Burgess Meredith was born on 16 November 1907.
Meredith isn’t what I would call a psychotronic actor. He had an extremely broad career in TV, film, and theater. But he worked so much that he managed to do more psychotronics than many actors who were more focused.
We know Burgess Meredith for a lot of mainstream successes late in his career: Rocky (I, II, and III), Foul Play, Magic, and Grumpy Old Men. But he is important to psychotronic fans primarily because of his work in TV.
Most people probably know him best for playing The Penguin in 21 episodes of the 1960s Batman TV series. He really chews the screen in that show. He delivers lines like, “I am an aristocrat of crookery, my dear man!”
Psychotronic fans most remember his work on The Twilight Zone. He was in four episodes:
- “Time Enough at Last”: One of the most iconic episodes where a bookworm survives a nuclear bomb and is happy to have the rest of his life to read, only to break his glasses.
- “Mr Dingle, the Strong”: Space aliens give Luther Dingle super strength. I’ve always hated this episode because the aliens criticize him for not doing anything good with his strength. But they’ve hardly given him any time. Isn’t it natural that the first thing anyone would do is play around with the power?
- “The Obsolete Man”: A totalitarian state finds a librarian to be obsolete. He uses his execution to make a point. It’s pretty good but I could do without all the religion.
- “Printer’s Devil”: A newspaper publisher hires a new printer. He alters the press so that anything that he prints happens. I think this is my favorite of these.
Burgess Meredith also appeared in two episodes of Night Gallery:
- “The Little Black Bag”: A former doctor and current drunk finds a medical bag accidentally transported from the future.
- “Finnegan’s Flight”: A lifer is hypnotized by his cellmate. He’s so susceptible that what he’s told to believe actually happens to him — with tragic consequences. Cameron Mitchell is wonderful in the lead here.
So, let’s celebrate Burgess Meredith’s birthday by watching his one Amicus film, Torture Garden. In it, he plays Mr Diablo, a carnival showman who holds the horror shorts together. You will be shocked to learn that he’s actually The Devil!
Burgess Meredith via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.
