Burgess Meredith

A versatile actor blessed with a voice that was gruff and warm in turns, Burgess Meredith first gained notice on Broadway in such productions as "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1935) and "Winterset" (1935-36) and would go on to become equally respected and visible in movies and television. While he would sometimes describe himself as unambitious in interviews, Meredith wore many hats with apparent ease, writing and directing both plays and features in addition to his hundreds of credits as a performer in three different mediums. He established himself as a motion picture star via such films as "Of Mice and Men" (1939), "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945), and "Mine Own Executioner" (1947), and although his career was temporarily stalled by the McCarthy witch hunt of the 1950s, Meredith always managed to stay employed. Most of the success Meredith enjoyed came from character roles, and he enjoyed latter-day recognition through his turns as the Penguin on the iconic "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68) TV series and Sylvester Stallone's cantankerous old mentor Micky Goldmill in four entries of the "Rocky" franchise. Memorable in everything from Shakespeare to horror potboilers, Meredith was a consummate professional and that dependability allowed him to work virtually non-stop during a career that lasted more than six decades.