Burgess Meredith was an American actor and director.
Biography[]
Born Oliver Burgess Meredith in Cleveland, Ohio, he was a member of the Civic Repertory Company in New York (making his stage debut in 1930) and made his film debut debut in the adaptation of his stage success Winterset. He quickly became a popular film actor, with roles in such features as Of Mice and Men, The Story of G.I. Joe and Madame X. He also received a Tony Award nomination for directing and became popular with younger audiences for playing The Penguin in the Sixties Batman series.
Meredith received two Academy Award nominations, the first for Day of the Locust, the second for his first appearance as Rocky Balboa's grizzled trainer Mickey in Rocky. He would also go on to play supporting roles in Clash of the Titans and Grumpy Old Man and serve as the voice of Puff the Magic Dragob.
Meredith passed away in 1997.
Singing[]
Meredith displayed his singing abilities several times on stage and screen, appearing in the original Broadway casts of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and Happy as Larry (as the titular Larry - which he also directed) as well as playing Crooked Finger Jack in The Threepenny Opera.
On screen, he sang in sone of his earliest films, There Goes the Groom and Second Chorus, and several times as the voice of the titular Puff the Magic Dragon in a series of television films.
Film[]
There Goes the Groom (1937)[]
- Auld Lang Syne (solo)
- California, Here I Come (solo)
Second Chorus (1940)[]
- Poor Mr. Chisholm (duet)
Tom, Dick and Harry (1941)[]
- Down by the Old Mill Stream
Puff the Magic Dragon (1978)[]
- The Boat Song (duet)
- Weave Me the Sunshine (contains solo lines)
Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of the Living Lies (1979)[]
- Part of All the Wonderment (duet)
- The Walls Comes A-Tumblin' Down (contains solo lines)
Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody (1982)[]
- Never Was a Feather (solo)
- Follow Your Own Star (contains solo lines)
Oddball Hall (1990)[]
- Good Night, Little Girl, Good Night (solo)
Television[]
Batman (1966)[]
- For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
- The Penguin's Campaign Song (contains solo lines)
Faerie Tale Theatre (1984)[]
- Progress (solo)
Stage[]
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (1932)(originated the role)[]
The Threepenny Opera (1933)[]
- Wedding Song
- Third Finale
Happy as Larry (1950)(originated the role)[]
- Now and Then (solo)
- A Cup of Tea (contains solo lines)
- I Remember Her (solo)
Kicks and Co. (1961)(originated the role)[]
- Prologue (contains solo lines)
- Mr. Kicks (solo)
- Turn the Other Cheek (contains solo lines)
- Virtue Is It's Own Reward (contains solo lines)
- Most Folks Are Dopes (solo)
- Call of the City (contains solo lines)
- Hazel's Ballet (contains solo lines)
- Finale (contains solo lines)
Gallery[]
