RIP Frank Gorshin

[Sean Walsh]

The Riddler is dead. :(

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050518/ap_en_ot/obit_gorshin

[TCJohnson]

He was always a very entertaining actor, no matter what part he played.

[Ryan K]

That's very sad news.

My mother used to live down the street from him when she was a kid in Pittsburgh. She always spoke very highly of him.

RIP

[Joe Grendel]

He made the show. I'm glad we at least get one more show (and a big one, the "CSI" finale as directed by Tarantino) to see him in.

[Captain Sarcasm]

"When I was first approached to play the Riddler, I thought it was a joke. Then I discovered the show had a good script and agreed to do the role.... Now I am in love with the character. I developed the Riddler's fiendish laugh at Hollywood parties. I listened to myself laugh and discovered that that the funniest jokes brought out the high-pitched giggle I use on the show. With further study I came to realize that it wasn't so much how I laughed as what I laughed at that created the sense of menace."

-Frank Gorshin (1934-2005)

"Royalty? You've never met royalty? And just whom do you think stands before you, my cherub? I am The Prince Of Puzzlers, The Count Of Conundrums, The King Of Crime! I hold court here, no one else!!!"

-The Riddler

[fly on the wall]

He was a great actor. I saw him in a couple of film noir movies from the late forties and he could be chilling and funny at the same time.

Let's all remember that Gorshwin was the flagship villain for the Batman TV franchise. He was on in the premier episode, the one that started Batmania and made the public love the campy super hero show. The show was a runaway hit after that one episode.

Riddler may have been overshadowed by Joker and Penguin later on, but Gorshwin's Riddler was the villain that created Batmania.

Keep in mind that before Batmania from the TV show hit, Batman was a fading comic book character in danger of cancellation and Bob Kane wasn't even that rich yet.

[LtMarvel]

From what I've seen on the reruns on Game Show Network, Gorshin had a mind that would make the Riddler proud. Easily one of the brightest celebrity partners one could hope for.

[Buried Alien]

Gorshwin's interpretation of the Riddler was probably instrumental in putting the character in the first rank of Batman's villains, including the Joker and the Penguin. I believe the Riddler was considered something of a second-tier villain until Gorshwin's depiction of the character on the TV series.


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Captain Sarcasm]

He was a great actor. I saw him in a couple of film noir movies from the late forties and he could be chilling and funny at the same time.

Let's all remember that Gorshwin was the flagship villain for the Batman TV franchise. He was on in the premier episode, the one that started Batmania and made the public love the campy super hero show. The show was a runaway hit after that one episode.

Riddler may have been overshadowed by Joker and Penguin later on, but Gorshwin's Riddler was the villain that created Batmania.

Keep in mind that before Batmania from the TV show hit, Batman was a fading comic book character in danger of cancellation and Bob Kane wasn't even that rich yet.

Also, Gorshin was the only actor to be nominated for an Emmy for his work on 'Batman'.

[Perry Holley]

Gorshin's performance was the only one of the Bat-villains that I could geneually believe was actually dangerous. Even in the middle of the humor and camp, his rendition of the Ridddler made me think that, if you were to annoy him, this guy would kill you... and yet managed to retain a light and humorous touch.

I agree with what others have already said, his performance pretty much defined the character of the Riddler.

[fly on the wall]

Gorshin's performance was the only one of the Bat-villains that I could geneually believe was actually dangerous. Even in the middle of the humor and camp, his rendition of the Ridddler made me think that, if you were to annoy him, this guy would kill you... and yet managed to retain a light and humorous touch.

I agree with what others have already said, his performance pretty much defined the character of the Riddler.


And if you see the old noir movies where he plays a funny sort of villain, you can see the ground work for his Riddler being laid.

[Phil Clark]

Gorshin's Riddler was the only character in the original Batman series that I felt was played 100% serious, or more accurately 100% dead on accurately as it should have been, not camped up at all. He had that dignity in the midst of all the camp.

He will be sorely missed.

[Rabid Trekkie]

I never saw the original Batman, price of being too young. However my first introduction to Batman was the Adam West Batman movie which had him in it. I loved him in it and I loved him in the Back to the Batcave show that came out a year or so ago.

He seemed like a great guy.

[hugh45]

I can't forget him in his role as a alien on ST being that the alien he was
playing was at war w/each other on the planet for having black/white
color on side of the face where the other people on the alien had the
opposite side of the black/white color of the face.One of the memorole
role in ST dealing w/race relations in this country.

[Deathstroke]

Man, all the Batman TV show villains are dying off. Who's left, just the Catwoman actresses?

[TMC1982]

Man, all the Batman TV show villains are dying off. Who's left, just the Catwoman actresses?

I kind of find it interesting (and perhaps a bit ironic) that Frank Gorshin's cause of death was brought on by him smoking too much. I say this because a lot of made about how Burgess Meredith (AKA the Penguin) developed the Penguin's distinctive quacking laugh as a way to clear his throat from inhaling the tobacco. Apparently, Meredith hadn't smoked in about 25 years and his throat was irritated from always having to have a lit cigarette in his mouth.