Burgess Meredith
Encyclopedia
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997), known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" who was "one of the most accomplished actors of the century." Meredith won several Emmys and was nominated for Academy Awards.
, the son of Ida Beth (née
Burgess) and Canadian
-born William George Meredith, M.D.
He graduated from Hoosac School
in 1926 and then attended Amherst College
as a member of the Class of 1931. Meredith served in the United States Army Air Forces
in World War II
, reaching the rank of captain. He was discharged in 1944 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, in which he starred as the popular war correspondent Ernie Pyle
.
's 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.
He received acclaim playing in the 1935 revival of The Barretts of Wimpole Street
starring Katharine Cornell
. 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 Major Barbara (1957). He created the role of Erie Smith in the English-language
premiere of Eugene O'Neill
's Hughie
at the Theater Royal in Bath, England
in 1963. He played Hamlet in avant-garde theatrical and radio productions of the play.
A distinguished theatre director, he won 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).
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).
Meredith was featured in many 1940s films, including three -- Second Chorus
(1940), Diary of a Chambermaid
(1946) and On Our Merry Way
(1948) -- co-starring then-wife Paulette Goddard
. He also played alongside Lana Turner
in Madame X
.
As a result of the House Committee on Un-American Activities investigation into Communist influence in Hollywood, Meredith was placed on the Hollywood blacklist
, resulting in a seven-year drought of work.
Meredith was a favorite of director Otto Preminger
, who cast him in Advise and Consent
(1962), In Harm's Way
(1965), Hurry Sundown
(1967), Skidoo
(1968) and Such Good Friends
(1971). He was the Penguin
in the Batman
movie of 1966 based on the TV series. Meredith played Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey Goldmill
, in the first three Rocky
films (1976, 1979 and 1982), to great acclaim. Even though his character died in the third Rocky film, he returned briefly in the fifth film, Rocky V
(1990). He played an old Korean War
veteran Captain J.G. Williams in The Last Chase
with Lee Majors
. He appeared in Ray Harryhausen
's last stop-motion feature Clash of the Titans
(1981), in a supporting role.
Meredith appeared in Santa Claus: The Movie
(1985). In his last years, he played Jack Lemmon
's character's father in Grumpy Old Men
(1993) and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men
(1995).
He was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Supporting Actor category for his roles in The Day of the Locust
(1975) and Rocky
(1976). Another notable role was as Goldie Hawn
's landlord in Foul Play
(1978).
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. In 1970 he directed (as well as co-writing and playing a supporting role in) The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go, an espionage caper starring James Mason
as a Hong Kong
crime lord and Jeff Bridges
as an ambitious amoral draft dodging novelist.
. 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
. In the 1961 episode "Mr. Dingle, the Strong
", Meredith plays the title character, a timid weakling who, as the subject of a space alien
's experiment on human nature, suddenly acquires superhuman strength. In "Printer's Devil
," Meredith portrayed the Devil
himself, and in "The Obsolete Man
" he portrayed a librarian, sentenced to death in a future, dystopic
totalitarian society. He would later play two more roles in Rod Serling
's other anthology series, Night Gallery
. Meredith was the narrator for Twilight Zone: The Movie
in 1983. He did not receive on-screen credit for his narration (this was so that he could do the job for scale rather than charge his usual minimum fee); as compensation for Meredith's uncredited work, his name was inserted into the dialogue in a scene between Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks.
He appeared in various television programs, including the role of Chris, III, in the 1962 episode "Hooray, Hooray, the Circus Is Coming to Town" of the NBC
medical drama
about psychiatry
, The Eleventh Hour
starring Wendell Corey
and Jack Ging
. He also guest starred in the ABC
drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point in the 1963 episode titled "Heart of Marble, Body of Stone".
Meredith appeared in various western
series too, such as Rawhide
(four times), The Virginian
(twice), Wagon Train
, Branded, The Wild Wild West
, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
, Laredo and Daniel Boone
.
In 1963, he appeared as Vincent Marion in a five-part episode of the last season of the Warner Brothers ABC
detective series 77 Sunset Strip
. He starred three times in Burke's Law
(1963–1964), starring Gene Barry
.
Meredith also played The Penguin
in the television series Batman
. 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. He appeared on the show more times during its run than any other villain except for Cesar Romero
's Joker
who tied with Meredith for number of appearances on the show.
From 1972-73, 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). The series involved World Securities Corporation, a private agency which, among other activities, fielded a number of detectives equipped with high-tech equipment including a tiny TV transmitter (the "Scanner") which allowed Probe Control to see what was going on where the agents were working. One episode centered around Cameron being kidnapped and having to escape from a torture chamber, without any of the tools carried by Probe agents.
