Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith enjoyed national -- really international -- fame in three distinct phases of his life. To a generation (or two) of younger television viewers, he was identified as The Penguin on the Batman television series (1966-1969); to their parents, he was an eccentric, outspoken, and prodigiously talented theater actor; and to audiences in the '70s and '80s, he was known best as Mickey, Rocky Balboa's trainer in the first three Rocky movies. He was also the voice for Skippy Peanut Butter and United Airlines in the two companies' commercials for many years. During the '50s, along with the likes of Pete Seeger, Jo Mapes, John Henry Faulk, and numerous other performers who spoke their minds about issues, he was a blacklistee, which kept him out of movies in Hollywood and off of television -- instead, he worked on the stage and in pictures in England (where he also directed). His distinctively expressive voice brought him to the field of recording in the '50s and early '60s, primarily as a speaker, actor, and narrator. ~ Bruce Eder