Burgess Meredith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Burgess Meredith
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Meredith in a publicity photo (1954)
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| Born | November 16, 1907 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
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| Died | September 9, 1997 (aged 89) Malibu, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Amherst College |
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| Years active | 1929–1997 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 2 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/ |
 United States Army Air Forces |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | First Air Force Office of War Information |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |  American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal |
| Acting President of the Actors' Equity Association | |
| In office 1937–1938 |
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| Preceded by | Frank Gillmore |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Byron |
Oliver Burgess Meredith (born November 16, 1907 – died September 9, 1997) was a famous American actor and filmmaker. He had a long career that lasted over 60 years in theater, movies, and television.
Many people called him a "virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century." He was a member of the Actors Studio and won several awards, including Emmys. He was also the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice. He was even nominated for two Academy Awards.
Burgess Meredith became well-known in Hollywood for his strong performances. He played Mio Romagna in Winterset (1936) and George Milton in Of Mice and Men (1939). He also played war reporter Ernie Pyle in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945).
Later in his career, he became very popular for his roles on The Twilight Zone. He also famously played The Penguin in the 1960s TV series Batman. Another memorable role was boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky film series. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Day of the Locust (1975) and Rocky (1976). He also appeared in the comedy Foul Play (1978) and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (1981). Throughout his career, he narrated many films and documentaries.
Mel Gussow from The New York Times noted that while these roles made him popular again, they were only a small part of his amazing career. He performed many challenging roles in classic and modern plays by writers like Shakespeare, O'Neill, and Beckett.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Burgess Meredith was born in 1907 in Cleveland, Ohio. His mother was Ida Beth Burgess, and his father was Dr. William George Meredith, a doctor from Canada. His mother's family were Methodists, and he followed this religion his whole life.
He finished school at Hoosac School in 1926. After that, he went to Amherst College. He later left college and worked as a reporter for the Stamford Advocate newspaper.
A Career in Acting
Theater Work
In 1929, Burgess Meredith joined Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre in New York City. Even though he was famous for his movie and TV roles, he was also a very important actor and director in theater.
He first appeared on Broadway in 1930 as Peter in Romeo and Juliet. He became a big star in Maxwell Anderson's play Winterset (1935). This play was later made into a movie, which was his first film role.
Meredith was praised for his acting in the 1935 Broadway show The Barretts of Wimpole Street. He also played roles in plays like High Tor (1937) and Liliom (1940). In 1963, he was the first English-speaking actor to play Erie Smith in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie. He even played Hamlet in different theater and radio shows.
He was also a respected theater director. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1974 for directing Ulysses in Nighttown. He also won a Special Tony Award with James Thurber for their show A Thurber Carnival (1960).
Movie Roles
Early in his movie career, Meredith got a lot of positive attention. He was especially noted for playing George in the 1939 movie Of Mice and Men. He also played war reporter Ernie Pyle in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945).
He appeared in many films in the 1940s. Three of these movies—Second Chorus (1940), Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), and On Our Merry Way (1948)—starred his wife at the time, Paulette Goddard.
For about ten years, Meredith was not in many movies. This was because of the Hollywood blacklist, a time when some people in Hollywood were unfairly prevented from working. During this time, he continued to work in theater and radio.
Director Otto Preminger often cast Meredith in his films, including Advise and Consent (1962) and The Cardinal (1963). Meredith also appeared in Madame X (1966) and Stay Away Joe (1968), where he played Elvis Presley's character's father.
Critics loved his performance as Harry Greener in The Day of the Locust (1975). For this role, he was nominated for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for best supporting actor.
Then, Meredith played Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey Goldmill in the first three Rocky movies (1976, 1979, and 1982). Even though his character died in the third Rocky film, he appeared briefly in a flashback in Rocky V (1990). His role in the first Rocky movie earned him his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination.
He also played Captain J. G. Williams in The Last Chase (1981) and Ammon in Clash of the Titans (1981). Meredith was in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and voiced a character in G.I. Joe: The Movie (1989). In his later years, he played the 95-year-old Grandpa Gustafson in Grumpy Old Men (1993) and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995).
Burgess Meredith also directed movies. He directed The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949), where he also had a supporting role. In 1970, he directed, co-wrote, and acted in The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go.