He won an Emmy Award
as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special for the 1977 television film Tail Gunner Joe
, a fictitious study of U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, the anti-communist leader of the 1950s.
In the early 1980s, he was a co-host of the ABC
program, Those Amazing Animals
, and co-starred in the short lived CBS
sitcom Gloria
, a spin-off
of All in the Family
.
's Waiting for Godot
with Zero Mostel
and Kurt Kasznar
.
Meredith performed voiceover work. He provided the narration for A Walk in the Sun. As a nod to his longtime association with The Twilight Zone, he served as narrator for the 1983 film
based on the series. He was the TV commercial voice for Bulova Watches
, Honda
, Stokley-Van Camp, United Airlines
, and Freakies
breakfast cereal.
He supplied the narration for the 1974–1975 ABC
Saturday morning series Korg: 70,000 B.C. and was the voice of Puff in the series of animated adaptations of the Peter, Paul, and Mary song Puff, the Magic Dragon
. In the mid-1950s, he was one of four narrators of the NBC
and syndicated
public affairs program, The Big Story
(1949–1958), which focuses on courageous journalists. In 1991, he narrated a track on the The Chieftains
' album of traditional
Christmas
music and carols, The Bells of Dublin
.
His last role before his death was the portrayal of both Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford characters in the 1996 video game Ripper by Take-Two Interactive
.
, a form of bipolar disorder
.
Meredith had four wives, including actresses Margaret Perry and Paulette Goddard
. His last marriage (to Kaja Sundsten) lasted 46 years, and produced two children, Jonathon (a musician) and Tala (a painter).
Meredith was an outspoken liberal
and clashed with Senator
Joseph McCarthy
, which led to him being blacklisted for a few years in the 1950s.
and melanoma
on September 9, 1997. Long time friend Adam West
spoke briefly at his memorial service. Meredith's remains were cremated
. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Burgess has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028.
Early life
Meredith was born in Cleveland, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, the son of Ida Beth (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Burgess) and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born William George Meredith, M.D.
He graduated from Hoosac School
Hoosac School
Hoosac School is a private co-educational Episcopal boarding school located in Hoosick Falls, New York in the United States.-History:Hoosac school was founded in 1889 by Dr. Edward Dudley Tibbits. Facilities are located on the Tibbits Estate which rests on near the Vermont border. The school...
in 1926 and then attended Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
as a member of the Class of 1931. Meredith served in the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, reaching the rank of captain. He was discharged in 1944 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, in which he starred as the popular war correspondent Ernie Pyle
Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944...
.
Theatre
In 1933, he became a member of Eva Le GallienneEva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne was a well-known actress, producer, and director, during the first half of the 20th century.-Early life and early career:...
's theatre company in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. 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
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as Peter in Le Gallienne's production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(1930) and became a star in Maxwell Anderson
Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist.-Early years:Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela Stephenson, both of Scots and Irish descent...
's Winterset
Winterset (play)
Winterset is a play by Maxwell Anderson.A verse drama written largely in poetic form, the tragedy deals indirectly with the famous Sacco-Vanzetti case, in which two Italian immigrants with radical political beliefs were executed...
(1935), which became his film debut the following year. His early life and theatre work were the subject of a New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
profile.
He received acclaim playing in the 1935 revival of The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American film depicting the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning , despite the opposition of her father Edward Moulton-Barrett . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture...
starring Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
. She subsequently cast him in several of her later productions.
Other Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
roles included Van van Dorn in High Tor
High Tor
High Tor is a 1936 play by Maxwell Anderson. Twenty years after the original production, Anderson adapted it into a television musical with Arthur Schwartz.-Play:...
(1937), Liliom in Liliom
Liliom
Liliom is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was very famous in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.- Plot :...
(1940), Christy Mahon in The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...
(1946), and Adolphus Cusins Major Barbara (1957). He created the role of Erie Smith in the English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
premiere of Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Hughie
Hughie
Hughie is a short two-character play by Eugene O’Neill set in the lobby of a small hotel on a West Side street in midtown New York during the summer of 1928. The play is essentially a long monologue delivered by a small time hustler named Erie Smith to the hotel’s new night clerk Charlie Hughes,...
at the Theater Royal in Bath, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1963. He played Hamlet in avant-garde theatrical and radio productions of the play.
