Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 - September 9, 1997)

This gravely voiced character actor was one of the mediums most gifted entertainers. He made a great mark on both film and television in a career that spanned 55 years and hundreds of guest appearances. His film career began in the late 1930's and would go on to include more than 90 films up through 1995. Some of his more notable film appearances were in 1939 in Of Mice and Men, The Rocky film and the sequels that would follow it, Batman in 1966, and Grumpy Old Men in 1993. On television his appearances include but are not limited to "The Perry Como Show", "What's My Line?", "The Bell Telephone Hour", "The Ford Theatre Hour", "The Silver Theatre", "Your Show of Shows", "Robert Montgomery Presents", "Studio One", "The Billy Rose Show", "The Philco Television Playhouse", "Lights Out","Lux Video Theatre", "The United States Steel Hour", "General Electric Theater", "The DuPont Show of the Month", "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "Sunday Showcase", "Ben Casey", "77 Sunset Strip", "Wagon Train", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "Rawhide", "Burke's Law", "The Wild Wild West", "Please Don't Eat the Daisies", "Bonanza", "The Monkees", "Daniel Boone", "The Bold Ones: The Senator", "The Virginian", "Love, American Style", "Disneyland", "Ironside", "McCloud", "Mannix", "Archie Bunker's Place" and "In the Heat of the Night." He is one of only two actors who appeared in four different episodes of "The Twilight Zone." John Anderson was the other. Meredith's most memorable performance on the show was as Henry Bemis, a quiet henpecked man who loved to read, as the survivor of a nuclear holocaust. Once he sees that he is alone and there is no one to bother him picks up a book but unfortunately he drops and shatters his much needed glasses and finds himself trapped alone and unable to enjoy his most desired hobby. In 1966 he began playing Batman's enemy The Penguin on the ABC smash hit "Batman." His performance as the Penguin was so popular that the producers always had a script ready for him in the event that he was available to appear on the show at any time. He would go onto appear in 20 episodes as the fine feathered fiend. In 1982 he co-starred along side Sally Struthers in the "Archie Bunker's Place" spin-off "Gloria" which saw Archie Bunker's daughter Gloria going to work in a vet's office. Meredith played Dr. Willard Adams the grouchy but big hearted veterinarian. In 1993 he returned to the big screen in the comedy Grumpy Old Men which featured Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as two bickering neighbors. Meredith played Jack Lemmon's father. In real life there was an eighteen year age difference between the two and the father-son relationship was very believable. Meredith's character, Grandpa, was 94, smoked, drank, and ate a lot of bacon. He was also incredibly ready for sex. He returned to the role for the sequel in 1995 unfortunately the character of Grandpa passed away during the course of the film. Meredith was a great actor and a great man. A decade after his passing, he is still large presence in Classic Hollywood.