it up. "Actually, it was a pretty funny noise for a penguin to make," said Meredith. "I sounded more like a duck." Needless to say, Meredith gave up smoking again immediately after the series ended.

Suffered from melanoma and other ailments, including Alzheimer's disease, at the time of his death.

Was only seventeen years older then Jack Lemmon when he played his father in Grumpy Old Men (1993).

In 1960, received a special Tony Award, along with James Thurber, for A Thurber Carnival. He was also nominated for a 1974 Tony Award as best director (dramatic) for Ulysses in Nighttown.

Was the second choice for the Penguin role in "Batman" (1966) . Producers had originally wanted Spencer Tracy in the role, but Tracy wouldn't sign unless his character was allowed to kill Batman. Obviously, they did not want to kill the main character, so the role went to Meredith.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 406-407. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

He was fascinated by the subject of non-human intelligence, particularly dolphins. He once believed that a dolphin somehow called to him for help in the middle of the night while he was staying at a friend's home on the beach. He ran out and found the dolphin, caught in a net under a dock down the beach, although there was no way he should have been able to know it was there. He released it, saving its life. He believed it had made some sort of connection with him, perhaps telepathic, to call for help.

Was offered the part of The Penguin's father in Batman Returns (1992) (which eventually went to Paul Reubens), but couldn't film it because of his delicate health.

Once narrated a Gaelic Christmas Carol in English for The Chieftains on their "The Bells of Dublin" CD.

Relied on cue cards during the filming of Grumpier Old Men (1995) , contributed from being in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

Despite his character dying in Rocky III (1982), he has appeared in every Rocky film, as either the real character, a flashback, or through archive footage.

Nephew of comedian and character actor, Jay "Handsome Danny Mann" Burgess (1856-1937).

Personal Quotes

"I did 'Batman' for two reasons, one of which was the salary. The other was that, after the first few episodes, 'Batman' became the in-thing to do. Everybody...would either play a villain or appear as himself in that cameo showcase where a celebrity would poke his head through the window of a building that Batman and Robin were climbing...Actually, we didn't get as much money from the show as you might think, although we were paid decent money for the feature film version. The main impetus to continue appearing on 'Batman' - beyond the desire to get some TV work - was that it was fashionable."

"I was born a character actor. I was never really a leading man type."

"Like the seasons of the year, life changes frequently and drastically. You enjoy it or endure it as it comes and goes, as it ebbs and flows."

"I'll just take amusement at being a paradox."

[On his childhood] "All my life, to this day, the memory of my childhood remains grim and incoherent. If I close my eyes and think back, I see little except violence and fear...In those early years I somehow came to understand I would have to draw from within myself whatever emotional resources I needed to go wherever I was headed. As a result, for years I became a boy who lived almost totally within himself."

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