A distinguished theatre director, he won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for his 1974 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
staging of Ulysses in Nighttown
Ulysses in Nighttown
Ulysses in Nighttown is a play based on an episode from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce that was adapted by Marjorie Barkentin and contains incidental music by Peter Link. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1958 with Zero Mostel to a long and successful run, earning Mostel an Obie Award...
, a theatrical adaptation of the "Nighttown" section of James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
. Meredith also shared a Special Tony Award with James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
for their collaboration on A Thurber Carnival
A Thurber Carnival
A Thurber Carnival is a revue by James Thurber, adapted by the author from his stories, cartoons and casuals , nearly all of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. It was directed by Burgess Meredith...
(1960).
Cinema
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men (1939 film)
Of Mice and Men is a 1939 film based on the novella of the same title by American author John Steinbeck. It stars Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney, Jr., Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele and Noah Beery, Jr...
and as war correspondent Ernie Pyle
Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944...
in The Story of G.I. Joe
The Story of G.I. Joe
The Story of G.I. Joe, also credited in prints as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, is a 1945 American war film directed by William Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only nomination for Best Supporting Actor.The...
(1945).
Meredith was featured in many 1940s films, including three -- Second Chorus
Second Chorus
Second Chorus is a Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw, and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen, Hal Borne and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by H. C...
(1940), Diary of a Chambermaid
The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946 film)
The Diary of a Chambermaid is a drama film about a newly-hired servant who severely disrupts a wealthy family. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Octave Mirbeau and the play Le journal d'une femme de Chambre by André Heuse, André de Lorde, and Thielly Nores, was directed by Jean...
(1946) and On Our Merry Way
On Our Merry Way
On Our Merry Way is an American comedy film, produced by Benedict Bogeaus and Burgess Meredith, and released by United Artists. At the time of its release, King Vidor and Leslie Fenton were credited with its direction, although the DVD lists John Huston and George Stevens, who assisted with one of...
(1948) -- co-starring then-wife Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
. He also played alongside Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
in Madame X
Madame X (1966 film)
Madame X is a 1966 drama film directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Lana Turner.-Plot:A lower class woman, Holly Parker , marries into the rich Anderson family. Her husband's mother looks down on her and keeps a watchful eye on her activities...
.
As a result of the House Committee on Un-American Activities investigation into Communist influence in Hollywood, Meredith was placed on the Hollywood blacklist
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
, resulting in a seven-year drought of work.
Meredith was a favorite of director Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, who cast him in Advise and Consent
Advise and Consent (film)
Advise & Consent is a 1962 American motion picture based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Allen Drury, published in 1959. The movie was adapted for the screen by Wendell Mayes and was directed by Otto Preminger...
(1962), In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white...
(1965), Hurry Sundown
Hurry Sundown (film)
Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B...
(1967), Skidoo
Skidoo (film)
Skidoo is an American comedy film directed by Otto Preminger, starring Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing, written by Doran William Cannon and released by Paramount Pictures on December 19, 1968...
(1968) and Such Good Friends
Such Good Friends
Such Good Friends is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Esther Dale is based on the novel of the same title by Lois Gould.-Plot:...
(1971). He was the Penguin
Penguin (comics)
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot III is a DC Comics supervillain and one of Batman's oldest, most persistent enemies. The Penguin was introduced by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, making his debut in Detective Comics #58 .The Penguin is a short, rotund man known for his love of birds and his...
in the Batman
Batman (1966 film)
Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film was...
movie of 1966 based on the TV series. Meredith played Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey Goldmill
Mickey Goldmill
Michael "Mickey" Goldmill was a fictional boxing trainer created by Sylvester Stallone and portrayed by Burgess Meredith in the Rocky film series. The character's gravelly voice, intense demeanor and popular catch phrases helped make him highly recognizable, as well as, a common source of parody...
, in the first three Rocky
Rocky
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
films (1976, 1979 and 1982), to great acclaim. Even though his character died in the third Rocky film, he returned briefly in the fifth film, Rocky V
Rocky V
Rocky V is an American film released as the fifth film in the Rocky series in 1990. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Stallone's real life son Sage, and real life boxer Tommy Morrison as boxer Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer...
(1990). He played an old Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
veteran Captain J.G. Williams in The Last Chase
The Last Chase
The Last Chase is a 1981 science fiction film starring Lee Majors, Burgess Meredith and Chris Makepeace, and directed by Martyn Burke. It was produced by Argosy Films.-Plot:The setting is the USA at an unspecified future time...
with Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
. He appeared in Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
's last stop-motion feature Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans (1981 film)
Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film...
(1981), in a supporting role.
Meredith appeared in Santa Claus: The Movie
Santa Claus: The Movie
Santa Claus: The Movie is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind...
