Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1909 - September 9, 1997)
was an American actor, perhaps
best known for playing the Penguin on 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.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Meredith played Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey in the
Rocky film series, and in his twilight years was Jack Lemmon's character's father in Grumpy Old Men.
Burgess Meredith was adept playing both dramatic and comedic roles. 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. However, he becomes the tragic victim of one of The Twilight Zone 's trademark twist endings - he
breaks his glasses and cannot read the books.
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 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 served in the United States Army Air Forces in World War
II reaching the rank of Captain.
Meredith died of Alzheimer's disease in 1997.
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