Frank Gorshin

At 72 years old, Frank Gorshin has this physical status:

Frank John Gorshin Jr. (April 5, 1933-1989) was an American character actor, impressionist, and comedian.

He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and Tonight Starring Steve Allen.

On the live-action television series Batman, his most well-known acting role was as the Riddler.

Early life

Gorshin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Catholic parents Frances, a seamstress, and Frank Gorshin Sr., a railroad worker. He was of Slovenian descent. Frank Sr., his father, was a second-generation Slovenian-American whose parents immigrated to America from Slovenia. Frances or Fanny, née Prezhen, was born in Regra Vas, near Novo Mesto, Slovenia's largest city, and mother Frances or Fanny, née Preno. Both of his parents were active in Pittsburgh's Slovenian neighborhood. They performed in the Slovenian Singing Society Preeren, named after Slovenian poet France Preeren.

In an interview, Frances said that her son, who was the product of a Slovenian family, spoke mainly Slovene before going to school. He began working as a cinema usher at the Sheridan Square Theatre at the age of 15. He remembered the mannerisms of the screen actors he saw and created an impressionist performance. He was still enrolled in high school when he started his first paid job, which he won as the grand prize in a Pittsburgh talent competition in 1951: a one-week stint at Jackie Heller's New York nightclub Carousel. And though his 15-year-old brother was hit by a car and killed just two nights before, his parents insisted that he attend the wedding.

Gorshin attended the Carnegie Tech School of Drama (now known as Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh after graduating from Peabody High School. When he wasn't studying, he worked in local plays and nightclubs.

Gorshin was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Germany in 1953. He was with Special Services for a year and a half. Gorshin met Maurice Bergman, who later introduced him to Hollywood agent Paul Kohner while serving in the Army. In the United States National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973, Gorshin's Army service record was destroyed.

Personal life

Gorshin married Christina Randazzo on April 8, 1957. Mitchell, one son, and later divorced, but they were married until his death.

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Career

When Gorshin left the Army, he returned to public appearance, and in 1956, he became a well-known film actor. In the 1958 episode "Shadow of Belle Starr," starring Rex Allen, he appeared on various television series, including Hank Butts and Michael Landon cast as Jim Mason. In 1959, he appeared in three episodes as Seaman Pulaski on Jackie Cooper's CBS military sitcom/drama Hennesey. Gorshin appeared in ABC's crime drama The Untouchables later in the series. Gorshin performed in 1961 as an impressionist who murders his fiancée under the influence of one of his celebrity characters in The Defenders. He appeared on CBS' The Ed Sullivan Show twelve times, the first on June 17, 1962. On February 9, 1964, the same night that The Beatles and Davy Jones debuted, he appeared. Gorshin appeared in the long-running ABC military series Combat! As Pvt. Wharton, who took credit for the oism of his deceased relative, recovered himself later by saving Sgt. Saunders appeared in 1965, as well as in 1965, where he appeared Pvt. Gavin, a tank operator who had been kicked out of U.S. Army Armor tank operations training, washed out.

Gorshin was a hit in nightclubs, especially in Las Vegas, where he was the first impressionist to headline the main showrooms. He was also the first impressionist headliner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Burt Lancaster's most famous images were of him (exaggerating Lancaster's hand gestures) and Kirk Douglas (exaggerating Douglas' gritted teeth), as well as Marlon Brando (spoofing his squint). He was also known for simulating bodily and facial appearances, as well as pitch-perfect portrayals of voice, accent, and vocal inflections and demeanors. Gorshin's slender athletic build, wide mouth, and pale eyes under heavy brows were all desirable characteristics for screen henchmen.

He fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle after traveling from Pittsburgh for thirty-nine hours without sleep, and later, the car crashed. In Run Silent, Run Deep, he was on his way to a Hollywood screen test for the role of Petty Officer Ruby. He suffered a fractured skull and spent four days in a coma, and a Los Angeles newspaper mistakenly reported that he had been killed. Don Rickles was given the role.