(1985). In his last years, he played Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
's character's father in Grumpy Old Men
Grumpy Old Men (film)
Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
(1993) and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...
(1995).
He was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Supporting Actor category for his roles in The Day of the Locust
The Day of the Locust (film)
The Day of the Locust is a 1975 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Waldo Salt is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Nathanael West...
(1975) and Rocky
Rocky
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(1976). Another notable role was as Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
's landlord in Foul Play
Foul Play
Foul Play is a 1978 American comic mystery/thriller film written and directed by Colin Higgins. In it, a recently divorced librarian is drawn into a mystery when a stranger hides a roll of film in a pack of cigarettes and gives it to her for safekeeping....
(1978).
Meredith directed the movie The Man on the Eiffel Tower
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
The Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith, Charles Laughton, Irving Allen and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his...
(1949) starring Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
, which was produced by Irving Allen
Irving Allen
Irving Allen was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn. In the early 1950s he formed Warwick Films with partner Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and relocated to England to leverage film making against a...
. Meredith also was billed in a supporting role in this film. In 1970 he directed (as well as co-writing and playing a supporting role in) The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go, an espionage caper starring James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
as a Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
crime lord and Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
as an ambitious amoral draft dodging novelist.
Television
He appeared in four different starring roles in the acclaimed anthology TV series The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
. In the famous "Time Enough at Last
Time Enough at Last
"Time Enough at Last" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was adapted from a short story by Lyn Venable , which had been published in the January 1953 edition of the science fiction magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction...
", a 1959 episode of The Twilight Zone, Meredith plays a henpecked bank teller
Bank teller
A teller is an employee of a bank who deals directly with most customers. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier. Most teller jobs require cash handling experience and a high school diploma. Most banks provide on the job training....
who only wants to be left alone with his books
Bibliophilia
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves books. A bookworm is someone who loves books for their content, or who otherwise loves reading. The -ia-suffixed form "bibliophilia" is sometimes considered to be an incorrect usage; the older...
. In the 1961 episode "Mr. Dingle, the Strong
Mr. Dingle, the Strong
"Mr. Dingle, the Strong" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:In an experiment, two Martians give vacuum-cleaner salesman and perennial loser Luther Dingle superhuman strength...
", Meredith plays the title character, a timid weakling who, as the subject of a space alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
's experiment on human nature, suddenly acquires superhuman strength. In "Printer's Devil
Printer's Devil
"Printer's Devil" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The title comes from the profession printer's devil, an apprentice in the industry....
," Meredith portrayed the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
himself, and in "The Obsolete Man
The Obsolete Man
"The Obsolete Man" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. It deals with themes of Orwellian totalitarianism, euthanasia, utilitarianism, collectivism and religion.-Synopsis:...
" he portrayed a librarian, sentenced to death in a future, dystopic
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
totalitarian society. He would later play two more roles in Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
's other anthology series, Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
. Meredith was the narrator for Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
in 1983. He did not receive on-screen credit for his narration (this was so that he could do the job for scale rather than charge his usual minimum fee); as compensation for Meredith's uncredited work, his name was inserted into the dialogue in a scene between Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks.
He appeared in various television programs, including the role of Chris, III, in the 1962 episode "Hooray, Hooray, the Circus Is Coming to Town" of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
about psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
starring Wendell Corey
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey was an American actor and politician.He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey and Julia Etta McKenney . His father was a Congregationalist clergyman...
and Jack Ging
Jack Ging
Jack Lee Ging is an American actor best known for his role as General Harlan 'Bull' Fullbright in the NBC television series The A-Team.-Early life:...
. He also guest starred in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point in the 1963 episode titled "Heart of Marble, Body of Stone".
Meredith appeared in various western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series too, such as Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
(four times), The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
(twice), Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, Branded, The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is a 26-episode western television series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Lewis Taylor. The show aired in the 1963-1964 television season and was produced by MGM Television....
, Laredo and Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
.
In 1963, he appeared as Vincent Marion in a five-part episode of the last season of the Warner Brothers ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
detective series 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
. He starred three times in Burke's Law
Burke's Law
Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...
(1963–1964), starring Gene Barry
Gene Barry
Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City and The War of The Worlds and for his portrayal of the title character in the TV series Bat Masterson, among many roles.-Personal life:Barry was born...
.
Penguin (comics)
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot III is a DC Comics supervillain and one of Batman's oldest, most persistent enemies. The Penguin was introduced by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, making his debut in Detective Comics #58 .The Penguin is a short, rotund man known for his love of birds and his...
in the television series Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
. 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. He appeared on the show more times during its run than any other villain except for Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
's Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
who tied with Meredith for number of appearances on the show.
