Frank Gorshin RIP
The actor Frank Gorshin died yesterday at the age of 72.
Those of us who read Batman and Detective comics BEFORE the television show premiered in 1966 hated what Adam West and Burt Ward did to the characterization of our beloved heros. They turned perhaps the greatest superhero of all (remember, Batman had no extra human powers, like Supie, so everything he did was from the ground up) into grotesqueries and a burlesque of what the comic books had been up until then.
We kids LOVED our Batman, the true Dark Knight, as the comics and the films portrayed him, but never the T.V. show. We hated THAT Batman. But we watched anyhow, because it was all we had.
The villains were a different breed, however. Except for Cesar Romero, who played the Joker more as a "jokester" (he even refused to shave his mustache for the part and you don't have to look all that close to see it under the make-up) the bad guys on the Batman T.V. show lived up to the spirit and integrity of the comic book foes.
Burgess Meredith's "Penguin", Julie Newmar's "Catwoman" and perhaps best of all Frank Gorshin's "Riddler" were truer to the zeitgeist of the "Golden" and "Silver" age of comic villains than the Batfreaks played for laughs by Adam West and his boyfriend Robin, Burt Ward.
So, thank you Frank Gorshin for bringing some much needed darkness to the T.V. Batman of the 60's.
He WAS the Riddler.
Frank Gorshin
Those of us who read Batman and Detective comics BEFORE the television show premiered in 1966 hated what Adam West and Burt Ward did to the characterization of our beloved heros. They turned perhaps the greatest superhero of all (remember, Batman had no extra human powers, like Supie, so everything he did was from the ground up) into grotesqueries and a burlesque of what the comic books had been up until then.
We kids LOVED our Batman, the true Dark Knight, as the comics and the films portrayed him, but never the T.V. show. We hated THAT Batman. But we watched anyhow, because it was all we had.
The villains were a different breed, however. Except for Cesar Romero, who played the Joker more as a "jokester" (he even refused to shave his mustache for the part and you don't have to look all that close to see it under the make-up) the bad guys on the Batman T.V. show lived up to the spirit and integrity of the comic book foes.
Burgess Meredith's "Penguin", Julie Newmar's "Catwoman" and perhaps best of all Frank Gorshin's "Riddler" were truer to the zeitgeist of the "Golden" and "Silver" age of comic villains than the Batfreaks played for laughs by Adam West and his boyfriend Robin, Burt Ward.
So, thank you Frank Gorshin for bringing some much needed darkness to the T.V. Batman of the 60's.
He WAS the Riddler.
Frank Gorshin
posted by Mr. Liberty at 1:32 PM
1 Comments:
Here, here! I agree that Batman is by far the most compelling of the superheroes. (Superman does super things--duh! he has super powers.) Gorshin was an estimable villain--slinky and creepy. Nice tip of the hat.
And while we're on the subject--let's hope that Batman Begins doesn't disappoint!
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