Everyone looked like they were having fun on the old Adam West Batman series (Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Julie Newmar, etc) but Frank Gorshin was a lean and manic force that popped off the screen. He had a rapid-fire delivery, he was in great physical shape, he was crazed with gleeful fun. I was always disappointed Frank G hadn't made a bigger impact in other projects that would have elevated his reputation a little.
shareI loved him in That Darn Cat and Skidoo.
shareThere's another actor who strongly resembles this guy but is probably a good 10 to 15 years younger (might still be alive too).
shareGorshin isn't well known now, but he was a top quality entertainer years ago. Check youtube to see if there's any specials he did (HBO?). Probably the funniest Kirk Douglass impersonation ever.
I missed my chance to meet him, but one of my clients knew Gorshin personally. I asked him many years ago when Gorshin was still alive if he was as off the wall in person as he was while doing his act. He looked me straight in the eye and said "he's worse"...
still the best live action riddler
shareIf you want to see him play a real serious bad guy check out Goliath Awaits.
share Hollywood and opportunity were still fresh when Gorshin first appeared on Batman in 1966. He worked very hard to make the Riddler a high profile villain given the character appeared very sparsely in the comics up until 1966. The biggest holdback for Gorshin was that he did not have leading man looks which often relegates an actor to playing villains and oddballs. Contrast this with Adam West or Cesar Romero who could pick and choose what they wanted to do while in their prime. Julie Newmar carved out a niche as a sex symbol and Burgess Meredith playing somewhat cerebral characters such as he did on The Twilight Zone.