From 1972-73, Meredith played V.C.R. Cameron, director of Probe Control, in the television movie/pilot Probe and then in Search
Search (TV series)
Search is an American science fiction series that aired on Wednesday nights on NBC at 10 pm ET, from September 1972 to August 1973. It ran for 23 episodes, not including the two-hour pilot film originally titled Probe. When picked up for series production, the title had to be changed because Probe...
, the subsequent TV series (the name was changed to avoid conflict with a program on PBS). The series involved World Securities Corporation, a private agency which, among other activities, fielded a number of detectives equipped with high-tech equipment including a tiny TV transmitter (the "Scanner") which allowed Probe Control to see what was going on where the agents were working. One episode centered around Cameron being kidnapped and having to escape from a torture chamber, without any of the tools carried by Probe agents.
He won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special for the 1977 television film Tail Gunner Joe
Tail Gunner Joe
Tail Gunner Joe is a 1977 television movie dramatizing the life of U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican who claimed knowledge of communist infiltration of the U.S. government during the 1950s. The film was broadcast on NBC-TV...
, a fictitious study of U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, the anti-communist leader of the 1950s.
In the early 1980s, he was a co-host of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
program, Those Amazing Animals
Those Amazing Animals
Those Amazing Animals was a reality television series about animals and their extraordinary lives. It was hosted by Burgess Meredith, Priscilla Presley and Jim Stafford. A spinoff of That's Incredible!, this series aired on ABC from 1980 to 1981....
, and co-starred in the short lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Gloria
Gloria (TV series)
Gloria is an American situation comedy that lasted one season on CBS, from September 1982 to September 1983. It stars Sally Struthers, reprising her role as Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker on the hugely successful 1970s sitcom All in the Family...
, a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
.
Additional roles
A somewhat more mixed (comedy/dramatic) role was his portrayal of the philosophical (yet hapless) tramp, Vladimir, in a notable TV production of BeckettBeckett
- People :* Arthur William à Beckett , English journalist and man of letters* Barry Beckett , American musician* Billy Beckett , English footballer...
's Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
with Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
and Kurt Kasznar
Kurt Kasznar
-Early life:Kasznar was born in Vienna, Austria as Kurt Servischer. His father left when Kurt was very young, his mother married a Hungarian restaurateur named Ferdinand Kasznar, and Kurt assumed his surname. He emigrated to the United States in the mid-1930s for The Eternal Road in which he...
.
Meredith performed voiceover work. He provided the narration for A Walk in the Sun. As a nod to his longtime association with The Twilight Zone, he served as narrator for the 1983 film
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
based on the series. He was the TV commercial voice for Bulova Watches
Bulova
Bulova is a corporation making luxury watches and clocks. It has its headquarters in Woodside, Queens, New York City.Bulova was founded and incorporated as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Joseph Bulova , an immigrant from Bohemia...
, Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
, Stokley-Van Camp, United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
, and Freakies
Freakies
Freakies was a brand of sweetened breakfast cereal produced by Ralston and sold in the United States. The cereal was Ralston's first major venture into the presweetened RTE cereal market...
breakfast cereal.
He supplied the narration for the 1974–1975 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Saturday morning series Korg: 70,000 B.C. and was the voice of Puff in the series of animated adaptations of the Peter, Paul, and Mary song Puff, the Magic Dragon
Puff, the Magic Dragon
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The song achieved great popularity and has entered American and British pop culture.-Lyrics:...
. In the mid-1950s, he was one of four narrators of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
public affairs program, The Big Story
The Big Story (1949 TV series)
For the Fox News Channel public affairs program, see The Big Story.The Big Story is an American anthology television series about courageous American journalists. It aired monthly on NBC from September 16, 1949, to June 28, 1957, after which it appeared in syndication until 1958...
(1949–1958), which focuses on courageous journalists. In 1991, he narrated a track on the The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
' album of traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
music and carols, The Bells of Dublin
The Bells of Dublin
The Bells of Dublin is an album of Christmas songs and traditional carols by the Irish band The Chieftains. The album features guest performances by various artists, including Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Marianne Faithfull, Nanci Griffith, Rickie Lee Jones and the...
.
His last role before his death was the portrayal of both Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford characters in the 1996 video game Ripper by Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
.
