BURBANK, California (AP) -- Actor Frank Gorshin, the impressionist with 100 faces best known for his Emmy-nominated role as the Riddler on the old"Batman" television series, has died. He was 72.
Batman was the first television show I remember following on a regular basis. I was only six years old when the campy series began its original run but I really got into it. Gorshin, of course played the Riddler. I'm still emotionally scarred from the time when my friend across the street, Clark Early, and his little brother got Batman and Robin outfits and I had...none. If DCFS had existed then, I would have called the hotline to report my parent's obvious neglect.
Gorshin was also a great impressionist and starred in a now forgotten show called ABC Comedy Hour Presents the Kopycats. It ran in the early 70s and turned me on to sketch comedy in a big way. Some have even called this show the forerunner of Saturday Night Live.
Another icon gone.
UPDATE: Heh. Tom Tomorrow, who is about my age, is feeling the same way.
Gorshin was also a great impressionist and starred in a now forgotten show called ABC Comedy Hour Presents the Kopycats. It ran in the early 70s and turned me on to sketch comedy in a big way. Some have even called this show the forerunner of Saturday Night Live.
Another icon gone.
UPDATE: Heh. Tom Tomorrow, who is about my age, is feeling the same way.
1 comment:
Oh, man! I'm so sad to hear this. I, too, grew up on the original Batman series. Of all the bad guys, the Riddler was my favorite. I saw him in a one-man play called, "The Man With the Plastic Sandwich." It was an interesting story, and an excellent performance by Frank Gorshin.
P.S. I still go gaga over Adam West.
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