Unlikely and Hell was Gorshin's first film role. Gorshin appeared in B-movies such as Hot Rod Girl (1956), Dragstrip Girl (1957), and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957). When doing a Marlon Brando impression, he appeared in Bells Are Ringing, playing the Method Actor. As a dramatic actor, he often played "tough guys" like those portrayed by James Cagney, who was supposed to resemble him. Basil, the hipster jazz bassist who appeared alongside singer Connie Francis, in Where the Boys Are (1960), as a bumbling kidnapper in the Hayley Mills vehicle That Darn Cat, took a comedic turn. In Otto Preminger's comedy Skidoo (1968), he was in 1965, and as a boss-behind-bars for chuckles.

In 1962, Gorshin was cast as Billy Roy Fix in the NBC modern Western television series Empire's episode "The Fire Dancer," starring Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award (Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy) for his role as The Riddler on ABC's 1960s live-action television show Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Gorshin's interpretation of the character included a high-pitched, deranged cackle reminiscent of Tommy Udo's "King of Death" (1947). Gorshin disliked the unitard costume design from the comics, and had a green business suit and bowler hat as an alternative, a version of which would be later introduced in the comics as the villain's favorite costume. In ten episodes of the series as well as the theatrical film, he appeared in two scenes in 1967, though John Astin appeared in the role on an occasion when Gorshin was inaccessible. Gorshin was furious about being replaced by Astin as the Riddler, but he promised to return to Batman as the Riddler in Season 3 of "Ring Around the Riddler." He starred in the 1979 television film Legends of the Superheroes.

Gorshin appeared in the 1969 Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" as the massively proportioned half-whiteface, half-blackface alien Bele from the planet Cheron. Gorshin did not receive an Emmy award for his role, contrary to widespread belief and several news outlets.

Gorshin appeared on Broadway in Jimmy (1969) and Guys and Dolls (1971), both on Broadway in the early 1970s. He made numerous guest appearances on television shows such as The Name of the Game (1969), Hawaii Five-O (1974), Get Christie Love! (1976) Charlie's Angels (1977) and Wonder Woman (1977). Seton Kellogg, an interplanetary assassination seton Kellogg in a two-part episode of Buck Rogers' "Plot to Kill a City" in 1979.

Gorshin appeared and performed in the role of irascible King Gama in a television production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Gilbert and Sullivan opera Princess Ida in 1982, later reprising the role in a PBS production The Compleat Gilbert and Sullivan opera Princess Ida, as part of PBS' The Compleat Gilbert and Sullivan), and later in a live performance at other venues.

He appeared as Dan Wesker in the ABC soap opera Goliath Awaits (1981), where he played Smiley Wilson, where he portrayed various celebrities on the program. He appeared in episodes of television shows such as The Fall Guy (1984), Murder, She Wrote (1988) and Monsters (1989).

In "The Tale of the Carved Stone" episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark (1993), he appeared as a mobster kingpin in The Meteor Man (1993). In an episode of The Ren and Stimpy Show (1995), Jack Cheese (1993) introduced the character of Reverend Jack Cheese. Notably, he appeared in Terry Gill's 12 Monkeys (1995) as the gruff superior to Madeleine Stowe's psychiatrist.

Gorshin portrayed George Burns on Broadway in his last years in his one-man show Say Goodnight, Gracie (2002), which was nominated for a 2003 Tony Award for best actor and reunited with several of his Batman colleagues in the television film Return to the Batcave: In which he appeared as himself, he appeared as himself. Gorshin died on the day of the film's DVD release. In the Korean drama Love Story in Harvard (2004), John H. Keynes played Hugo Strange, the fierce professor of Harvard Law School, and he portrayed villain Hugo Strange in three 2005 episodes of The Batman animated series. Marius and Lysander appeared in the computer role playing game Diablo II, as he did.

Gorshin's last television appearance was in "Grave Danger," a CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that aired two days after his death; Quentin Tarantino's program was dedicated to his memory. Although he was known for his appearances, his role on CSI was as himself.

In the unreleased animated film Firedog, Gorshin's last work was as a voice actor.

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