Autobiography and personal life
In 1994, Meredith published his autobiography, So Far, So Good. In the book he confessed that he suffered from violent mood swings which were caused by cyclothymiaCyclothymia
Cyclothymia is a mood and mental disorder in the bipolar spectrum that causes both hypomanic and depressive episodes. It is defined medically within the bipolar spectrum and consists of recurrent disturbances between sudden hypomania and dysthymic episodes. The diagnosis of cyclothymic disorder is...
, a form of bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
.
Meredith had four wives, including actresses Margaret Perry and Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
. His last marriage (to Kaja Sundsten) lasted 46 years, and produced two children, Jonathon (a musician) and Tala (a painter).
Meredith was an outspoken liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and clashed with Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, which led to him being blacklisted for a few years in the 1950s.
Death
Meredith died from complications of Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
on September 9, 1997. Long time friend Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
spoke briefly at his memorial service. Meredith's remains were cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Burgess has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028.
Filmography
- WintersetWinterset (film)Winterset is a 1936 crime film directed by Alfred Santell, based on the play by Maxwell Anderson.The film greatly changes the ending of the play, in which the lovers Mio and Miriamne are shot to death by gangsters...
(1936) - There Goes the Groom (1937)
- Spring Madness (1938)
- Idiot's Delight (1939)
- Of Mice and MenOf Mice and Men (1939 film)Of Mice and Men is a 1939 film based on the novella of the same title by American author John Steinbeck. It stars Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney, Jr., Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele and Noah Beery, Jr...
(1939) - Castle on the HudsonCastle on the HudsonCastle on the Hudson is a 1940 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. A thief gets sent to Sing Sing Prison, where he is befriended by the reform-minded warden. The film was based on the book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing,...
(1940) - It Was a Wonderful Life (1940)
- Second ChorusSecond ChorusSecond Chorus is a Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw, and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen, Hal Borne and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by H. C...
(1940) - Tom, Dick and HarryTom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)Tom, Dick and Harry is a comedy film directed by Garson Kanin, written by Paul Jarrico, and starring Ginger Rogers, George Murphy, Alan Marshal, and Burgess Meredith. The film was released by RKO Radio Pictures....
(1941) - That Uncertain FeelingThat Uncertain Feeling (film)That Uncertain Feeling is a 1941 comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas and Burgess Meredith. The film is about the bored wife of an insurance salesman who meets an eccentric pianist and seeks a divorce. The screenplay by Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden...
(1941) - Street of Chance (1942)
- The Story of G.I. JoeThe Story of G.I. JoeThe Story of G.I. Joe, also credited in prints as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, is a 1945 American war film directed by William Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only nomination for Best Supporting Actor.The...
(1945) - A Walk in the Sun (1945) (narration)
- Magnificent Doll (1946)
- The Diary of a ChambermaidThe Diary of a Chambermaid (1946 film)The Diary of a Chambermaid is a drama film about a newly-hired servant who severely disrupts a wealthy family. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Octave Mirbeau and the play Le journal d'une femme de Chambre by André Heuse, André de Lorde, and Thielly Nores, was directed by Jean...
(1946) - Mine Own ExecutionerMine Own ExecutionerMine Own Executioner is a 1947 British drama film directed by Anthony Kimmins. It was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Burgess Meredith - Felix Milne* Dulcie Gray - Patricia Milne* Michael Shepley - Peter Edge...
(1947) - On Our Merry Way (1948)
- Golden Arrow (1949)
- Jigsaw (1949) (uncredited)
- The Man on the Eiffel TowerThe Man on the Eiffel TowerThe Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith, Charles Laughton, Irving Allen and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his...
(1950) - Joe Butterfly (1957)
- Man on the Run (1958)
- Advise and ConsentAdvise and Consent (film)Advise & Consent is a 1962 American motion picture based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Allen Drury, published in 1959. The movie was adapted for the screen by Wendell Mayes and was directed by Otto Preminger...
(1962) - The CardinalThe CardinalThe Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by Henry Morton Robinson....
(1963) - The Kidnappers (1964)
- In Harm's WayIn Harm's WayIn Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white...
(1965) - Madame XMadame X (1966 film)Madame X is a 1966 drama film directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Lana Turner.-Plot:A lower class woman, Holly Parker , marries into the rich Anderson family. Her husband's mother looks down on her and keeps a watchful eye on her activities...
(1966) - BatmanBatman (1966 film)Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film was...
(1966) - A Big Hand for the Little LadyA Big Hand for the Little LadyA Big Hand for the Little Lady is a 1966 western film, made by Eden Productions Inc. and released by Warner Bros...