Television Appearances
Meredith starred in four different episodes of the TV series The Twilight Zone. This ties him with Jack Klugman for the most starring roles on the show.
- In "Time Enough at Last" (1959), he played a quiet man who loves books and is the only survivor of an apocalypse.
- In "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" (1961), he was a shy, weak man who gets superhuman strength from aliens.
- In "The Obsolete Man" (1961), he played a librarian sentenced to death in a society where books are forbidden.
- In "Printer's Devil" (1963), he played the Devil himself.
He also narrated Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983.
Meredith appeared in many other TV shows, including westerns like Rawhide and Bonanza. He was also in detective series like 77 Sunset Strip and Burke's Law.
He is very well known for playing the Penguin in the TV series Batman from 1966 to 1968. He also played the Penguin in the 1966 film based on the show. The writers always had a Penguin script ready because his role was so popular. He appeared 21 times as the Penguin.
From 1972 to 1973, Meredith played V. C. R. Cameron in the TV movie Probe and the series Search.
In 1977, Meredith won an Emmy Award for his role in the TV film Tail Gunner Joe. He played the lawyer Joseph Welch in this movie about politician Joseph McCarthy.
In 1992, Meredith narrated The Chaplin Puzzle, a documentary about Charles Chaplin's early work. Interestingly, Meredith had married actress Paulette Goddard in 1944, who was previously married to Chaplin.
Military Service
In 1942, Burgess Meredith joined the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He became a captain. He later moved to the United States Office of War Information, where he made training films for the military.
In 1943, he appeared in a recruiting film called The Rear Gunner. He also made a training film for American troops going to the UK called A Welcome to Britain. He was released from duty in 1944 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, where he played war correspondent Ernie Pyle. He left the Army Air Forces in 1945.
Other Creative Work
Meredith also did a lot of voice-over work. He narrated the war film A Walk in the Sun (1945). He also narrated the 1983 film based on the Twilight Zone TV series.
He was the voice for many TV commercials, including for Bulova, Honda, and United Airlines. He also narrated the short film Works Of Calder (1949-50).
He was the narrator for the 1974–75 ABC Saturday morning series Korg: 70,000 B.C.. He was also the voice of Puff in the animated movies based on the song Puff, the Magic Dragon. In the 1950s, he was one of the narrators for the TV show The Big Story, which was about brave journalists. In 1991, he narrated a song on The Chieftains' Christmas album, The Bells of Dublin.
In 1994, he appeared in the Kenny G music video for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". He played a projectionist in a movie theater.
His very last role was in the 1996 video game Ripper, where he played two characters, Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford. Burgess Meredith was considered to play the Penguin's father in the 1992 film Batman Returns, but he was too ill, so Paul Reubens took the role.
Personal Life and Legacy
Burgess Meredith was married four times. His first wife, Helen Derby Merrien Burgess, passed away in 1940. His next two wives, Margaret Perry and Paulette Goddard, were also actresses. His last marriage was to Kaja Sundsten, which lasted 46 years. They had two children, Jonathan and Tala.
Meredith was a lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party.
He passed away on September 9, 1997, at the age of 89.
Awards and Honors
Burgess Meredith was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice. The first time was in 1975 for The Day of the Locust, and the second was in 1976 for Rocky. For The Day of the Locust, he also received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.
He won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1977 for his role in the TV film Tail Gunner Joe. He was also nominated for the same award the next year for The Last Hurrah. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films nominated him three times for Best Supporting Actor, and he won twice, for Magic and Clash of the Titans.
In 1962, Meredith won a Best Supporting Actor award from the National Board of Review for Advise & Consent. In 1985, he was nominated for a CableAce Award.
Meredith received a Special Tony Award in 1960 for directing A Thurber Carnival.
For his amazing work in movies, Burgess Meredith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also added to the American Theater Hall of Fame for his contributions to theater.
A park of about 21 acres was named after him in Pomona, New York. He also helped fund the creation of the village there. In 1977, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Upper Iowa University.
Images for kids
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Meredith in a publicity photo (1954)
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In The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1951)
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Meredith in Second Chorus
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Meredith as Henry Bemis in The Twilight Zone episode, "Time Enough at Last"
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Meredith as the Penguin on the 1960s TV show Batman
See also
In Spanish: Burgess Meredith para niños
