Was there any other Penguin? I know I'm not the only one who read the comics in Meredith's voice? And let's be real the 1960's Batman is the only Batman worth watching.
Did you know, that Meredith developed his grunting "Penguin" laugh out of necessity. Meredith had given up smoking some twenty-odd years earlier, but his character was required to smoke with a cigarette holder. The smoke would get caught in his throat and he would start coughing. Rather than constantly ruin takes in this matter, he developed the laugh to cover it up. "Actually, it was a pretty funny noise for a penguin to make," said Meredith. "I sounded more like a duck." Needless to say, Meredith gave up smoking again immediately after the series ended.
Visiting from A/Z; how interesting about the smoking; imagine to give it up, to take it back up again for the series, and then to have to quit it again; good that he did though!
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Burgess Meredith was the defining Penguin! Great story about the laugh--I hadn't heard that before. The things people do for their craft...
ReplyDeleteThe story about the laugh - made me laugh! Your blog is great!
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