Burgess Meredith

Oliver Burgess Meredith is professionally known as Burgess Meredith. He was of American descent and was a successful director, actor, writer in theater, television, and film and producer. He was born on November 16, 1907, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a Canadian-born physician of English descent, Dr. William George Meredith, and Ida Beth. He studied from Hoosac School in 1926 and went to Amherst School. He died on September 9, 1997.

He was known as a proficient actor and one of the most refined actors of the century. He was a lifetime member of the Actor’s Studio. He got nominated for two Academy Awards and won various Emmys, and the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice. In his career he was later known for his presence on The Twilight Zone, as an arch-villain The Penguin in the television series of ‘Batman’ in 1960s and the boxing trainer in the ‘ Rocky Click to look into! >> Read More... ’ film series as Mickey Goldmill.

He also played many roles in the classical and contemporary theater like in plays by Shakespeare, O’Neill, Beckett and much more. He starred as Ernie Pyle in the famous movie, The Story Of G. I. Joe.. The movie was directed by William Wellman which is a 1945 American war film. He made his Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet, a Le Gallienne’s production, as Peter in 1930. Other roles included Van Van Dorn in High Tor in 1937, Lilliom in ‘Lilliom’ in 1940, Adolphus Cusins Major Barbara in 1957 and The Playboy of the Western World in 1946 as Christy Mahon. ‘Winterset’ by Maxwell Anderson was his debut film in the year 1935.

For Broadway staging of Ulysses in Nighttown, he won a Tony Award nomination in 1974. Because of the investigation of House Committee on Un-American Activities, Burgess was Hollywood blacklisted and was absent from films for a very long time, but still, he was involved in radio and stage plays. He appeared in different roles in The Twilight Zone. He enacted in various television series like the role of Chris III, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, The Eleventh Hour and Breaking Point, few western series such as The Virginian, Wagon Train, The Wild Wild West, ‘ Branded Click to look into! >> Read More... ’, Daniel Boone, ‘Laredo’, and ‘ Bonanza Serial Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... ’.

In 1992, he narrated a television documentary, The Chaplin Puzzle. He has worked as a voice-over artist too; he narrated the story A Walk in the Sun. He lent his voice for Bulova watches, Honda, United Airlines, Freakies breakfast cereal and Stokely-Van Camp. The last role before his death was of both Hamilton Wofford and Covington Wofford in the video game Ripper by Take-Two Interactive in 1996.