I think I'd go with Cliff Robertson as Shame. That character cracks me up.
shareThe Bookworm..I always loved him.
Egghead; truly was a genius, but associates usually dumb as a bag if rock! ;-/
- - http://scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2012/12/batman-forever.html - -
- http://www.childrenofrassilon.com/batman-forever.html - Batman Homage
Bookworm and Falseface, no question.
shareI'll just say that I would have liked to have seen more of these villains in order of need:-
1. Mad Hatter
2. Black Widow
3. Lola Lasagne
I think these characters had little chance to shine.
Bookworm
shareKing Tut.
Victor Buono, awesome actor with great screen presence.
Don't you mean "underated"? You spelled 'villain' exactly like people always spell it in these boards, so why spell anything against the current grain of stupidity, american typos, mispellings, errors and bad grammar?
Just spell every damn word incorrectly and get it over with.
I'd have to go with either the Joker or Penguin
shareI always liked "Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter."
I guess to avoid copywright problems with the Lewis Carroll estate(Alice in Wonderland) they had to name the character Jervis Tetch -- I believe that Tetch first appeared in the comics.
The Mad Hatter thus did "double duty" as a famous character in literature(Alice) and a famous character in comics(TV division.)
But I loved everything about how David Wayne played the Hatter. Wayne was a rather plain, milquetoast looking man, but when they put that big red moustache on him, and those big red eyebrows, and that big red thatch of hair AND that series of hats(all of which emitted a "knock out beam" from the top lid)....The Mad Hatter was one formidable bad guy.
I also loved the voice that Wayne used as the Mad Hatter, with big vocal flourishes such as calling the Caped Crusader: "Bawwt-mahn."
He also had a pretty sadistic death conveyer belt rigged up to kill Batman in his first two-parter -- it was a hat making machine that was going to slice, dice, stretch and dye Batman to death. Ugh.
And he was among those male villains who got right into the fights with Batman and Robin...he was not one of those to step back and watch.
And he had two of the sexiest blond molls in the series.
Wayne as the Mad Hatter got one two-parter in Season One and one more in Season Two(I think)...and that was it. Oh, well, at least he didn't end up as a one-hit wonder like The Bookworm.
My memory has gotten poor on this but I believe Wayne wanted out after his first appearance and grudgingly did his second appearance because he was already under contract. Put him in the same camp as Shelley Winters who had deep regrets about appearing on the show. Most of the villain actors have done interviews as to their time on Batman but I recall nothing for Wayne and Winters. Quite a few of the years after Batman Burgess Meredith had little to say other than it was a paycheck when he needed one. Meredith was one of the actors to be blacklisted during the 1950's at the height of the red scare.
shareMy memory has gotten poor on this but I believe Wayne wanted out after his first appearance and grudgingly did his second appearance because he was already under contract.
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Interesting. He certainly played the Hatter with real gusto. I guess that tells us why he only did two episodes. That said, once the big four (Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman) were done with all their multi-episodes on the show, most of the other villains were "one hit wonders" (The Bookworm ,The Minstrel, The Archer) as if the stars involved simply didn't want to keep doing the roles. That said, a few outside the Big Four did two -- The Mad Hatter, Egghead, Shame.
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Put him in the same camp as Shelley Winters who had deep regrets about appearing on the show.
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Hmm. Well she did the show not too long after winning her second Oscar(A Patch of Blue, after Diary of Anne Frank), so perhaps she found it to be a real comedown for an Oscar person. That said, Cliff Robertson won an Oscar the SAME YEAR as one of his Batmans. George Sanders(one of three Mr. Freezes) had a Best Supporting Actor Oscar ("All About Eve.")
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Most of the villain actors have done interviews as to their time on Batman but I recall nothing for Wayne and Winters.
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Too bad. Wayne's Mad Hatter was my favorite of all the TV villains. He came in above the Big Four; something about his look, his voice, his flamboyance, his toughness, his sadism, and his molls I think.
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Quite a few of the years after Batman Burgess Meredith had little to say other than it was a paycheck when he needed one.
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I suppose that's how working actors careers are arranged.
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Meredith was one of the actors to be blacklisted during the 1950's at the height of the red scare
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A lot of those actors "resurfaced" in the 60's and then needed a few years to "reintroduce themselves" to audiences. Came the 70s , Meredith was well known and in a lot of TV series and movies. The Penguin helped him get ID.
David Wayne was a very good actor but I did not enjoy his Batman episodes. Maybe because he did not over indulge in the character in the way someone such as Victor Buono did which was to Buono's advantage. There did not seem to be much energy to Wayne's episodes. I think Cliff Robertson openly embraced the formula used on Batman. Even Cesar Romero indicated it was best if it was approached from the standpoint of chewing the scenery although not spoken in those exact words.
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