(1966) - Torture GardenTorture Garden (film)Torture Garden is a 1967 British horror film made by Amicus Productions. It was directed by Freddie Francis and scripted by Robert Bloch. It stars Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Michael Ripper, Beverly Adams, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Ursula Howells, Michael Bryant and Barbara Ewing...
(1967) - Hurry SundownHurry Sundown (film)Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B...
(1967) - SkidooSkidoo (film)Skidoo is an American comedy film directed by Otto Preminger, starring Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing, written by Doran William Cannon and released by Paramount Pictures on December 19, 1968...
(1968) - Stay Away, JoeStay Away, JoeStay Away, Joe is a 1968 comedy-drama western film with musical interludes set in modern times and starring Elvis Presley, Burgess Meredith and Joan Blondell. The film was based on the 1953 novel by Dan Cushman, a satirical farce...
(1968) - The ReiversThe Reivers (film)The Reivers is a 1969 film directed by Mark Rydell based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name...
(1969) - Mackenna's GoldMackenna's GoldMackenna's Gold is a 1969 western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly Savalas, Camilla Sparv, and Julie Newmar...
(1969) - Debrief: Apollo 8Apollo 8Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...
(1969) (narrator) - There Was a Crooked Man...There Was a Crooked Man...There Was a Crooked Man... is a 1970 western comedy starring Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The film follows Paris Pitman , a charismatic criminal who ends up in jail, and his attempts to escape the prison of warden Lopeman...
(1970) - Such Good FriendsSuch Good FriendsSuch Good Friends is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Esther Dale is based on the novel of the same title by Lois Gould.-Plot:...
(1971) - A Fan's NotesA Fan's Notes (film)A Fan's Notes is a 1972 Canadian comedy film directed by Eric Till, based on the novel of the same name. It was entered into the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Jerry Orbach – Fred* Patricia Collins – Patience* Burgess Meredith – Mr. Blue...
(1972) - The Day of the LocustThe Day of the Locust (film)The Day of the Locust is a 1975 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Waldo Salt is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Nathanael West...
(1975) - The HindenburgThe Hindenburg (film)The Hindenburg is a 1975 American film based on the disaster of the German airship Hindenburg. The film stars George C. Scott. It was produced and directed by Robert Wise, and was written by Nelson Gidding, Richard Levinson and William Link based on the book of the same name by Michael M. Mooney .A.A...
(1975) - Burnt OfferingsBurnt OfferingsBurnt Offerings may mean:Burnt offering, a form of animal sacrifice.Capitalized*Burnt Offerings , a 1973 novel by Robert Marasco...
(1976) - RockyRockyRocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(1976) - The Sentinel (1977)
- Golden RendezvousGolden RendezvousGolden Rendezvous is a 1977 South African thriller film directed by Ashley Lazarus and starring Richard Harris, Ann Turkel and Gordon Jackson. A luxury cruise ship is hijacked by terrorists. It was based on the 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous by Alistair MacLean.-Cast:* Richard Harris - John...
(1977) - Foul PlayFoul PlayFoul Play is a 1978 American comic mystery/thriller film written and directed by Colin Higgins. In it, a recently divorced librarian is drawn into a mystery when a stranger hides a roll of film in a pack of cigarettes and gives it to her for safekeeping....
(1978) - Magic (1978)
- The ManitouThe ManitouThe Manitou is an American horror movie from 1978 with Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg, based on a 1975 book by Graham Masterton. The movie is based on an old legend about the Native American spirit-concept Manitou.-Plot:...
(1978) - Rocky IIRocky IIRocky II is a 1979 American film that is the sequel to Rocky, a motion picture in which an unknown boxer had been given a chance to go the distance with the World Heavyweight Champion. Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprised their...
(1979) - When Time Ran OutWhen Time Ran OutWhen Time Ran Out... is a disaster film released in 1980, starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, James Franciscus, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Burgess Meredith, Valentina Cortese, Veronica Hamel, Pat Morita, Edward Albert, and Barbara Carrera.Produced by the "Master of...
(1980) - Clash of the TitansClash of the Titans (1981 film)Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film...
(1981) - The Last ChaseThe Last ChaseThe Last Chase is a 1981 science fiction film starring Lee Majors, Burgess Meredith and Chris Makepeace, and directed by Martyn Burke. It was produced by Argosy Films.-Plot:The setting is the USA at an unspecified future time...
(1981) - True ConfessionsTrue Confessions (film)True Confessions is a 1981 film directed by Ulu Grosbard, loosely based on the Black Dahlia murder case of 1947. The film stars Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, was produced by Chartoff-Winkler Productions and is adapted from the novel of the same name by John Gregory Dunne.-Plot summary:In the...
