Oliver Burgess Meredith

 Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997)

Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" who was one of the most accomplished actors of the century. A life member of The Actors Studio by invitation, he won several Emmys, was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. He was featured in many 1940s films, including three — Second Chorus (1940), Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) and On Our Merry Way (1948) — co-starring then-wife Paulette Goddard. He also played alongside Lana Turner in Madame X. Meredith was a favorite of director Otto Preminger, who cast him in Advise and Consent (1962), In Harm's Way (1965), Hurry Sundown (1967), Skidoo (1968) and Such Good Friends (1971). He was the Penguin in the Batman movie of 1966 based on the TV series, and in Stay Away Joe (1968) appeared as the father of Elvis Presley's character. Meredith then played Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey Goldmill, in the first three Rocky films (1976, 1979 and 1982). Even though his character died in the third Rocky film, he returned briefly in a flashback in the fifth film, Rocky V (1990). His portrayal in the first film earned him his second consecutive nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In his last years, he played Jack Lemmon's character's sex-crazed 95-year-old father in Grumpy Old Men (1993) and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995). Meredith appeared in four different starring roles in the acclaimed anthology TV series The Twilight Zone, tying him with Jack Klugman for the most appearances on the show in a starring role. In the famous "Time Enough at Last", a 1959 episode of The Twilight Zone, he played a milquetoast bank teller who only wants to be left alone with his books. He was also known for playing the villain "Penguin" on the television series Batman.

His role as the Penguin was so well-received that the show's writers always had a script featuring the Penguin ready whenever Meredith was available. Burgess Meredith died from complications of Alzheimer's disease and melanoma at age 89.