Meredith attended Amherst College but left before graduating. He subsequently held a variety of jobs—notably working as a reporter and a merchant seaman—before pursuing an acting career. The following year he made his Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet , and he achieved great success in as Mio in the Maxwell Anderson play Winterset. He reprised the role for the film version, which was his first credited screen appearance. After notable stage performances in High Tor and Liliom , he served as a captain in the U.
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One of the truly great and gifted performers of the century, who often suffered lesser roles, Burgess Meredith was born in in Cleveland, Ohio. Cohan as Best Performer of the Year.. He became a favorite of dramatist Maxwell Anderson , premiering on film in the playwright's Winterset He continued in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles often repeating his stage roles on film until being named an unfriendly witness by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early s, whereupon studio work disappeared. His career picked up again, especially with television roles, in the s, although younger audiences know him best for either the Rocky or Grumpy Old Men films. Meredith also did a large amount of commercial work, serving as the voice for Skippy Peanut Butter and United Air Lines, among others. He was also an ardent environmentalist who believed pollution one of the greatest tragedies of the time, and an opponent of the Vietnam War. Burgess Meredith died at age 89 of Alzheimer's disease and melanoma in his home in Malibu, California on September 9, Sign In. Edit Burgess Meredith.
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Originally a newspaper reporter, Burgess Meredith came to the screen in , repeating his stage role in Winterset, a part written for him by Maxwell Anderson. Meredith has had a long and varied film career, playing everything from George in Of Mice and Men to Sylvester Stallone's trainer in Rocky Joe ; and Mine Own Executioner He also directed Man on the Eiffel Tower On television, he made countless guest appearances in dozens of dramatic and variety productions, including one of the first episodes of The Twilight Zone, the touching Time Enough at Last, and as host on the first episode of Your Show of Shows. He was a regular on Mr. Novak and Search , hosted Those Amazing Animals , co-starred with Sally Struthers in Gloria , and made classic appearances as the Penguin on Batman He won an Emmy in for Tailgunner Joe and has done voiceover work for innumerable commercials, notably Volkswagen.
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