(1981) - Rocky IIIRocky IIIRocky III is a 1982 American film that is the third installment in the Rocky film series. It is written and directed by and stars Sylvester Stallone as the title character, with Carl Weathers as former boxing rival Apollo Creed, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey, and Talia Shire as Rocky's...
(1982) - Twilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
(1983)(uncredited) - Wet GoldWet GoldWet Gold is a 1984 television movie starring actress-model Brooke Shields. Directed by Dick Lowry, the film originally aired on October 28, 1984 on ABC.-Main cast:* Brooke Shields - Laura* Burgess Meredith - Sampson* Thomas Byrd - Chris Barnes...
(1984) Made for TV - Santa Claus: The MovieSanta Claus: The MovieSanta Claus: The Movie is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind...
(1985) - G.I. Joe: The MovieG.I. Joe: The MovieG.I. Joe: The Movie is a 1987 animated film spun off from the animated series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the original Hasbro toyline. It was produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and was animated in Japan by Toei Animation.Created at the height of the G.I. Joe craze in...
(1987) - Rocky VRocky VRocky V is an American film released as the fifth film in the Rocky series in 1990. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Stallone's real life son Sage, and real life boxer Tommy Morrison as boxer Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer...
(1990) - State of GraceState of Grace (film)State of Grace is an American neo-noir crime film starring Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Gary Oldman, and featuring Robin Wright, John Turturro and John C. Reilly. Written by Dennis McIntyre and directed by Phil Joanou, the film was executive produced by Ned Dowd, Randy Ostrow, and Ron Rotholz, and...
(1990) - Grumpy Old MenGrumpy Old Men (film)Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
(1993) - Camp NowhereCamp NowhereCamp Nowhere is a 1994 film directed by Jonathan Prince, written by Andrew Kurtzman and Eliot Wald, and starring Jonathan Jackson, Christopher Lloyd, Melody Kay, Andrew Keegan, and Marnette Patterson. The film also features Jessica Alba in her first film role...
(1994) - Across the Moon (1995)
- Tall Tale (1995) - Old Man (uncredited)
- Grumpier Old MenGrumpier Old MenGrumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...
(1995)
Television work
- BatmanBatman (TV series)Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
(as The PenguinPenguin (comics)Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot III is a DC Comics supervillain and one of Batman's oldest, most persistent enemies. The Penguin was introduced by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, making his debut in Detective Comics #58 .The Penguin is a short, rotund man known for his love of birds and his...
) - SearchSearch (TV series)Search is an American science fiction series that aired on Wednesday nights on NBC at 10 pm ET, from September 1972 to August 1973. It ran for 23 episodes, not including the two-hour pilot film originally titled Probe. When picked up for series production, the title had to be changed because Probe...
as V.C.R Cameron (1972–1973) - Those Amazing Animals (co-host with Jim StaffordJim StaffordJames Wayne "Jim" Stafford is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter, prominent in the 1970s. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica....
and Priscilla PresleyPriscilla PresleyPriscilla Presley is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the ex-wife of singer Elvis Presley, and the mother of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley....
) - Faerie Tale Theatre: Thumbelina
- The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
(four separate episodes) - Tales of TomorrowTales of TomorrowTales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others...
The Great Silence - 1953 - Daniel BooneDaniel Boone (TV series)Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
(as Alex) - 1969 - Night Gallery (TV series) "The Little Black Bag" (as Dr. Fall)-1970
- The Return of Captain NemoThe Return of Captain NemoThe Return of Captain Nemo is a 1978 science fiction TV movie directed by Alex March and Paul Stader. It is loosely based on characters and settings from Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea...
(as Prof. Waldo Cunningham) - 1976 - The MonkeesThe Monkees (TV series)The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
(Cameo as The Penguin) - GloriaGloria (TV series)Gloria is an American situation comedy that lasted one season on CBS, from September 1982 to September 1983. It stars Sally Struthers, reprising her role as Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker on the hugely successful 1970s sitcom All in the Family...
(as Dr. Adams, Gloria Bunker Stivic's boss, 1982–1983) - Puff the Magic DragonPuff the Magic Dragon (film)"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a 30 minute animated television film released on October 30, 1978, based on the song of the same name. The title character was voiced by Burgess Meredith...
voice of Puff - In the Heat of the NightIn the Heat of the NightIn the Heat of the Night is a 1967 mystery film based on the John Ball novel In the Heat of the Night published in 1965, which tells the story of a black police detective from Philadelphia who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a racist small town in Mississippi. The film won five...
as Judge Cully (1993)