The Penguin
Burgess Meredith


Burgess Meredith made his film debut in the 1936 picture Winterset. Before Batman he had appeared in numerous movies and had appearances in many of the popular television shows of that time. When looking back on the show, Burgess explains "It was a very fashionable thing to be the Penguin at the time and to be on that program. Lots of stars played on it...I was just one of the many and I didn't think [my role] was going to continue, except that they found such a reaction to it that they went ahead and made a couple of feature films about it."

In fact, he had quit smoking before he got the part on the show, he commented, "I wasn't smoking at the time, and still, I had to have that cigarette in my mouth all the time. The character of the Penguin had it. It would irritate my throat-we weren't on a big budget in those days, so instead of stopping to clear my throat I just incorporated it into the character when I was coughing. When I didn't think I was funny I'd just cough." Some of the films he appeared in are Of Mice and Men (1939), The Sorcerer's Village (1958), Grumpy Old Men (1993) and Grumpier Old Men (1995). Television shows he appeared in include The Twilight Zone, The Monkees and The Wild Wild West.







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