Burgess Meredith Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actor , Director , Producer more
Nationality American
Birth November 16, 1907 (Cleveland, Ohio – United States)
Death September 9, 1997  (Malibu, California – United States)
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Ohio in 1909, Burgess Meredith was educated in Massachusetts at Amherst College. He then took on various odd jobs before joining Eva LeGallienne’s theater company in New York in 1933. A promising young actor, he enjoyed particular success thanks to his interpretation of Mio Romagna in Winterset . In 1936, the play was adapted for the cinema, allowing the actor to make his big debut.

He then appeared in several films, including Of Mice and Men ( Lewis Milestone , 1939), Swing Romance ( Henry C. Potter , 1940, where he met Paulette Goddard with whom he was married from 1944 to 1950), Lost Illusions ( Ernst Lubitsch , 1941), The Story of G.I. Joe ( William Wellman , 1945) and The Diary of a Chambermaid ( Jean Renoir , 1946, where he was also screenwriter and producer). In 1949, he made his first film debut, The Man from the Eiffel Tower , adapted from a novel by Georges Simenon. Called as a witness during the witch hunt of the early 1950s, he then disappeared from the spotlight.

His acting career was reborn in the 1960s thanks to television and his role as the Penguin, which he reprized in 1966 when Batman was adapted for the cinema. This was also the time when he filmed extensively under the direction of Otto Preminger , such as in Storm in Washington (1962) or The Cardinal (1963).

Because of her physique, quite far from Hollywood beauty standards, Burgess Meredith had to be content, in the majority of her films, with luxurious supporting roles. His talent was recognized late in life with two Oscar nominations for The Day of the Scourge ( John Schlesinger , 1975) and especially Rocky ( Sylvester Stallone , 1976). By playing Mickey, the trainer of the famous boxer, Burgess Meredith was playing his most popular role at 67 years old.