Frank Gorshin Dies
May. 18th, 2005 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
filkertomShit.
Frank Gorshin, a superb character actor and impressionist best known for portraying The Riddler in the 1960's Batman TV series, has passed away at the age of 72.
Mr. Gorshin was one of my heroes, almost but not quite on the Henson-Blanc-Jones level. Rich Little did more voices, but Gorshin acted while doing his, and the value of that has stuck with me for forty years.
My favorite line in Batman: The Movie is, of course, everyone's favorite line: Batman saying, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" But that movie also features one of the most beautiful acting moments I know of. Testing the Polaris missile in their war surplus nuclear submarine, the Riddler has, completely by accident, shot down the Batcopter. While his fellow villains are cavorting madly at the impending demise of Batman and Robin, the Riddler freezes in a profile shot, his face filled with dawning wonder as he whispers, "I got 'em." A lot of that show was a knowing, gleeful exercise in camp, but for that moment the camp was shut off, and the Villain had taken down the Hero, and I was chilled, and thrilled.
He was still working. He's gonna be on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season finale tomorrow night.
Here's the story at CNN.com, and here's his IMDB listing.
Shit.
Frank Gorshin, a superb character actor and impressionist best known for portraying The Riddler in the 1960's Batman TV series, has passed away at the age of 72.
Mr. Gorshin was one of my heroes, almost but not quite on the Henson-Blanc-Jones level. Rich Little did more voices, but Gorshin acted while doing his, and the value of that has stuck with me for forty years.
My favorite line in Batman: The Movie is, of course, everyone's favorite line: Batman saying, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" But that movie also features one of the most beautiful acting moments I know of. Testing the Polaris missile in their war surplus nuclear submarine, the Riddler has, completely by accident, shot down the Batcopter. While his fellow villains are cavorting madly at the impending demise of Batman and Robin, the Riddler freezes in a profile shot, his face filled with dawning wonder as he whispers, "I got 'em." A lot of that show was a knowing, gleeful exercise in camp, but for that moment the camp was shut off, and the Villain had taken down the Hero, and I was chilled, and thrilled.
He was still working. He's gonna be on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season finale tomorrow night.
Here's the story at CNN.com, and here's his IMDB listing.
Shit.
